"You seriously befriended a wolf? I think we can safely assume that there are no dull moments around you" Elsa mused as she listened to Anna retell the fight.
"Never, I want to experience everything there is, I want to go out to sea, I want to climb a mountain, I want to make friends, oh, and I want to taste chocolate of course, you make it sound so good"
"It is good, no its better than that. Chocolate is amazing."
"I bet it is. Anyway, tell me about you, we haven't even gotten to know each other yet. I'm not sure how this friends thing work exactly, but I have a bunch of images and memories of yours that I can't make heads or tails of. One thing keeps popping up, and that's a corridor with a bunch of armor stands, does that hold any significance to you?" Nothing she had gone through could curb her curiosity.
"Hmm, it does, me and my brother often snuck out at night and swapped around pieces on the stands, removed helmets and placed fake eyes in inside them and Kristoff used a spell that made them wave to passerby's, the staff got really freaked out by that one." Elsa remembers that one clearly, poor Kai nearly had a heart attack.
"I would have loved to see that. I must admit I didn't think of you as mischievous."
"I'm not, I swear, I just.. I can't say no to my brother sometimes.. He's really good at making puppy-dog-eyes"
"Ew, you eat dog eyes?" Anna was disgusted and grimaced at the thought.
"No silly, it's when you make innocent big eyes, making you look utterly adorable. Some people are better than others at it." Elsa couldn't help it, a soft laugh escaped her.
"Oh..", "what a pretty laugh" Anna of course thought she had said the last thing to herself, but that wasn't how their link worked when none of them could control which thoughts got through and which didn't.
"I.. Thank you.. Did you really think we ate dog eyes?" Elsa thanked the spirits Anna couldn't see her blush.
"Noo.." She drawled, extending the word longer than necessary, "Yeah.. Sorry, I don't really know much about well, anything really, I'm good at fighting, not much else."
"You don't need to apologize, I've only caught glimpses, but it seems like you've had a rough start to life"
"That's one way to put it…"
"Would you maybe want to talk about it?"
"Not if I can avoid it"
"Be serious here, I genuinely want to help"
"I am, and I don't want to talk about it"
"Sorry, I won't pry then, just know that I'm always here if you need me"
"..thank you.."
A short silence fell over the two girls, until Elsa decided to break it.
"So, where is this wolf you valiantly fight beside?"
"Not sure to be honest" She said out loud as she looked around for the ninth time.
"Call for it then? I'm sure it wouldn't just leave you behind, that's not what a wolf would do, they never leave the sick or injured behind"
"Hey, uhm, wolfie, you there?" Anna called out, the walls of the cave created an echo, an echo that disappeared into the dark depths further inside the hollow space, Anna herself was sat close to the entrance where a small amount of light could still reach her. Nothing happened for a good twenty seconds, and then she heard rhythmic thuds getting louder and louder, until the wolf came running in. It's eyes focused on Anna, then it flicked It's gaze upon her leg. It lazily walked towards her and poked her leg with It's wet nose. When Anna didn't cry out it did it again, and then a third time just to be sure. It lifted It's head and tilted it slightly, an unspoken question hung in the air.
Just before Anna could answer she heard Elsa think, "Oh that's a beautiful wolf".
Anna smiled at the thought, "Yes my leg is good, for now. I don't have a lot of time with it so we need to get moving right away" She told the Wolf, it still seemed like it was a lot smarter than your average wolf. Or incredibly dumb by following a human, time will tell.
As she made a move to stand the wolf was by her side, providing support once again. She tested the leg by switching her weight back and forth. Once Anna was satisfied she gently moved towards the entrance of the cave. The wolf kept her pace, stopped when she stopped, walked when she walked. Anna then heard the giggling of Elsa, but she didn't understand what Elsa was laughing about. Of course Elsa picked up on her confusion, "It's acting like a nurturing mother, I wouldn't be surprised if it starts feeding and washing you too", Anna froze at the words. She had gone two days without nightmares, but those words just brought it right back.
Elsa was suddenly flooded with images, it was mind-numbing, watching the scenes play out before her, the king and queen doing whatever they could to save their child, only to overrun by the southerner's army. She gasped and covered her gaping mouth with a hand, tears rolled down her cheeks.
