Climbing the bluff, the trio slowly made their way up Hans's prescribed path. As the trees began to thin, Elsa saw the island was as rocky and grassy as the man had said, stretching openly until it suddenly dropped at the steep, sea carved cliffs. At the other side of this plain was the high wall of the plateau.
"I don't think this is going to work." Agust huffed, shifting his weight for the hundredth time. "My leg seems to be getting worse."
"Of course it is." Hans growled in annoyance. "You're supposed to rest a broken bone, not traverse the country side on it. Please stop updating us every two minutes."
Though Elsa shot a glare at the apathetic prince, she couldn't help but agree the young sailor was beginning to get on her nerves. They decided this was the way to go; they needed to find shelter, food, and, if her hunch was right, other people. The boy had vehemently agreed, eager to support his Queen's plan, so he really needed to stop complaining. If he thought it would be too difficult on his leg he should of said something before they got this far.
"How are we supposed to get up that?" Agust moaned as his eyes fixed on the plateau across the grassy clearing, slightly dazed by the thought of free climbing.
"Magic?" Elsa suggested, slightly annoyed the answer wasn't obvious. "I've got powers, might as well use them."
"Probably our best bet." Hans agreed, cracking knuckles as he too surveyed the distant wall. Though he seemed apt to climb, no one wanted to put in more effort than needed.
She bit the inside of her lip, calculating the best way to engineer… whatever she needed to carry them up a fifty foot, ninety degree angle cliff. She could try making a ladder, however the ice rungs might not hold their weight and begin to melt as they made an ascent. Perhaps a staircase? It would have to be very long, angled, and the supports required to keep it stable… Maybe she could make a platform rise up from the ground, similar to how she built the castle. However, that too could be risky for the ice fractals formed in a natural, rapid movement; she didn't want to accidently encase her comrades in a block of ice. But looking at cliff's height she couldn't think of any other way.
"Okay," she began with a deep exhale, "I think I have a plan—,"
"But will it work with my—?"
"I swear, if you say 'in my condition', I'm going to—!"
"Boys!" She yelled, balling her slender hands and grinding her teeth. She felt frost begin to creep along the inside of her palms. Her heart fluttered with the familiar fear of losing control. Forcing herself to breathe, she addressed them with composure. "Let me share the idea before you start complaining." She winced as August's eyes dropped, the comment stinging not just because he had upset his queen, but because her scolding was directed towards him. "Please," she softened, "I need you two to stop fighting if this is going to work."
"Hard to do when the brat acts like I'll slit his throat at night." Hans growled. "If you don't remember, kid, I saved you and your highness's lives. Twice."
"Twice?" Agust spat incredulously. "Don't flatter yourself."
"I did!" Hans childishly insisted. "I got control of the boat when it was about to sink, we were about to capsize and—!"
"Right after you nearly strangled me to death." Elsa shot in, cocking a hip and crossing her ice cold arms. She couldn't help it. The prince's ego got on her nerves almost as much as Agust. Almost.
"And in case you forgot," Agust seethed through his teeth, face reddening, "we did sink."
"Okay," Hans replied defensively, "I think we're straying from the task at hand. Elsa, you said you had a better idea than free climbing?"
"Uh, yes," She replied, caught off guard for a moment. Swallowing and quietly clearing her throat, she laid out the plan. The men's reactions wavered between worried and ready to take the gamble.
"So I think it would be best if you stood as close to me as possible." She ended, nodding in self-agreement. "The fractals will be getting their energy and spiraling from me, so as long as you're in the center of it all, the ice shouldn't hurt you." Realizing she had been talking to the earth, she nervously looked up at the equally tense men. Biting her lip, she waited for a response.
After a long, painfully silent moment, Hans replied, "I think it'll work."
"You do?" Elsa asked, surprised. "I mean, you trust me, even after I nearly killed you with my last bright idea?"
"Hey, I'm still here." Hans said flatly. "And despite almost being cooked from the inside, you did save my life." He shrugged his shoulders. "Can you do it?"
"What?" She asked, slightly taken aback.
"Do you believe you can do it?" He reiterated with emphasis.
She blinked as he stared at her firmly, hazel eyes demanding, challenging even. She felt something cold and clammy creep down her throat as the old fear began to encase her heart.
"Yes!" she insisted, forcing herself out of the icy reverie. "Yes, I can do it."
"Alright." Hans agreed. Then, turning to Agust with a bullying, contemptuous look, he demanded, "What do you think, sailor?"
Agust murmured uncomfortably about the height of the cliff and speed of the ice elevator, evidently not liking the idea but feeling outnumbered. Finally he quietly replied, "I trust you, my queen."
"I can do this." Elsa maintained, finding vigor in their unexpected support.
They wordlessly made their way across the field, the long, sticky grass snagging around their legs as if it was trying to pull them back, to stop them from making a grave mistake, towards the plateau. With the sun high in the sky, they soon stepped into the large shadow, stretching across the plain and casting them in dark light. It loomed overhead, appearing to grow taller with every step. Finally, they reached the behemoth's base.
