Author's Note: It seemed that some readers were worried that this chapter would be about the trolls and not the Elsa's and Hiccup's meeting…well, I guess I managed to…'troll' you guys?
Anyway, a little bit of Q & A session before we start.
Princess of Midnight: The F-word is kinda…well, for the sake of convenience (of the readers and story) I decided to forgo the language barrier and perhaps the time period associated with the particular words as well. Consider it as dubbing in shows where the spoken language is changed to tailor for specific audience, without the need for translation subtitles.
In other words, consider the F-word to be the Viking's swear language translated to English. I know it might not be accurate and breaks the immersion a little bit, but unfortunately, it is beyond my capability to be accurate on the languages.
T-Biggz: The reason why I didn't mention Valka is because that there is a speculation that she might not be Hiccup's mother. I mean, some speculate that the reason why Dreamworks revealed Valka early is to set for a plot twist; that she might not be his mother at all. I could make her as Hiccup's mother but if it is revealed to be the opposite, it's gonna be weird and awkward in my story. That's why, I want to hold of Valka's reveal for as long as possible. That and it doesn't seem the right time for her to appear yet.
Truth to be told, I'm not comfortable at using materials I hardly know much about and in this case, the events in the second movie. Mentioning even the second movie's villain kinda puts me off, hence the short mention.
For me, to be completely safe, the original plan for this story is to wait for the second movie to come out then I can began using the second movie's materials comfortably and even 'sync' the Hiccup in my story with the movie. However, the wait is too long! And by that time, my inspiration to write this story might have been gone. Hell, should I wait, this story might not even make it to the Internet! I might make some changes if I feel the need for it once the movie comes out, however.
Colonel Pepper: Long story? Marriage? Epilogue? If only you know what I had in mind for this story…the only problem is writing it down! Man, I wish there's a device that can read your mind and write for you. Oh well…
CHAPTER 7 – First Impressions
Before today, Elsa would wake up feeling dread, hoping and praying that the Vikings would not come that day or even never at all. Today however, she woke up and found out that she did not have to hope and pray for such thing anymore.
Elsa woke up feeling great! She felt as if she could take on the world! This might what Anna feels every morning!
If she would wake up that is.
Elsa watched her sister's sleeping face and giggled. The first time they've sleep together after their isolation, Elsa woke up screaming at seeing her sister's bed head. Seriously, how on Earth did it managed to get that way? It was as if her hair became alive every night and decided to run away from its master or something.
Elsa smiled and decided that a cold wakeup call is appropriate.
The Snow Queen conjured a bed of snow to appear on the floor beside Anna's side of the bed. Elsa then carefully took away the blanket and with all her strength (it was either Elsa's in need of exercise or Anna was just that heavy), pushed Anna off the bed.
"Whoa-" Anna instantly woke up when her body sensed that she was falling and fall face first into the snow. To add salt to the wound, Elsa conjured more snow to completely cover her younger sister with the cold powdery white substance.
"GAAAAHHH!" Anna immediately got to her knees, sending snow everywhere to search for the culprit. Said culprit was laughing very hard in an unrestrained manner, something that was quite rare for her to do.
"You-" Elsa tried to say. "-you're a Yeti!"
True enough, Anna did look like a Yeti. For some reason, her messy bed head didn't get push down by the snow but instead it holds the snow! Furthermore, her face got snow stuck to it, leaving only the eyes visible.
Hearing Elsa laughed made her grin and Anna waited for a while to savor the moment before throwing a snowball at her sister's face, causing her to gasp.
"Oh yeah? I'm also the tickle monster!" Anna said and jumped on her sister.
"N-no!" Elsa tried to escape, but it was futile.
…
The positive feeling continued for most of Elsa's morning. Breakfast was a bit weird as it was silent for a while, and that was a very rare occurrence in the royal sister's life.
Anna hated silence, especially between her and Elsa on mealtimes. It was during mealtimes that Anna would be the most talkative, especially during breakfast and dinner. Usually, on breakfast Anna would ask Elsa on her plans for the day and on dinner, she would ask Elsa how her day was before telling her own. It was the time that Anna, Elsa and Kristoff could bond together.
Usually, a silent meal meant that something bad had happen. It could be an argument between the sisters, or between Anna and Kristoff or perhaps something else. However, the breakfast that morning was silent in a good way. The sisters didn't utter a word but smiles can be seen on their faces.
The silence was short-lived however as the dining hall's doors opened to reveal Kristoff. He raised an eyebrow as he examined the sisters' silence but smiled as he saw the smiles on their faces.