"You weren't supposed to see that.." broken, was the prominent word floating around in Elsas head when she heard those words.
"I'm so, so sorry, no one should.." but she got cut off, "Please get out of my head, I'd like to be alone for a while" and Elsa respected her wishes, she parted with a timid "Of course, I'm sorry", which left Anna alone with her thoughts, and a journey ahead of her. She would steel her resolve, don't cry she told herself, be strong and unstoppable she tried to convince her mind, but the wolf nuzzling into her stomach broke the dam. She threw her arms around It's neck, burying her fingers in It's thick soft fur, and wailed.
A little further east, the two adult men was talking to a tavern keeper, the building was weatherworn, faded paint on the facade, a hole on the right wall where a window was supposed to be had been boarded up, and the wooden chairs and tables had so many small dents and cracks it was surprising they were still in one piece. Robert had gotten some much needed water, Jonas had asked for a couple of items, a bushel of leaves, a few vials of sap extract and something that looked very close to a tongue. Robert sat on the opposite side of Jonas, observing the items in front of him.
"What do you plan on doing with those items?" Roberts hoarse voice hurt, a slight cold had hit him, curtesy of the rain they had walked in for hours.
"Tracking spell, I've been around Anna for long enough to be able to pinpoint her location. But I need something else to complete it. I won't be long, now that we're finally in the east I can get resupplied."
"I take it you know these people? You seemed awfully familiar with the innkeeper."
"Hah, yeah we go way back. He was my neighbor when I was a kid, the southerners took over this land and we were forced to move, our homes was in the way of a stronghold they planned on erecting. Bunch of assholes."
"So we are close to your clan then?"
"Yes, I even got some coin to fetch us a carriage ride to my town. No more walking and supporting me at the same time. But I would like to locate Anna before we leave, I shouldn't worry about her, but these parts of the country aren't the safest.. Still, Anna is strong, she'll get through it."
"As glad as I am about not having to carry you around, I still feel horrible that we just left like that. It's not at all what she needed."
"Listen, she was a wild card from the start, who says she didn't leave voluntarily, ran away from us because she thought we weren't trustworthy? Or maybe she didn't want to go to my clan and finally said ''fuck it, I'm gonna go to my castle"? No matter what my plans are, I won't force her anywhere, she knows we're going east, so in case she didn't do any of the previous things, she'll find us. Either way, I still want her location, if she is captured or held prisoner somewhere then we have to help, if she isn't well then its her choice not to be here with us."
"Woah, that sounds like genuine respect and worry, not the words I would use to describe you"
"I kind of find myself in a position where I actually like her, she proved herself to be stronger than I thought, she handled getting out into the world with only minor discomfort, she's learnt a lot in a short amount of time, and she protected two people who is basically strangers to her. That behavior deserves respect. And yes, I worry too."
"Hmm, I may actually come to like you, even if you are a brutally honest dickhead some times."
"I don't see the point in niceness when the world is as fragile as it is. We need someone who can put their foot down and change it. And I have put my bet on Anna. I've been patiently waiting for a chance like this, and if she is anything like her parents then you know as well as I do that she will do anything to make everything better.. They were good people those Giraldans, but also incredibly gullible. Can you believe that they thought the southerners would lay down arms when they had taken about 90% of the surrounding lands."
"I heard that the Westergaard family sent a messenger to tell them they could stay independent."
"Oh they did. Obviously they didn't let them in the end, but thanks to Wimarcs arrogance he thought a child born from two hybrids would be the perfect subject. And he was correct in his assumption, she turned out stronger, faster and more in control than the rest. Too bad he couldn't control her the way he wanted to, and now she's free to do whatever she wants to. Including tearing this kingdom apart one town at a time."
"Is that what you want from her? Destruction?" Robert asked in disbelief.
"Of course, once we train her the right way she can decimate the southern forces easily."
"I thought she got trained in the hell hole?"
"Sure, she was taught the basics, rune based magic, hybrid magic, internal and external magic, you get the gist right?"
"So she learnt the different kinds of magic application.. Alright, but what do you plan on teaching her then?"
