Scene 10- later

Elsa

Elsa was directing inventory of the armory when she heard the ring of steel on steel. It distracted her from thoughts of what had occurred the night after the Donovan's revelation. Anna had found another note, this one reading, "Two given, two remain." And now Elsa was convinced that it had something to do with Donovan. The sounds were coming from the practice yard, which was not uncommon, but instead of the gruff yelling of men, there came the clear shouts of women. Elsa delegated to Schneider, and went to investigate. She turned a corner leading into the practice yard, and what she saw defied reason. There was a group of Arradian warriors, all women, being led in a coordination exercise by a veteran standing on a platform. That in and of itself would have been enough to startle her, but it was what was in the dueling pit that made her think the world was broken. Iy'ate was standing on a platform, holding a long, slightly curved blade, and next to her wait, was that? It was! It was Anna, in full leather armor and a helm that left her eyes, mouth, and nose bare. And she was holding a sword, swinging it at a stuffed practice dummy.

"Backhand side! Overhand! Side! Side! Now spin! Thrust! Good! Now backhand!" Iy'ate called. Elsa watched in horrified confusion as Anna performed each command flawlessly. "Rest!" Anna ripped off her helmet, hair up in that style Iy'ate had worn, and dropped her sword in the sand. She was almost dripping with sweat, and collapsed on the ground with a foolish smile on her face. Elsa made the smile disappear. "Just WHAT do you think you are doing!?" She demanded as she stalked up to Anna.

She scrambled to her feet, shock plastered on her face. "I'm… I'm practicing! That's what I'm doing!"

Elsa made her most regal face, and stood tall. "Princesses do not lower themselves to this! You do not need to learn to fight, because you need to stay away from things like that!"

Anna looked at her with wide eyes, and then narrowed them. "What if the fight doesn't stay away from me?! I will not, repeat not, be used as a hostage again, and this will help me learn to defend myself against assassins!" Elsa stepped back at her aggressiveness. "You know this! But you already have your weapon! I do not!" She lowered her voice and almost pleaded with Elsa. "Please let me learn to defend myself and others. Three innocent people died yesterday defending us."

Iy'ate came and stood between them. "Elsa, I was the one that persuaded her to do this. If you must punish anyone, punish me."

Elsa widened her eyes and tried to find her voice again. She looked to Anna. "You really want to learn to use a sword?" Anna nodded vehemently.

Elsa calmed herself down. "Iy'ate, there will be no punishment. Anna, I just wish you had told me before you started something like this. It's dangerous. How long have you been learning?"

Anna looked at the ground, "About a week now."

Iy'ate jumped in. "She has natural ability."

Anna shrugged and smiled, relieved that Elsa had stopped shouting. "Apparently, it seems my years of dancing and ice skating paid off."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it did. All right, if you really want to…" She sighed, and Anna's eyes widened. "You can. But only for self-defense. You're not an Arradian, you are a Princess of Arendelle, and I will still expect you to act like it."

Anna ran to her sister and embraced her. "Oh! Thank you!"

Elsa was startled by the hardness of the armor, but hugged her sister back after a second. She whispered in Anna's ear, "If only to protect you."

Anna squeezed her tighter, then let go and retrieved her short sword from the ground and placed the helmet back on her head. "Iy'ate, I'm ready!"

"You sure?" Anna took basic stance in front of the dummy. "Yep!" Then like a drillmaster, Iy'ate railed out a series of commands that Elsa could never had kept up with. Anna moved with fluid grace, and her transitions were amazing. Elsa watched her sister for a couple more minutes, then returned to the armory.

Later that evening-

Elsa

Donovan was nowhere to be found. There was a Sea Storm coming, and he hadn't come back from visiting the trolls. Elsa was in her study, reading about military tactics and common organization strategies of armies, as well as logistical planning. Elsa had been waiting since the day before to talk to Donovan again, and he hadn't yet returned. She was getting impatient, and worried, when Iy'ate stepped into the room without knocking, as usual. Elsa smiled at her and gestured for her to take a seat. She shook her head, and seemed to be trying to form a statement. She finally said, hesitantly. "If you are waiting for Doni, you will be waiting a very long time. There is a storm tonight, so he has gone to train."

