Bit of a longer chapter for you guys - goes into Hans's past a bit more!
Disclaimer: I do not own Disney or Frozen
Hans's leg curls up near his chest, in a somewhat innocent and childlike position. The pajama bottoms tug up and reveal deep childhood scars on his legs. Bulda hobbles to them and inspects, tracing them with stone fingers. She pulls out a green mist held within them connecting them to their respective memories.
In the dark room, the bright mist shines and shows a young freckled boy with a bright smile. His short legs scurry to catch the older boys, running much faster then him, "Theo, Bastian, wait for me!" The young child yells out in his fancy clothes.
"Oi, forget him," the older one laughs, "he's too slow!" The boys grab their horses and with ease climb atop them, getting ready to gallop off into the distance.
"Wait!" The little boy's distraught voice cries out, still running to catch up. He doesn't anticipate the stone obstacle in front of him and trips, catching his foot. The boy's small body skids on the ground, the hard rocks ripping holes into his knees and legs.
His eyes get watery and Bulda hears the word failure being repeated in Hans's mind. She sighs at the sad memory (they're never memories you want to read of someone) as she tries to continue on with the memories. They don't get better, they consist of young Hans trying to pick off the scabs, in attempt to show no pain through tear stricken eyes. Of him always trying to push himself harder than he should have to in order to match his brothers.
The boy had always pushed himself. Even beneath the visible scars on his legs, lay the scars of words. The mist plays the scene troubling Hans the most and Bulda nosily reads into it.
"Mommy... where are you going?" The boy is drenched in rain he's not much older than he was in the last picture, he continues following his mother out into the rain, "Mommy, come back!"
The woman turns and for a brief moment is struck with grief, but hides it with a cruel laugh, "Go back inside."
Tears fall from the little boy's face and start mixing with the rain as he runs and clutches onto her cloak, "Please mommy, I love you," he cries into her long skirt blowing amidst the storm.
"If only someone loved you, Hans..."
And that's all she says as she breaks away from the sobbing boy. The boy who was supposed to be the little girl she wanted. But the Queen had failed at producing a daughter for the kingdom – instead it was just another sickly boy. Instead it was Hans.
Bulda notices Hans's face struggling to sleep at being reminded of the dark memory, in a moment of sympathy she pulls it out of him, calming him. She taps her stone chin... what can I use?
Another memory is thrusted out at her, almost as sad as the last. This boy's father, the King of the Southern Isles. His face worn and grisly, he turns to the young teenager with the gangly figure and greasy hair.
"Hans was it? Right, Hans," he turns to his thirteenth son. The unlucky number. The one the trolls said would be a girl, but wasn't, "you're telling me you want an education..."
"Yes father..." Hans stares at his shoes, "I want to learn."
"Why? To be better than your brothers?"
Hans swallows the lump in his throat, "N-No, I... please, father."
The large man merely chuckles and nods, "Fine, I'll send you to school," he narrows his eyes, "just never forget what I do for you. How I forgive you for killing my wife everyday of your pathetic life."
This pierces through the young boy like a knife, "she was my mother."
The King grimaces at the boy in disgust, "Leave, educate yourself. You won't be missed."
The young teenager turns to exit the castle, "Oh, and Hans. Don't ever embarrass me, or you will never be known as my son."
Bulda shivers at the hostility found within the family. She ponders whether or not she should adjust these terrible remarks, but remembers her real purpose. Still, there was something so sad about this boy's life. He was either forgotten by some of his brothers, or hated by others. At least there are a few happy moments in the boy's life.
She smiles a bit finding his relationship to his horse like that of Kristoff and his reindeer. The young prince had always been fond of brushing the horse's hair, and bathing the horse instead of having the stable masters do it. He slept more often in the stables with his horse than inside the castle.
"Come on Sitron! Let's go play!" The young prince would almost always greet his horse. The tanned and black horse would gladly gallop around with the little boy. Bulda didn't dare touch those memories of fun she let them dance around in the troubled Prince's head.
"Alright, let's start getting somewhere... what do you really want?" Bulda asked, talking to herself as she tapped on the Prince's head pulling out his desires. The images were varied but his number one goal was to marry Anna. Bulda's troll eyes shook at the image of the young prince kissing the giggling princess on the cheek in her long white gown, "Come on there's gotta be something better than that!"
A picture of Hans flashes by. It's of him only, looking sternly in the picture. Dressed as a King holding the scepter. Wearing a crown decorated with jewels. Bulda laughs gently, he wants to be King...
She claps her hand ready to make Hans's priorities shift to taking over a kingdom when another image flashes by. It's of his gloved hand within another gloved hand, this one light blue and dainty. Another woman? Bulda scans the image, and notices it's Queen Elsa. Her eyes grow wide.
Would she shift his priorities toward being King or... Elsa, a hopeless cause?
"He's already been hurt enough..." she curses her big heart as she weaves a spell with Anna's blood. She quickly pricks Hans and chants a short hum, mixing the memories and priorities all in a swirl and capturing them all in her stone hands.
She places them back into Hans. Patting his forehead and letting him sleep as she pulls the blanket back over him. Her work was done. No one ever said trolls were the most moral of mystical creatures, they were tricky – and family came first. She hopped into herself and began rolling out of the castle leaving a changed Hans in its wake.
Reviews and comments are appreciated, thank you!