"The true way to use magic, you're a healer you should now all about the different ways to do magic, in fact, I think you know just how difficult it is to grasp new concepts. Most people learn the internal magic by accident or by necessity in a stressful situation, and then they learn to externalize those powers. You however have knowledge on the rune based kind, and if I would take an educated guess, at some point you realized you could tap into it without a catalyst, why you've kept it a secret I don't know, but I know Anna couldn't make the recoveries she did if you hadn't helped her gather magic back in the cage, and when she came back from her personal training sessions." Jonas assumed a lot, but this was the only conclusion on Anna's miraculous and almost immediate healing abilities.
Robert narrowed his eyes and searched for anything that would tell him if Jonas was trustworthy, but he found nothing, he was, as he so eloquently put it, a wildcard. The silence stretched.
"You don't have to tell me anything yet, It's all just speculation. But there is something off about you, no matter how hard you try to hide behind this good guy exterior. So I'll let you come to me whenever you're ready to tell me how you've unlocked the secret to using hybrid type magic…" then more to himself but still out loud, "… this year really is full of new exciting discoveries".
"I can tell you that I'm not at any hybrid level yet, but yes I did help Anna, just not the way you think, and that's all I'm going to reveal at this point. I'm still having doubts about whether to trust you or not."
"Understandable, I might be inclined to think we are more alike than we first thought. Now shall we find our favorite redhead, uhm, well for as long as that is still her prominent hair color." He chuckled to himself.
"Yes let's, what do you need me to do?" Robert was eager to get away from Jonas, he was only half his age, Robert himself being in the mid forties, and Jonas in his early twenties.
"Go fetch me these plants, and I mean the full plants, not just the stem or the leaves.? The young man said as he slid a piece if paper across the table.
"Will do" Robert grumbled as he gave a mock salute.
Jonas shook his head at him.
When Anna rounded the eighth bend in the road she heard some rustling a little ways off the path. She stopped in her tracks and listened closely, then she heard it again followed by a pained moan. She patted the white wolf and pointed towards the sound. It took a couple of whiff's and waggled it's tail. Assuming it was safe to approach the sound she walked around some shrubbery and found a young man with a stab wound just under his ribs on the left side, a hand was pressing on the hole, blood seeping through slowly but steadily. When he noticed her, he pulled forth a dagger that he had concealed in his right boot. Still holding the wound tightly.
"Get away, I won't hesitate to cut you down if you come closer" he growled, which made Anna laugh hard. Stomach hurting thigh slapping laugh.
"You can't be serious, look at the state you're in, you actually think you could take me on?" she managed to say once her laugh had subsided.
"I-I.." he sighed, "Fuck it, you can just stand there and wait until I bleed out, not like I have long to live anyway. Fucking bandits.." he then coughed, spitting out blood afterwards.
Anna felt compelled to help this stranger, it wasn't really a problem. So she focused her magic letting the shine appear in her eyes, a bad move it turns out. The man forgot hiss wounds quickly amd used both feet amd hands to crawl away from her.
"Shit. Stay away witch, just get away from me you fucking freak." He yelled as loud as he could.
"Are you nuts, you're gonna die if I don't fix that hole in your body." She tried to explain.
"I won't let you anywhere near me, you're all fucking sick. I'd rather die from blood loss than be touched by your kind." Venom dripping from every word.
"Alright, how about this. I won't move from here, just sit still and let me see if I can plug the wound." Anna tried again.
"Hell no, I'm gonna get condemned to hell if I accept a demons help."
She scoffed "Is that what they tell you?"
"It's common knowledge. Freak."
"Urgh, you're impossible." She slapped both hands to her face and drug the downwards. Them lofted her icy one and splayed out her fingers, letting a mist of blue and white travel from the tips to the strangers body. It enveloped most of his torso. At first he winced, then he started screaming.
"SHUT UP, I can't concentrate".
"Fuck that, stop!"
Abruptly she stopped, closing her fist and let the remaining magic in the air dissipate, "Fine, go ahead and die here, alone" she twisted on her heel and walked away.
"I guess if he really doesn't want to be saved I should let him decide for himself right?"