"I thought I missed breakfast," Kristoff said with a grin and took a seat. Breakfast then became lively again as Anna pestered Kristoff on what he did the day before and the dining hall was filled with laughter again.
For most of the morning, Elsa felt wonderful and braver than she was yesterday. For the first time, she hoped that the Vikings would arrive that very same day so she could deal with them.
Elsa got her wish. It wasn't even noon when she received news from Kai that a huge ship unlike they have ever seen before with the Viking flag was nearing their harbor.
Anna turned to look at her sister when they heard the news and she was relieved to find that Elsa showed no fear but fierce determination.
'You may be the King of Dragons, Viking King but my sister is the Queen of Winter!' Anna thought with a smile.
…
"Toothless, you need to stay here, okay?" Hiccup said to the Night Fury who was giving him pleading look.
Hiccup sighed. "I know, buddy, but it's only for a while and I'll be alright since we don't have any war on our head…for the moment. Besides, if I need you, I'll signal you, alright?"
Hiccup scratched Toothless head and the dragon purred happily. "I'll see you soon, okay?" Hiccup said and Toothless gave him a smile and the Viking King returned it.
Hiccup turned away and began his way back to the deck of the ship. The ship he was in was named the Jörmungandr or the Midgard Serpent. As Midgard was the name of the world (according to the Vikings), the name also translates to the World Serpent.
In Norse legend, Jörmungandr was a huge serpent that could encircle the world.
True to its name, the ship Jörmungandr was humongous. Serving as the flagship of the Viking Kingdom's navy, it was a multihull ship and the largest of its kind. The world probably has never seen anything like it before and every Viking agreed that it would make quite an impression.
This was because the Jörmungandr was a weird, unique and interesting ship. Most ships were of a single hull, but Jörmungandr has three. The central hull, which was the largest, contained most of the vital components of the ship, namely the living quarters, supplies, personnel weapons and even have an exclusive level to hold dragons. The stern of the central hull of the dragon's floor has doors that can be opened so that the dragons can enter or exit the ship. The smaller side hulls of the ship were often called the gun rigs as it held the ship's cannons for ship-to-ship combat.
Most people that saw the ship for the first time would be afraid of the ship's size and cannons. Truth to be told, the cannons were last resort when enemy ships got too close. The main weapon of the ship was the dragons. The Jörmungandr was the first 'carrier ship' in the world and it was capable of bringing dragons across vast distances and into new territories.
Needless to say, when Jörmungandr was filled with a fleet of dragons, especially Night Furies, it can single handedly destroy an entire fleet of warships.
Hiccup took his time in traversing the ship and the Viking crew nodded at him. The Viking King returned the gesture and was thankful that the crew didn't ask anything. He then reached the deck where the twins and Sigurd was waiting for him. The twins avoided eye contact and Hiccup preferred that way. Sigurd nodded to him and told him that they are ready to land.
"Alright, let's get this charade under way, hmm?" Hiccup remarked sarcastically and Tuffnut only grunted in response.
…
When Frederik saw the Viking's flagship, all he could say was "Fuck,"
Hugo heard it and gave him a worried look. "Yes, fuck indeed,"
'Seriously? Seriously?! The Vikings already have dragons under their control and now they have a kick-ass ship too?' Frederik thought has he tapped his finger on his sword.
The ship was huge and unconventional but Frederik knew why it was like that; to carry dragons. It would be stupid really to leave such powerful weapons at home.
Sure enough, the ship drew the attention of everyone in the area. Merchants, traders and the people of Arendelle stopped what they were doing as they watched the humongous ship that was taking a lot of space at the harbor. Large ships wasn't a problem at harbors because most of them were just single hull ships and their size were attributed to their length and height.
The Viking's flagship however, was not only huge in terms of length and height, it was also wide!
Frederik had to order the harbormaster to move most of the merchant ships to make space for that monstrosity.
'Live with monsters and you might as well become them,' Frederik thought.
The ship managed to dock without trouble and Frederik didn't have to wait long when the Vikings came out from the ship.
The first person to step on the pier was a huge blonde man wearing a complete grey armor and a huge two handed sword strapped to his back. He looked like he could take on ten people without trouble. If anything, the man reminded him of Kristoff except armored and armed.
Frederik's guards shifted uncomfortably at seeing the mountain of man. "Sir, is he the Viking King?" one of his men asked and Frederik didn't reply.
The armored Viking didn't move towards him but instead waited for another person. The person in question was smaller than the armored Viking but wore clothing more suitable for a royal than warriors. However, what surprised him more was that the Viking King was young, almost as the same age as Elsa.
