CHAPTER 11-The Big Four
When they finished eating, Tooth took them farther down the stream where it opens up into a large pond ending against the cavern wall. On the wall was a portrait of Tooth, a perfect match to the picture of her in the Promise Book.
"They will be arriving soon." Tooth announce after hearing the news from her fairies.
It has already been explained over lunch that Lukas will not be doing the Pact, only Elsa and Anna will partake in the ceremony. But despite so, Anna was still excited. It was obvious by the way she raised both her arms from time to time, bringing them together to claps her hand before returning them to her side, not to mention the big smile on her face was a dead give-away. Elsa on the other hand maintains her queenly stature, not quite looking forward to meeting the new Beings by the indication of her eyes.
"Are they here yet?" Elsa asks nervously, "we only have two days left before Hans comes back."
Sandy replied with a smile on his face, hands clapping happily as he made a sign above his head resembling a flame.
"Ah, right on time!" said North happily.
Bunny rolled his eyes and cross his arms. "Great," he said sarcastically, "here comes the flaming arrows."
"It was an accident Bunny, she was still learning at the time." Tooth defends, while discreetly moving away from Bunny, getting the feeling that she shouldn't want to be too close to him.
"She set my tail on fire mate!"
As if on cue, a horse's cry was herd, coming from somewhere up in the cavern. It was followed by a girl's haughty laugh, as she urges her steed to go faster, crying "Come-on Angus, come-on!"
Elsa, Anna, and Lukas all look up to see who this incoming Being is. She looks no more than just an ordinary girl, appears human as much as North but they couldn't be too sure. Her horse was running too fast, leaping a great feat from one level of columns to a lower one. The only thing that was distinguishing about the Being was the color of her hair. A balanced mixture of warm red and the orange of a sunset, seeming to glow every time it was caught in the sun's light.
With a powerful cry from her steed, the beast leaps straight down to the ground, splashing across the stream. The horse was massive—a heavy breed, a black mighty beauty Angus was, with a white muzzle and fetlocks.
Still galloping at full speed, she steered her horse towards Bunny. "Don't you dare redhead!" he warns, while agitatedly twitching his foot in preparation to jump. That only made the girl smile even more. She crouches low and clutched the reins tighter. "Red-red-red-red-REEED!" Bunny jumps backward in time to get out of the way, but to only have ended up falling through the surface of the pond, with only his long ears sticking out of the water.
The girl snorted as she busted out laughing. She didn't actually plan on hitting Bunny, but to stop Angus right before impact. Getting Bunny to jump was her goal, but into the water with only his ears being visible, was a bonus.
Now that she's closer, the humans could see that the Being was no more than a young girl. She was slender with a round face. Her hair was massive and long, though it's ridiculously curly. She has on a medieval style off-the-shoulder dress; it was floor length, made from a dark viridian green fabric, long sleeves, and she has on taupe boots to go with it. The arrows that Bunny spoke of were in their leather quiver fashioned around her waist. Her bow strung over her back. She even has a slick long blade, strap to the side of her saddle.
"That wasn't very nice Merida," said North with a stern expression, however the glint in his eyes and the lightness in his voice speaks otherwise. He was fairly amused. It was the opposite for the others. They were concern, looking back and forth between Merida and Bunny's location.
Apparently Merida also has a strong and rich accent as North, but it sounded strange to the trios. They have yet to ever hear of one such as Merida's. "So what's the emergency here North?" Merida asks.
"I'll tell you when the others are here. But come, meet our guest, they have need of our aid." Merida turns in the direction of Elsa's party. Her eyes widen in shock when she saw them, but quickly narrow in sharp, as if they were an unwelcoming sight. She turns back to look at North. "I'll tell you when the others are here," he repeated himself.
Accepting his terms, Merida's expression changed once more, returning to that grand look she had when she made her appearance. "Well now, this is a surprise," she said amusingly, but didn't give time for the guest to respond. Swiftly she dismounted her horse and stood tall as she introduced herself. "My name is Merida, and this is my horse Angus. For whatever reason you're here it must be serious, but you can count on me to lend the strength of my bow and sword to you, so long as Snow Queen there doesn't go messing with my summers again."
"Wait, Snow Queen?" ask Elsa in confusion.
"It's one of your titles isn't it?" Merida respond, surprise by Elsa's question.
"You know about the incident—you know who I am?"
At that she chuckled. "Of course I do! I'm the Spirit of Summer! And you're quite famous in the spirit world after that little frozen stunt you did. "
"She's real Elsa!" Anna said excitedly into her sister's ear. "Wait till Rapunzel hears about this."