"But you have the power to save him" Another voice chimed in, and it definitely wasn't Elsa. The voice was higher in tone, and sounded less like a young woman and more like a little girl. Anna knew the voice in any case, she just couldn't put her finger on whose it was.
"Yes I have, but he didn't want my help, so I'm not going to do that" she defended. But there was no response this time. She felt conflicted. Should she help someone who didn't want help? Or is respecting his choices the right thing to do? She stopped and looked back hearing the grunting of the man.
"Elsa saved me when I just wanted it to end, and I'm glad she did, I got to experience the fresh morning air and the soothing rays of the sunset at night." She then turned around and went back to the bleeding man.
"I told you to get away from me demoness." His voices was weak and he spat out a little blood.
"Tough luck, I'm going to help whether you like it or not" she then charged close to him and placed her palm over the wound, icing over the hole. The man reacted immediately, his breathing shuddered at the cold intrusion, but he straightened out his body with only slight discomfort.
The unknown man gave her a quizzical look.
"You're welcome, bye now" and she turned to leave again, but he caught her wrist and turned her around.
"Sorry, it's not common for a hybrid to do something selfless, every other one I've met has been egotistical and cruel, only doing things that would further their own goals. So thank you, I'll let other people know there are still someone out there doing good."
"There are more like me? Wait, who says I'm one of the good ones?" Anna countered
"Your actions just now is big proof." He smirked.
"Yeah yeah, sure, now go on, I need to find my… friends."
"You know where they were headed?" he asked.
"East", not like they ever told her any names for places, she only knew that her home was to the north-west, The Arrendelles lived in the north, and the Westergaardians lived to the south.
"That's.. Vague. Anyway, I can take you to the nearest town, it's a quaint little place just a couple of miles down the road, it's called Ravenbrook, the people aren't the warmest, but I'm sure someone there can use someone with those skills of yours, I don't think I've ever seen anyone move that fast before." He observed her for a couple of seconds, "what's the deal with your hair anyway? Or are you a lot older then you look and your hair is greying or is it related to those eyes of yours? And what about this hand? He took it between his gloves ones and pulled on her fingers, turning it around and scrutinizing it, then he did something that further stunned the already stunned redhead. His tongue darted out and licked her icy hand. She pulled it back in one swift jerk and hid it behind her.
"W-why did you just lick my hand?" she asked in shock.
"I had to see if it was actually ice, it certainly is cold. Tastes like ice to, but I guess ice doesn't taste like much. And you say 'my hand' does that mean you can feel with it? As in did I just lick your finger for real? Oh god you must think I'm some sort of weirdo, I mean I am, but not that kind of weirdo, there are a lot of them out there though, so be careful during night. Wait scratch that, you probably don't need to be careful, you got strength, I can see it in your eyes. Oh this is gonna be fun. Come with me, I want to see what you can do!" he was, enthusiastic, to say the least.
"Uhm, I'm not following, am I a no longer a demon to you or?" she couldn't tell if he was safe to be around, he completely did a 180 on her, calling her names only to talk to her as if he had known her for a long time, spouting questions and being a complete goof, she might come to like this strange man.
"Huh? Oh right I guess I did say some mean things, you see, last time I was helped by a hybrid I ended up loosing my house and job because I was 'indebted' to him for a year before he finally got what he wanted. I wasn't going to risk that again right after I was robbed and lost the last of my gold." He said casually as he inspected his boots and clothing.
Anna still just kept a confused look pointed at him, but the rustle of leaves made her ear twitch and turned towards it, the white wolf came walking with two rabbits caught in It's jaw.
"Oh, food, yay, mind if I join you? I know two rabbits aren't much for all three of us, but I'm really hungry. Pretty please?" And that's when Anna saw the eyes that she had been told about. She understood at that point how Elsa had been roped into the mischievous acts even if she didn't really want to.
"okay, fine, we can split one, my buddy here gets one for herself, she was the one who caught them after all" fairness was important to Anna, it was something she wished she had been shown herself, but nothing about her life had been fair. All the more reason to uphold it she thought.
"Perhaps that should be my goal, right all the wrongs, make sure everyone is treated equally and fairly. Yeah, that seems simple enough."