Elsa set the book down and sat up straighter. "What do you mean? Where is he?"

Iy'ate seemed to be struggling with a word. "He went to the fe- the fe-"

"The fjord?" Elsa asked.

Iy'ate nodded. "He always goes where nobody is, when he trains, and now he goes to the southern… fehord. He wanted to help you understand, so he told me to invite you."

Elsa stood and moved to the door. "Thank you. Did Donovan say what he wanted me to understand?"

Iy'ate shook her head. "He refused to say more."

Elsa put a hand on her arm and smiled at her. "Thank you for training Anna to protect herself. I was just surprised, that's all. I never could've imagined Anna holding a sword." Iy'ate walked with her out to the palace doors. The sky was darkening rapidly, as the storm approached; huge black clouds dominated the horizon.

Iy'ate pointed to the row of hills behind the castle. "He is beyond those. You will see him." Elsa thanked her and started walking. She took a shortcut by walking across the water, huge plates of ice appearing wherever she stepped. It was harder on rough water, but she managed to run all the way across. She did not think she would be able to do that during the storm. She walked for a time, sometimes letting her Elmenti do some of the work. She tried to speak with Skahdi, but she would not reply. She topped a rise, and over it she could see a valley ending in a small fjord. It was heavily forested, and covered in various pine trees. Here, facing the South, the winds were much stronger here, and the waves were rolling in at enormous heights. She could see the entirety of the storm, huge pillars of darkness reaching up into the heavens and touching the sky itself. It awed her, but now that she knew how it worked, it seemed somehow less to her now.

She slid down the hill on a slide of ice, dodging around trees and rocks, something she hadn't done since she was a child. She reached the bottom, and still no sign of Donovan. She looked around for anything burning but didn't see anything. She walked up right to the edge of the fjord, and gasped at what she saw there. There, on a spire of rock just off the shore, stood Donovan. She couldn't make out details at this distance, but she had heard enough stories to know that if he fell, he would die, power or no power. A huge wave rolled towards the thin spire, and Elsa gathered breath to cry out to him, when it impacted and a huge spray of water lifted itself into the air. He would be swept off! She gasped and reached forward, gathering her power, but before she could launch it, the spray was vaporized by a jet of flame. She put her hands to her mouth in surprise, and as the next wave struck the spire, a bar of blue fire cut through the center. Elsa realized what he considered training. He was fighting the ocean itself. As each wave pounded itself into the spire, he destroyed every single jet of spray, clouds of steam rising into the air, obscuring Elsa's vision. She knew that he was fighting for his life, because if he stopped using his power, the waves would sweep him off to be dashed onto the rocks below.

She looked away for a second and saw his gauntlets lying on the ground nearby, along with his iron-toed boots and stockings, strangely enough. She picked up the armored gloves carefully, avoiding the spiked knuckles. She put one on loosely, and it was just barely too big for her. His hand was small, for a man. She moved her individual fingers, and the movement was almost as smooth as normal motion. The insides were padded, but it was still uncomfortable. Then she realized something. How did he get over there in the first place? He couldn't have climbed, it was too steep, and there was no way to get on top. She looked back and saw him leap off the pillar. She gasped and ran to the edge again, but could no longer see him. A burst of light illuminated the cloud of steam, turning it red and orange, and Donovan flew out of the fjord, blue fire streaming from his hands and feet. He landed unsteadily next to Elsa and stumbled, a wide grin on his face. "Still haven't gotten that down yet, still got to work on that landing."

Elsa gaped. "That was amazing! You were… flying! Wow."

He sat down and began pulling on his stockings and boots, talking as he did. "You want to try?" Elsa shook her head vigorously. "I don't want to try something like that before I learn how to fly."

He shrugged and started lacing again.

"I think that all Elmenti can fly in one way or another. You just have to figure out how. And yes, that is what counts as training for me. I fight the tides, and try not to get wet. It's as close as I can get to fighting another Elmenti host. And you have large waves here." He finished lacing up his boots and gestured for his gauntlet. Elsa remembered that she had it on, and pulled it off. He took it and began lacing up the chains.

"Thank you, I think." He finished and began walking.