"No. He's the bodyguard. That is the Viking King," Hugo said to the General and his men.
'Is this the guy that tamed dragons and unified the Vikings?' Frederik thought and he wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or bad. Furthermore, the Viking King looked angry. 'Bad day?'
The Viking King then walked towards them and Hugo made the first move. "Welcome to Arendelle. I am Hugo Johannes, Arendelle's Minister of Foreign Affairs" Hugo bowed curtly and Frederik introduced himself next.
"I am Frederik Havar, Arendelle's General of the Army," Frederik said.
Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this. Why would they sent the general to greet him? Nevertheless, he didn't want to be rude.
"King-" Hiccup internally grimaced at calling himself king. He still wasn't used to it. "-Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third of the Kingdom of Berk,"
If he and his men hasn't heard the Viking King's name and his kingdom, they might have laughed. Fortunately, they were prepared and thankfully, his men kept a straight face. Still, trying not laugh at hearing the name said by an incredibly tense and serious face was a very hard task to do.
Luckily Hugo managed to change the subject soon enough. "Forgive me, the General is here under the impression that you might arrive with your dragons,"
Hiccup was silent for a moment before answering with a straight face. "And what if we did?" Hiccup said, as if challenged.
Frederik wanted to say that Arendelle doesn't want the dragons near anywhere the castle but that wasn't his job at the moment. It was Hugo's.
"Well, we are happy to inform you that we have prepared a comfortable stable for your dragons," Hugo said and Hiccup was quick to reply.
"No, they're comfortable where they are now. Leave them be, and they won't disturb anyone," Hiccup said and Hugo nervously nodded. Frederik doesn't look satisfied with the answer, probably thinking that it would be safer if they chained the dragons first.
Well, tough luck then.
"Very well. Let's us meet with the Queen!" Hugo said with a bit of pretend excitement.
…
Anna suggested for Elsa to wear her Snow Queen attire and 'demonstrate' a bit of her power to subtly show that she wasn't afraid to use it against the Vikings.
Elsa shot down the idea saying that it would make her more…appealing to the Viking King, especially when she was in her rather revealing Snow Queen dress.
Anna only gave an "oh" after hearing the answer.
So here she was on her throne in her normal Queen dress, waiting for the arrival of the Vikings.
The wait seemed like an eternity and it was becoming unbearable to the young Queen by the second. In her mind, she was preparing herself for the meeting but for every second passed, the growing nervousness was eating away at her confidence.
Anna seemed to realize this and gripped Elsa's hand, drawing her away from her train of thought. "You can do this!" Anna smiled.
Elsa stared at Anna's determined eyes and she felt her strength returning back to her. Elsa sighed and nodded. "You're right,"
The doors to the throne room opened to reveal Hugo and Frederik who then went to their position in her court. The Viking group then entered the court and while they were walking towards her, Elsa took the chance to examine the group.
Elsa's eyes first went to the familiar faces of the Viking twins, which she realized that Tuffnut doesn't look happy and Ruffnut kept a neutral look. Elsa wondered why but it wasn't the right moment to ask and she shifted her attention to the huge armored and armed Viking. Elsa didn't know the person but knew well enough what he was; a bodyguard.
Which left the only person who was in front of the group to be the Viking King. He certainly wasn't what Elsa was expecting as he was…smaller in size and build. Wearing a red fur cape, a simple looking green long sleeved shirt, blue pants and leather boots? Elsa was under the impression that the Viking King's left leg were gone and a peg would replace it but all she could see was a rather normal left leg.
Unless he hid the peg inside the boots.
Elsa then shifted her attention to the Viking King's face. He has auburn hair which was the same as 'that guy'! Of course, that was where the similarities end. The Viking King's hair was untamed and wild. It was improper for men of the court to be like that but to Elsa, it was a refreshing sight. Plus, it reminded her of their close friend, the mountain man Kristoff. The Viking King also didn't have the usual handsome and 'perfect' noble's face. He has freckles on his cheek and a rather large nose, which was another reminder to the mountain man.
However, the Viking King has a furious look on his face. Elsa's heartbeat rise again as she wondered what would be the reason for the Viking King's fury. She hoped it wasn't because of her kingdom. Nevertheless, she realized something. It might have just been her gut feeling, but she reasoned that the Viking King's furious look doesn't suit him.
Not to say that the Viking King can't pull an angry look to scare people. Oh he could! It was just that, his face was made for a more comforting look.
The Viking King looked different from The Snow Queen's previous suitors and for some reason, it gave her a mixed feeling.