"But what can the Spirit of Summer do?" whispered Lukas with strong doubts. "Her weapons look mortal enough."
A fiery arrow was suddenly struck near Lukas's feet, causing him to jump back in fright. All three of them look towards Merida. "There's a difference for ya." Merida stated firmly with a strong and proud expression. "What matters the weapon of choice, when the power of the welder is greater?" As proof, she snaps her fingers and the arrow was extinguish, crumbling into ashes before vanishing.
"Have you all forgotten about me?!" Bunny shouted in anger. He was still in his watery position but his head was now above the liquid. Bunny moved forward slowly, steadily resurfacing the rest of his body while mumbling to himself all the way. But it got louder as he made his way onto land, glaring daggers at Merida. "I swear, the more you hang with Frost the more you become like him. Ha, you may actually be worse than him!"
"Aaaw, that was a nice compliment there Bunny, and great job Merida." This voice came from nowhere. It was a bit deep belonging to a young man, but Elsa, Anna, and Lukas couldn't find the speaker.
"Frost, did you planed this with Red here?!" Bunny shouted, looking around as well. He had his paw around his boomerang, wanting to hit this Frost as soon as he sees him.
"Sorry cotton-tail. Red here gets all the glory," answer the voice.
"So does that mean I take top on naughty list?" asks Merida excitedly, as she moves her horse over towards some grass areas.
"Close Merida," reply North, "very close. Show yourself properly Jack and introduce yourself to our guests."
There was a sudden strong gust of wind; with it carries the mysterious voice, laughing as though he was having the time of his life. His laugh processes something that made Elsa and the others feel warm inside, it made them felt joy, wanting to join in merry with this unknown voice.
The wind changes direction and blew straight into Elsa and her party's faces. It forced them to shield themselves with their arms, and closed their eyes, but the wind stops suddenly just as fast as it came, along with the voice. "I'm right behind you guys." All three of them turned to find a young man with snow white hair, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes, grinning at them while floating upside down. They were all startled, especially Elsa, for his face was literally just a hand spared away from hers. She can feel her heart racing, threatening to have a burst of frost form below her shoes.
They each took a few clumsy steps back away from the Being, and he chucked in response to their reaction. The Being wore no shoes, and holds a staff that resembles a shepherd's crook. He has on a long sleeve white V-neck shirt, with an unbutton ocean blue vest. He also has on brown trousers, bounded by lighter material from the knee heading down, ending at his shin. And lastly, he has on a striking dark, cerulean blue poncho, double layer, with frost around its edges that almost seems to shimmer in the light.
He gently flips his legs backward so that he may be facing them right-side-up, before softly touching his feet to the ground. He swung his staff over his shoulders so his arms can rest upon it. "Greetings," greeted Jack to Lukas, and was received with a nod back from the prince. "So you questioned the capabilities of the Spirit of Summer, but not so much the power of Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Sand Man, or even the Easter Bunny? Ha! You're a funny guy." Next, he turns to Elsa and Anna, looking at them tenderly with a smile. "Hello Elsa, Anna, the two of you have very much grown since the Frozen Incident."
"Wow, that's like six Beings who already know us. We really are famous here." Anna said with further excitement.
The Being grins at them, his teeth sparkling like freshly fallen snow. He walks closer towards them, but leaves just enough distance so as to not make Elsa worry more than she should. "Well in all due respect," Jack starts, "how can I not admire the work of another ice magician?" He raised his free hand and opened it. With a wave, he produced several small snowflakes, which he twirls around his fingers.
The sisters were at awes, there was another ice magician like Elsa, and what better magician then the winter spirit himself—the embodiment of winter! Taking advantage of the sisters' surprise, Jack gently blew the snowflakes to swirl around them, furthering their enchantment. But there was one single flake he held back. He waved his hand, and it floated right up to Elsa, melting as it touches her noise, stunning her. "Jack Frost is nipping at your nose there Snow Queen," Jack joke. Elsa blushed in response, embarrassed by the act.
He didn't wait long to see it though. Jack floated off, over the sisters and landed beside Merida. "Now I'm equally curious as Merida as to why they're here, but North, are you really going to have us all gather?" Jack asks, getting straight to the point. He leans on his staff for support, causing the existing frost around the griped area to spread where his skin touches the wood. "You do remember who they're related to right?" Jack asks more quietly.
"It's Manny's order Jack," North said helplessly.
"Did he say how we're going to introduce Blonde to them?"
"Err—well, no."
"Well I can't wait to see how that's going to turn out," commented Merida as she pats Angus. "Imagine the tangle the lass will face once she introduces herself to them."