"I don't want to take all night, be because I don't want to start rumors going around about, you know, us." Elsa walked beside him in silence, until they reached the top of a nearby hill. They looked over the forest and the rising mountains, and the incoming storm. He asked suddenly, "What is the biggest thing you have done with your power, besides freezing all of Arendelle." She considered.

"I would have to say, creating my Ice Palace in the mountains." He asked, "Can you remember how you did it?" She shook her head. "It just came naturally to me, and I knew what I had to do as I was doing it. I don't know if I could do it now." He sat down on the hard rock of the hill, and she hesitantly joined him.

"What I invited you up here for, was first of all, to see if you trusted me." She looked to him, and he smiled at her. "You certainly proved that. Coming here, alone, to be with me. Thank you." She looked away, uncertain. He stood, suddenly. "The other reason is that I want to teach you. You undoubtedly have questions for me, and I have many for you. So I'll let you go first." She stood slowly, thinking of any questions. She knew they were in there, but she was drawing a blank.

"What… did you go through when you were a child, first understanding your powers?"

"Well, I'm not going to tell you all of it right this minute, but I grew up on the street, in the midst of a civil war and other kinds of civil unrest. I hid them for the most part, but made any excuse to use them. I made my gauntlets to reduce accidents. Every time someone saw me using them, I would leave and go somewhere else. Until I joined Harid's army. He was the most noble of the Warlords, committed to making whatever he could better. I used it as a weapon, until I defeated another Warlord in single combat, taking his position. Then I flaunted them, becoming the Ironhand." He looked to her. "I was lucky. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you, forced to hide your powers, building fear until it burst out." She nodded.

"Yes, it was hard. I was surprised I managed to hold it in for twenty years." He gave a wry laugh.

"I only made it five. I have noticed that you have more control over your power when you are not afraid. Like at our budget meeting, you created frost on my gauntlet, because you were worried and stressed. I can only assume that fear is the emotion that negatively feeds your power." Elsa nodded in agreement, and she looked to him inquiringly.

"What is yours?" He replied immediately.

"Rage. When I am angry, my power is almost out of my control." They sat there for long minutes, staring at the approaching storm and the darkening sky.

Then suddenly, Donovan leapt up. "Okay, enough talking and sitting around, I want to see what you can do!" Elsa stood uncertainly, and Donovan warned her, "During these lessons, you will no longer be Queen Elsa of Arendelle, but Elsa, my student. I will not go easy on you, and I expect you to do everything I ask you to, within reason." Elsa's eyes widened at his sudden change in pace, but nodded slowly. "Show me how you use you power. In all ways, creating ice, snow, structures, energies, all of it! First, create an area we can practice on. Go on, go!" Taking a deep breath, Elsa stamped her foot, and platform of ice raised them into the air, at least two dozen feet, supported by six thick columns of ice. "Good! Now show me the true aspect of you power, the pure energies." She lifted her hand and launched a bolt of blue energy off the side of the platform. It continued to move until it hit a distant tree, covering it in ice. "Nice, now go to the other end of you power, try to create something out of ice without seeing the actual energy!" She raised her hand again, trying to create an icicle directly off her hand. It began to form, but at about six inches it fell and shattered.

"Close, but not quite. Now make a wall of ice, about yeah thick." He gestured to a width of three fingers. She, confused, did so. A wall of translucent ice rose out of the ground. "Now to see how strong it is." He walked towards it and pulled out one of his gauntlets. He put it on and stepped back, and swung with all his might. It shattered and fell. Elsa gasped at the ease which he had destroyed it. "Again! Stronger this time!" She did as he ordered, and made another wall, taking more time, making sure it was of better quality. He struck it again. Huge cracks spread through it, but it did not shatter. He wound up again, and this time it broke into thousands of pieces. "Hmm. Respectable. It would stop any kind of normal arrow, but not ballistae. Now make it again, except even stronger." "She hastily obeyed, taking a long minute, a block of clear, flawless ice rising out of the floor. He nodded at her extra time spent, and wound up. His fist impacted the surface and shards of ice flew around him. It left a crater, but the wall did not crack. He smiled at her, and put on his other gauntlet. He rained blows on the wall, shards flying and littering the frozen ground. One, two, five, ten. It took him 12 strikes to shatter the wall. "Much better! That might even stop cannon!" Elsa frowned at the unfamiliar word. "I'll show you later. But for now, good job. Now, show me how far you can cast your energy."