…
Hiccup didn't hear much about the Snow Queen, well, except from the twins but given the recent events, he didn't think he could trust anything that came out from their mouths any more.
However, he could not deny that what the twins told about the Queen was true. The Queen was young and almost the same age as him. She was also supposedly to be very beautiful; an exotic and ethereal beauty.
'Eehh, no, not really,' Hiccup thought as he slowly walk towards the Queen to buy more time to examine her just as she was doing to him.
Well, it could be that in Hiccup's heart, there was only one beautiful woman in his life and others just couldn't compare. That and Elsa seemed similar to Astrid somewhat.
'Just because she has blonde hair?' Logical Hiccup scolded him. 'And it's not the same blonde!'
'Shut up!'
Okay, right now in her royal dress, she doesn't look like Astrid at all. It was just that…
"They even think that you don't have any interest with woman any more, and that you'd rather fuck a dragon!"
Remembering those words caused Hiccup's anger to rise again. Great, and he was feeling a little less angry before.
'Dammit! Why can't I just told her that I wasn't interested at all?' Hiccup thought.
He could, but not now. It would be weird if he back away now without at least spend some time with her. People would say that the Viking King was afraid of the Snow Queen. He didn't care what people would think of him but…it wasn't about just about him anymore.
And so, he has to 'suck it up' for the moment, just for a while.
…
Kai then silently cleared his throat before doing his job.
"Presenting King Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third of the Kingdom of Berk," Kai announced.
"Welcome to Arendelle, I am Queen Elsa," Elsa managed to say with confidence.
King Hiccup nodded before bowing curtly. "Thank you, Queen Elsa. As you know, I am King Hiccup. This is my bodyguard Sigurd Eriksson," he gestured towards Sigurd. "And I'm sure you've been acquainted with my emissaries, Tuffnut Thorston and Ruffnut Ingerman,"
Elsa nodded. 'Ah, so the sister is married,'
"Yes, I have," Elsa said.
"I hope they didn't give you too much trouble," Hiccup said and his voice was somewhat laced with sarcasm?
'Too much trouble?' Elsa thought. It was weird that he would even mention trouble, let alone too much trouble! Granted, the twins did cause some trouble with their unorthodox method but was it expected from them then? If they were troublemakers, why gave them such an important position?
Tuffnut rolled his eyes while Ruffnut avoided eye contact.
'Something did happen between them,' Elsa thought.
"No, they weren't a trouble at all," Elsa said, which it wasn't the complete truth, but there's no point fanning the fires now.
Hiccup shrugged, looking as if he wasn't buying it. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting with the famous and…" Hiccup hesitated, as if saying the next word was painful to him. "-beautiful…Queen of Arendelle,"
The court then became deathly silent when compared to the usual silence when the royalties weren't talking. Ruffnut covered her mouth as well as Tuffnut's who was on the verge of saying something. Sigurd sighed but it went unnoticed by Hiccup.
'Goddamit Hiccup! I know you're still thinking of Astrid, but at least make it believable!' Sigurd thought.
Anna bit the inside of her cheek to stop her from saying things that she might regret later. Elsa however was a bit miffed in the inside.
'He hesitated? It's like he was forced to say that!' Elsa thought.
Elsa wasn't a vain person and she didn't care about her beauty very much. It was mostly because she had other pressing matters to worry about. That and her makeup was taken care of by the servants (and they always make sure she looks beautiful) and she figured that her marriage (if she was ever to get married) would be because of other factors and not for her beauty.
Sure, she had to look beautiful at least for occasions such as this. Sure, she heard a lot of people that sung praises to her beauty, a lot of it from her people. But people of power such as nobles or especially from her suitors, she felt that it was more of a necessity; either because the fear of her, or because one of the many rules of being a noble; to butter the other nobles.
Beauty was never an issue to Elsa as she didn't want to think that that was all to her. She has other factors to make it up for it, even though those factors might not be her own. However, to hear another person, especially a royalty to say that to her was quite a blow to her self-conscious. Not to mention that this would be quite possibly the first time she heard that.
Of course, technically, King Hiccup didn't outright say that she was ugly but…
At that moment, Elsa thought that maybe, she should have worn her Snow Queen dress.
'What are you worrying about? Isn't this wonderful news? He might not be interested in you in the end!' Logic Elsa scolded her.
'Yeah, he's only interested in the 'Snow Queen' and my kingdom, just like the rest,' Elsa thought.
Her rational mind was silent and it frustrated her. She hoped for a rebuttal to say that she was wrong and was overthinking it like usual when it comes to the Vikings but…
It was funny really. She knew her suitors wasn't interested in her as a person and they hid it well. It didn't faze her, so then why the Viking King had such an impact to her? Was it because he was a bit more direct in the matter? Was it because he was supposedly different from the rest?