"I can do this."
XXX
"You did it, your highness!" Agust shouted as they were safely seated on the plateau, their icy pillar standing brightly behind them as if it had always been part of the wall. It was a fluorescing cone, a glacier of ice built into the rocky cliffs of the plateau. From afar it looked as if it were a crystal jutting out of its rocky prison, a diamond in the rough.
"Thanks," Elsa panted, shaky hands twisting in the ragged folds of her once priceless skirt. A slightly dazed, and slightly crazed, smile was etched onto her face as her mouth gaped for air. "I knew I could!" She looked from them both, tired but ecstatic. "I knew it!"
"Yea…" Hans joined in, several notches below thrilled. He lied in the craggy grass next to her, his hands gripping the spiky, sharp stalks. She recalled how he had nervously held onto her for the entire duration of their frozen ascent. "We're alive." The feat had scared him more than he let on; he was probably terrified of her plan to begin with. But he put those doubts, those fears, aside and trusted her.
Finally catching her breath, she pressed her dry lips into warm, unsettling smile. Hans trusted her with his life. And because of that trust she had been able to trust herself. If only she could afford to feel the same.
XXX
The wind was fierce on top of the plateau, buffeting their weak bodies and frayed clothes. Though the crisp bite of the wind stung his face and at times threatened to steal his breath away, the air was so clear and fresh it seemed to almost fill Hans with new life. He actually found himself enjoying it all—until he fell.
The wind came in a gust so strong that he was knocked back off his feet before he had a chance to brace himself. He was fine, of course, besides the fact his pride was wounded and he had landed right on top of the ice queen.
She gasped in shock, then in pain, as the wind was knocked out of her, staring up at him with at first surprised then incredulous eyes. Acting on survival instincts, Hans rolled off in a recoiling manner, scooting across the billowing grass and jumping up as if the collision hadn't happened. He tried to come up with a snarky remark such as 'watch where you're going' or 'I didn't realize you were that attracted to me', but he was too flustered, face too red to form the words.
"Sorry." He halfheartedly managed, rubbing his neck with a calloused hand as the sailor boy ran to his majesty's unbidden rescue. He hoped his voice was lost in the roar of the wind.
"I'm fine, Agust," she growled over the wailing gale, sounding slightly annoyed. "Wind just knocked out of me." She paused then smiled dryly at Hans, who coyly glanced in her direction. "And Hans off his feet."
Hans was about to resort to a crude comeback from his reserve when he saw Elsa's cobalt eyes light up, looking past his shoulder. He turned her direction, searching for what gave her a start, and immediately found it. The plateau dropped off into the sky.
"Great." He drawled uneasily. "Another cliff. Sorry Agust, seems we climbed all this way for nothing." He clapped a hand roughly on the weary boy's shoulder and gave him a mean spirited smile. "Well, time to head back."
"No," Elsa said softly, eyes still drawn on the impending edge, "Not yet." She brushed the hovering sailor off as she pushed herself up. Then she ran to the edge.
"Elsa, wait!" Hans cried out before his mind had time to react. His fingers had somehow found themselves clasping her wrist. She whirled and pulled back indignantly, eyes ferocious and narrowed. Blushing yet again, he let go and took a step back, hands up amiably. "The edge, it just drops off into the sky…" he stammered, embarrassed from reacting so protectively. What had gotten into him? If the queen wanted to throw herself into the void, then by all means; it was one less mouth he'd have to feed.
She turned from him and continued to the edge, this time in a slower more cautious manner, and peered over the side. The wind tore past her, the frays of her dark blue dress billowing like sails around her small frame, salt-crisp blonde hair whipping around her face and falling from a disheveled crown braid. She leaned forward, the force of the wind holding her up. Hans realized he was holding his breath, expecting her waif like form to fall at any moment.
"It's not a cliff!" She yelled breathlessly, looking over her shoulder at the two stiff men, eyes big and excited. "It's a hill! A valley!" Her smile grew bigger, if that was even possible, lighting up her pale face in warm, pink light. "And a village!"
Now it was Han's turn to run to the edge. Careful not to crash into the teetering queen, he skidded to a halt. Instantly his mouth fell open. At the bottom of the steep hill, against the emerald green grass was a community of bright homes. Their white, untextured color could mean they were only made of one thing: sea stone. "There's a port!" Hans cried, pointing past the neat houses to the shimmering gray-blue glass of the nearly imbedded sea.
Long, brown objects that looked the size of biscuits rested on the crooked walkways, their sun bleached sails tied up on toothpick sized masts. "And boats!" He looked at Elsa, seeking to share his excitement. His smile widened as he found she was already looking at him. "In the fjord! Never would have guessed this island had a fishing town nestled within it."
She stared back at him, that half open smile stretched in sloppy delight over her round face, a face that suddenly disappeared as Agust's red head limped in between their eye locked rapture.
"Boats that can take us home."