From above, a sharp sound can be heard from beyond the opening. Like a strong whistle formed by a stormy wind, getting louder and louder the closer it nears the entrance way. Soon a black dot can be seen clashing against the warm colors of the clouds.
"Night Fury," informed Merida dully, as if she was board.
"Plus Hiccup," added Jack.
"You should get down Bunny," they both teased in unison.
Bunny glares at them accusingly, but mostly at Merida surprisingly. "What, did you plan something with him Red?"
"No, I'm just saying be careful. Hiccup's been hanging around Jack a lot as well."
The black dot shot through the opening and bounded towards the group. At the speed it was going, Elsa thought it was going to crash into them. However, the creature suddenly spread its wings out in full length, creating visible air currents. The creature cry with fury as it flaps with all its might to slow itself down, while creating strong gust of winds that blew Elsa, Anna, and Lukas to the ground.
The beast lands with a thud, folded its wings, and stared at Elsa's party with sharp eyes, teeth bared at them. Elsa stares back in fear. I have to protect them! Elsa thought, worrying about the safety of her sister's and Lukas's. It was a dragon, a real live dragon she was looking at. Its skin color was as black as night, befitting of its name Night Fury. It has huge green eyes similar to a lizard almost, the beast's skin and wings looks slick and smooth, reminding Elsa of a bat. At the end of its tail, there was something red attached to it. But Elsa didn't get a good look at it, her mind was preoccupied with how she was going to fight such a creature.
"Hiccup, you may want to get Toothless away from her," Jack warns, while moving between Elsa and Toothless, "he's getting on her nerve."
With just the sight of the dragon alone, Elsa and her companions were distracted by it, and so failed to notice someone was on its back. There was a small slender boy with auburn hair, he has a metal leg, and was wearing a thick brown animal vest over his faded green tunic. The boy slid down from his dragon's back and rushed to stand between him and the guests.
"No Toothless!" he said, while using his hands to block the dragon from moving any closer towards Elsa. "Sorry about this," he apologized quickly, looking back on the guests. "The name is Hiccup by the way, and this here is my dragon Toothless. He recently ate a piece of eel meat and, well, eels just drive dragons on the edge."
"Well he better not be spitting out fire balls," said Merida, getting ready to jump in and claps Toothless' mouth if necessary. "Cause I ain't fighting fire with fire for Tooth's sake."
Toothless was trying to push Hiccup back for his own protection, but the boy wouldn't allow it. "It's ok bud it's ok, they're not our enemy. They're the ones we're here to help. Remember?" The boy spoke to his dragon in a soft gentle voice, trying to calm the best down. He reaches out with one hand and carefully placed it on his dragon's noise. Almost instantly Toothless' eyes soften, his teeth no longer bared. He tilts his head in confusion, then ducks his head low realizing what he had done, with an innocent look as if saying sorry.
"E-Elsa…" called Anna hesitantly. Around her sister thick layers of ice had formed and were spreading quickly. Anna hasn't seen Elsa lose control once ever since the Frozen Incident. Elsa had mastered her power—Anna was sure of it. To lose it after so long made Anna worry for her sister. "It's ok Elsa," Anna encouraged. as she was being force by the ice to mover farther away from her sister, "I'm sure he didn't mean it."
"I know Anna—I know," Elsa replied, "just, give me a moment to calm down." She tries to recall North's description of her love for her sister; however it wasn't as effective as before. She managed to stop the thickening of the ice, but her heart was still pounding, fanning out the ice.
"Elsa…" Jack called gently, managing to get close and knell before her. Boldly, he placed a hand on her shoulder, getting her attention. "Toothless is sorry," he said smiling, before scooching to the side allowing her to see the dragon. Hiccup also moved. The dragon's body was relax now, head still hanging low with a miserable expression, that ironically looks adorable on such a fierce animal. Toothless was also making a low soft sound deep in his throat, as if purring for forgiveness. "Toothless, you can do better than that, show some heartfelt remorse here," Jack teased.
In replied to Jack's teasing, Toothless' head snaps up, with eyes now looking unimpressed. As if saying stay out of this Frost. "Toothless," Hiccup scold, "you can do better." The dragon then snaps his head towards his rider, looking surprise. Hiccup looks at him with a raised eyebrow, arms cross. Toothless made another sound in his throat, lighter now, as if pleading his rider not to make him do it. But Hiccup didn't give in. Giving up, the dragon looks at Jack with an annoyed expression, before laying down flat on his underside with a thud. Covering his eyes with both of his front feet, he begins to cry, a muffled, mournful cry.