Elsa didn't realize it but during her inner turmoil, she was silent for a while and was hugging her arms. Anna was furious in the inside and just wanted to jump at the Viking King for his crime!
'How dare him! My sister is the prettiest, beautifullest, most awesome sister in the world!' Anna thought.
Hiccup however was oblivious to the whole thing as his judgement was still clouded by his own negative train of thought. He wondered why the Queen was suddenly silent. Was she expecting more praises from him?
Hiccup internally groaned. One of the reasons why he didn't want to meet the other foreign kingdom was because of the different rules and customs when speaking to their leader. With the other Viking Chiefs it was simple and straight to the point really. There was no need for this sort of ritual to speak to the rulers. Really, it was as if the rulers were treated as something above humans or something.
Which wasn't surprising really. A lot of cultures paint their rulers as deities and it didn't help that the belief was self-propagated by the rulers themselves.
'What, just because she has magical powers, I have to butter her up? I hope she didn't think that she's some kind of goddess of something. Hmph, 'Snow Queen'. What's next? 'Snow Goddess?'' Hiccup thought.
'Well, maybe you should? She could freeze your balls after all,' Logic Hiccup cut in.
'Shut up!'
Luckily for both Queen and King, the situation was saved by Kai, who cleared his throat and managed to return Elsa to reality. Elsa turned to look at Anna, who clearly had a disapproving look on her face, and then to Kai who was silently telling her to keep the ball rolling, so to speak.
Elsa then turned her attention to the Viking King again, this time with a determined look.
"Thank you," Elsa said with a little venom in her voice. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this, as if he was innocent. Elsa then decided to…play a little bit with the Viking King.
Technically, she, as the host was supposed to invite the Vikings to stay, offer a tour around the castle and town and invite them for meals. Even if she didn't welcome their stay, she wasn't supposed to leave them hanging. It was rude…but, let's see how the Viking King would react, hmm?
Elsa then stayed quiet, waiting for King Hiccup to make his move and say something. The deathly silence then returned again and everyone could feel the tension in the air.
Well, everyone except Hiccup.
Hiccup didn't say anything and he looked at Elsa and her surrounding rather…nervously? It was as if he didn't know what to do or he was in an awkward situation that he could not get out from.
That was because Hiccup really didn't know what to do next. This meeting wasn't what he expected when he came here. At first, the meeting was to diffuse a 'situation' that could lead to war between the two kingdoms. Of course, he then learned that the 'situation' didn't exists. If it did, it would be much simpler then. He could just explain what happened, apologize, pay the compensation and go back home.
Now? Things were a lot more complicated. Under normal circumstances, and if this meeting was about a different topic, Hiccup would have fared better. Unfortunately, it has to be the topic that he didn't want to talk about!
What was he going to say to her? Give her more half-assed praises? Ask her what to do next? Ask her permission to leave?
Hiccup then sighed and rubbed the back of his head while looking at floor. Seeing this gesture, Elsa raised an eyebrow.
It was strange, really. People that met her, barring her subject, rarely stayed quiet for a long time like this especially when it was their turn to talk. Her suitors would take this chance to flatter her or talk about them or the gifts that they've bought and so on while diplomats would try to sweet talk her into their way of thinking.
King Hiccup however, looked lost.
Elsa then decided that she had her 'fun'.
"King Hiccup, since we are nearing lunchtime, I would like to invite you and your party to lunch. After that, my sister and I would give you a tour of our castle and town. Would you like to join us?" Elsa offered.
Hiccup and the rest of the Vikings internally sighed at being free from the awkward situation. "That would be nice. Thank you," Hiccup replied.
"Lunch is going to be super awkward," Tuffnut whispered to his sister.
"Tell me about it," Ruffnut whispered back.
Author's Note: There it is! The meeting that you've all been waiting for! This is seriously hard to write! Elsa might seem overreacting but as far as I know, when it comes to politics and the royal court, posturing is very important. Make a move or bad choices of words that would make other people interpret it negatively could spell disaster, even if you didn't mean to offend somebody.
Still, not sure if I'm happy with this chapter as it has a lot of inner monologue. Oh well, next chapter should be more fun to write I guess? One more chapter of angry Hiccup and we can get to the fluffy part!
Oh and congrats to guest reader SchoolBurner who (seemed to?) have found my secret reference! Truth to be told, there's still other secret references yet to be found in the previous chapters! See if you, the readers can find them!
Read and Review!