They continued for hours, long after the storm broke over them and began to melt their platform. Elsa was panting with the effort of keeping an intricately detailed snowflake from melting in the rain. Using her power took physical energy, and while not as much as walking, it still added up. Donovan had explained that the Elmenti did most of the work, creating what you wanted it too, but it had to learn just as humans did. Near the end, during a break, Donovan asked her, "So, have you talked with your Elmenti again?"

"I asked her name." He looked shocked. "So soon? Did she answer?" Elsa nodded. "Her name is Skahdi."

"Of course it is. What else would Skahdi's name be? Humans can be so stupid sometimes." Elsa gasped and Donovans' eyes shot to her.

"What did she say?" Elsa ignored him.

"Well, that's not very nice. How was I supposed to know your name?" The Elmenti seemed shocked.

"The mute speaks. Skahdi was waiting for so long time and you say nothing to poor little Skahdi. Skahdi was sooooo lonely." Suddenly Elsa remembered the headaches she had gotten as a child. She had heard voices, and her parents told her never to reply. They came and went, but Elsa was always scared when they came, because everyone knew that hearing voices was a sign of madness.

Suddenly,an image appeared in Elsa's head. She saw a feminine face, with thin expressive eyebrows over dark blue eyes and pouting lips. A pointed chin framed by jet black hair sweeping up unnaturally above her head, in the shape of a flame. It seemed vaguely familiar.

"You wanted to get to know Skahdi, so here she is." The image extended, showing the rest of her body. She was built like a dancer, and wore a simple unadorned thigh-length black dress with long sleeves partially covering her hands. Her feet were bare. She curtsied mockingly.

"Skahdi at your service, Queen Elsa." Elsa narrowed her eyes. People had challenged her authority, feared her, but never openly scorned her.

"She's mocking me. What do I do?" Elsa asked Donovan.

"Apologize, maybe?" Skahdi shot as Donovan replied, "You should probably apologize to her; they are sensitive about that kind of thing." Skahdi looked in his direction wide-eyed.

"Skahdi likes this one. Fire types are sooo attractive." Elsa rolled her eyes and said to Donovan,

"How did you deal with someone else in your head?" Donovan shrugged.

"I still haven't, but it helps that Vordahn is not overly talkative." Skahdi smiled impishly.

"You're stuck with Skahdi, dearie."

They had hiked down the mountain together, Elsa leaving the platform where it was so they could find the same place again later. Skahdi had quieted down, and had blessedly stopped sighing whenever Donovan looked at Elsa. Before they reached the castle, Donovan took his leave and went to sleep on one of the Arradian trading ships. He said something about traditions, then left. She continued to the castle, passing some surprised guards and finally making it to her bedroom. As she lay down to sleep, she spoke aloud.

"Skahdi, I'm sorry I haven't spoken to you for twenty years. I was scared, and you, most of all, should know how bad fear is for us. And thank you for saving my life." Skahdi reappeared. She was expressionless, but Elsa could sense her reluctance.

"Skahdi is sorry for acting like a child. You did not know about Skahdi. And Elsa should know that Skahdi will protect her with Skahdi's life." Elsa closed her eyes, but Skahdi was not done. "Also, Skahdi is happy that her power is not being used… to destroy. You are a good human, Elsa, and a good ruler of humans." She looked supremely uncomfortable at admitting it, and Elsa smiled to her.

"Thank you, Skahdi. You have no idea how much that means to me." Skahdi smiled.

"Yes, Skahdi does. Skahdi knows everything in Elsa's head. No secrets from Skahdi. Get some rest, Elsa. Skahdi will speak to you again tomorrow." Elsa tried to respond, but she was gone.

I originally made Skahdi an emotionless assistant to Elsa, who had no sense of morals and no idea what love was and with no interest in finding out, like a robot. But then I saw the pictures included in The Art of Frozen, for the original Elsa, and I fell in love with the dark hair and the mischievous smile. You see Skahdi on pages 15, 63, 137, and 140. She is made to be the antithesis of Elsa, a carefree, chaotic being who seeks to be as different from her host as possible, but they are, in reality, very similar.