As they ate and travelled Anna learned that this newcomer was named Flynn, 20 years of age, he was a thief as it turned out, which didn't sit right with Anna, because thieves had stolen her from her parents, a long fight ensued where Flynn finally buckled and said he didn't really have a choice, he was an orphan like her, no money no home, a wanderer like Anna. His plans was to go north to Corona, but the last of his money was stolen, and without any, he couldn't buy his way out of this oppressing country. She listened intently as he explained how the gap between rich and poor was so immense that he never stopped stealing but instead of keeping it all, he gave it to the most oppressed people, the magical ones, the people that were even below the poorest, the slaves as it was. He turned out to have a deep sense of morals and he believed his actions were justified, because the slaves deserved freedom just as much as everyone else. And Anna could relate. Freedom was all she ever wanted, now that she had it, she wanted to give it to everyone. Starting with the Ravenbrook town they had arrived at.
"So why the crown of Corona?"
"Well, it's said that the gemstones in it is the magical kind, and that they are the reason the crown princesses powers can heal almost any injury. But since the princess isn't around any longer I want to grab it so it doesn't fall in the wrong hands."
"Well that makes sense, but what if she shows up again? Would you return it then?"
"Probably not, if I'm honest, my plan is to replace the gemstones and sell them to the highest bidder."
"Alright, good luck with that then. Perhaps we'll see each other around?"
"I don't doubt that for a second, you'll do great things in the future. I can feel it. You're passionate, and unwavering in your morals, I think those qualities alone will get you far, but it will certainly make a lot of enemies too. So take ca.. Oh shit" he was about to bid her goodbye and good luck until he noticed the royal horses coming into the town, so he had taken Anna by the wrist and pulled her aside, into a small alley between some buildings.
"Hey! What are y.." a hand clamped over her mouth stopped any more around from escaping.
"Look over there" he jerked his head slightly backwards and the left.
Her eyes followed the direction and saw the golden armored horses, royal horses. Which means they had either caught up to them or they were waiting here. Either way it was bad, Robert and Jonas would either be here or in the neighboring town. And they couldn't be caught, who would take Anna to the men who could fix her if they were gone? Panic. An emotion she knew too well bubbled up, constricting her airways, making her heave for air. Every breath became a struggle, but she had one escape.
"NO! No more of her, I don't want.. I don't.. I.." her eyes fell shut as she passed out.
Robert and Jonas had gotten their hands on a pair of nifty disguises, a cobbler and his assistant, obviously none of them knew how to craft footwear, but it still provided some security to be out of their cloaks and armor and into regular clothing. They were sitting by a secluded table once again to start the tracking spell that would lead them to Anna's location.
"Alright, here's what we're gonna do, you're going to keep an eye on this map and look for small yellow dots, it's not a hundred percent accurate since her magic is probably everywhere between here and the mansion, but it should show us a stronger output from her current location." Jonas explained as he mixed the ingredients, except for the tongue-like object, it wasn't really something you could grind.
The younger man took a deep breath and as he exhaled he closed his eyes. A light shone from the mix and he threw in the tongue. That made the light scatter in tiny rays, and for a second all they did was extend small beams in every direction. After a minute or so, the lights started to bend and point towards the map, but neither of them had expected the image that presented itself. The light was strong in two places, far up north in Arrendelle, and another one was in a town a few miles north of them. But that wasn't the interesting part, all the smaller dots couldn't decide where she had been, they kept changing, switching locations haphazardly until the formed a straight line between the two stronger points.
"Wow, that is.. Extraordinary.. I've never seen a connection this strong before." Jonas said to himself.
"What? What does this mean exactly?" Robert was obviously confused.
"This" he traced the line with a finger, "Is the reason she's been all over the place after we escaped, something happened to her between the mansion burning down and finding her unconscious behind it. Her magic changed as we travelled, I just couldn't figure out why, but this is it. I think I know who gave her the powers over ice and frost." He said with a hint of arrogance.
"Who?" Robert asked perplexed.
"Well none other than the princess of Arrendelle, the queen of ice. Unless her brother suddenly developed some much more powerful abilities than our info tells us about him."
"What? Why would she be down here in the first place? Aren't the north and the south in some perpetual war?"