In reaction everyone started laughing, even Elsa, who was stifling her laugh. The ice around her was melting away as she continues to do so, the fear inside of her was fading away. "Aww look at him, he's just like a big kitten," Anna commented, resisting the urge to go and pet him.
"Alright that's enough bud, she's feeling better now." Toothless lifted up one of his front feet, revealing a large eye peering at Elsa for proof. He still holds an adorable face, causing Elsa to giggle while looking at him. In response the dragon lifted his head and smiled at her. "Retractable teeth," Hiccup explains, seeing Lukas's puzzled face at Toothless' gummy smile. "He got me with that trick, nearly had my hand rip off while feeding him for the first time, right bud?" As an answer, all of Toothless' teeth came right back out of their gum.
Lukas helped Anna to get back on her feet, while Jack stood up and offers his hand to Elsa, in which she was grateful for. "Thank-you," she replied. When their hands first touch, Elsa was taken by surprised with the complete lack of heat, and so hesitated for a moment, before finally taking hold.
"Sorry about the cold," apologized Jack, pulling her up on her feet. "I can't really do anything about it."
"Don't worry, the cold never bother me anyway." Jack grins in response, making Elsa wonder at that.
"This is great, everyone's getting along just great!" This was a new voice belonging to a female. But strangely though, the voice sounded familiar to Elsa, but who does it belong to, and how? This was the world of mythical Beings and creatures, how could she possibly know any of them in person?
"So Blonde, going to show yourself?" ask Jack, looking around to see where she is.
"Does she even need to introduce herself?" Hiccup comment, while rubbing his arm in doubt. "Necessary I understand but not so sure if it's a good idea."
"I don't really have a choice Hiccup," the female answered, "you know that." There was a ledge that was fifty-five feet towering near Lukas, and near the ledge grew a cherry tree in blossom. Someone was standing next to it.
Elsa saw something wrap around one of its branches with a quick snap, shining of sunlight gold. The figure jumped while shouting 'wa-hoooo!' as she slides down her hair! Elsa and the others couldn't believe it. The Being was sliding down her own hair that was unimaginably long. She looks to be eighteen, wearing a dress with different shades of violet, along with faint swirls and flower designs on the fabric, including frilly white laces, though the dress only reaches to her shin, and she's bare footed like Jack.
She came down to a gentle touch, with a good amount of hair left to spare. She whips her hair two times and the end came undone from the branch, falling into a neat pile next to her. "Great entrance blonde," Jack complimented.
The Being was breathing a bit heavily, wiping off some of the dust on her dress. "Haven't done that in a while, I hope I haven't gotten too out of shape for this," said the Being with a big smile on her face, the thrill from the jump was still in effect.
"You still look great to me," said Merida, "still crazy as every from what I can tell."
"Try saying that while I'm in my human form. Hate to say this but I'm getting old, I'm twenty-six now you know." She turns towards Elsa and her party, her smile slightly gone, hesitant now, and she was averting her eyes from them. "W-well…I suppose it's my turn to introduce myself…But let's make this more interesting, I'll let you guess who I am. Any ideas?"
Anna was excited; she was all in for the guessing game, wanting to try to recall as many children stories as she could. "Oh let me go first! Let's see…ummm…Oh I know, you're Mother Nature right?!"
The Being chuckled, "Close, I'm an assistant of hers."
"So you're a fairy perhaps?" asks Lukas, searching through the Promise Book with that clue in mind. But he was sure he didn't see her in the book as any of the minor Beings in it.
"A spirit," corrected the Being, folding her hands behind her back, as she rocks side to side on her feet, "well a spirit to be that is…I'm still human."
"...Is that even possible? A human can-?"
"Hang-on, I know that news is surprising and all but, that's not important now." She now looks directly into the sisters' eyes. "…Elsa, Anna…Don't you recognize me?"
The Being steps closer towards the sisters. They look at her hard, and they know there was something familiar about her, but what? Anna leans in close to her sister in-order to whisper into her ear. "I think she may be the Spirit of Spring."
"Anna," whispered Elsa, "the guessing game is over, we have to figure out her human identity."
"I mean it Elsa, she's the Spirit of Spring; she matches the description in Rapunzel's story-"
"Wait, who's again?"
"Rapunzel's story, remember?"
Elsa was quiet, her eyes widen from thought. She looks over at the Being, and then bravely approaches her with her heart racing. Steady now Elsa, she reminds herself, no more outburst of ice. Elsa looks straight into her eyes. The Being was now holding a little fear of her own, of the judgment Elsa, and soon the other two will have on her. "Rapunzel…is that you?"
The Being averted her eyes and lowers her head slightly, and bit her lower lip. "Please don't freak out," she pleas.