"Yes, they are, but it's been put on hold because of the increase in mystical creatures in the dark zone between their lands, the southerners are stocking up on weapons and armor, out east in New Asia there are reports of a massive invasion from the sea. Mages have been working double time to hold them back, we fear It's going to happen here too. The Westergaards can't afford to fight both the dark and the north at the same time. Besides, west of the sky mountain, is the only place to freely walk across the borders, but Arrendelle has a massive force field that keeps the south at bay, last I heard they had gathered enough magic crystals to keep it up for another three years."
"That's a lot of crystals. How did they even gather that many?"
"Beats me, they could have figured out a way to extend a crystals lifespan, or learned how to make them themselves. Magic is developing differently all around the planet, there is bound to be different things discovered from place to place."
"Hmm, do you think it's possible that the dark is being ruled by someone or something?"
"Like some dark overlord? There could be, but it would have to be from one of the 'humanlike species' ranks? I've read that werewolves have telepathic abilities. vampires are like ants, uniform in thought. The Succubi is powerful but they usually feed from willing people, not always malicious. Dryads, Elf, Fairies, all a part of the dark but not hostile, my personal belief, we should work together humans and myths alike, hell I'm not sure we can still be called human these days. Then there are the more rare ones, Nephilim, Nymphs, Salamanders, well there are a lot, and anyone of them could be walking around among us, plotting, it's a scary thought"
"Not much to do about it though"
"No, sadly not. If only the king would allow free use of magic, we could create safe cities, water filtering would be faster, food would be cultivated much more efficiently, even our houses would be better isolated from weather, if we don't go so far as to change the weather itself. So many options, but no. The king is a dumbass with too much military power."
"Is that why you do this?"
"Do what?"
"You know, getting Anna to your clan, training her. You want her to tear this country apart won't you?"
"No, well not really, I want her to destroy strongholds, to remove the oppressing force that keeps everyone in line, you haven't lived in the south for that long have you?"
"No, about 4 years, I used to live on a small farm at the outskirts of the Giraldan kingdom. Then I got transferred, I was told to stay put until my services were needed, I didn't have a choice, my family was provided for handsomely. And the rest you know, I broke of course, but my wife is good with money, she saved a bunch of it without me knowing, and it came in handy once she had to run."
"I see."
"Is it truly that bad?"
"It is, not only are they the lowest ranked people in terms of privileges. They get the worst food, the most dingy houses and the least protection, in some parts of the larger cities they are constantly abused and robbed, even killed. It's a horrible place as it is now, and progress on our research is slow. I hope that Anna is willing to help me, if she isn't then I hope she'll at least help us by letting my clan observe her, that way she can help without actually doing anything she doesn't want to"
"Wow, okay, I guess that a pretty good reason to feel the need for change." Robert grimly said.
"I would like to think I have good intentions, my methods are only as drastic as they need to be, nothing more nothing less. I'm ready to do whatever is necessary to save this land from their clutches, I hope you will do the same. Anyway, let's get this show on the road, I'll get the barkeeper to send her a message" Jonas said as he stood from the table clutching a new walking cane Robert had brought him, but before he hoppled over to the bare Robert ask him one last thing.
"How can he send a message to her directly?"
"Magic, a crystal can be used to shape a bird out of magic, it will seek out whoever the caster focuses on. How did you send messages during wartime?"
"Messengers, people you know"
"I guess we can also teach you a thing or two then" Jonas laughed and left Robert alone at the table.
Hey. It's been a while. My updates aren't as fast as others, so, sorry about that. I don't have much to say other than, I'm trying to improve and I think I need to tell a bit more about my OC's and their backstory, and I need to tell you more about the way everything looks, what climates there are in the different parts of the world, how the different kingdoms has different styles in terms of buildings and decorations. I read a few other stories and it seems that that is something I'm missing, how the weather is, how tress rustle in the winds. That sort of thing is what I'm going to try to have more of, I heard it gives a better understanding of the story in general.
After everything is said and done, this is still just me practicing and it may end up being a horrible story, but at least its my story, and the next one will be better, and the one after that even more so. I just hope you won't cut the story without telling me why, so I can fix it and improve for the next one
Much love from Mr. Turtle :D