They walked to the edge of the village. The view of plains as far as the eye could see was their backdrop. The roads could only just about be seen under the white blanket of snow. Freya took off her cloak and placed it on the ground, sitting down cross-legged on it and proceeded to look up at Anna. She patted the ground next to her, Anna remained standing.
"You're not going to make any friends acting like that," Freya said.
"It appears you lot have already made your minds up about me," Anna said.
"Those guys are just less open minded than I am," Freya patted beside herself again.
"Now have a seat" she said. After some deliberation Anna obliged, she stretched her legs out in front of her, dismounting her shield so she could lean back. Freya smiled as Anna got settled next to her, the two of them looked out at the view. Freya grabbed Anna's drink and stuck it in a mound of snow; one bonus of this weather was that a drink cooler was always on hand.
"It's not you they don't like, it's what you represent," she said.
"And what's that exactly?" Anna asked.
"You're a walking embodiment of what they hate most. You my friend are the empire," Freya said.
"I hated it whilst I was there and cut ties four years ago," Anna said.
"I believe you, it's them you gotta convince. What's your issue, what's your story?" Freya said. There was something about this girl, she had a calming presence. Her manner and the way she spoke just made her feel more relaxed.
"You first, what are you to Hans? How old even are you?" Anna said. Freya cocked her head.
"Fine, you can tell me later. As for me, I'm seventeen," she said.
"A little young to be fighting the empire aren't you?" Anna said.
"Fight?" Freya Chortle "That'd be the day, we mainly just talk but we also help out the needy and gather information. Jasper says fighting would be a waste of time."
"What about that sparring ring?" Anna said.
"Sure we train but I think that's mostly just to keep us occupied," she said.
"So why stay? You could just leave and never look back," Anna said. Freya looked out further into the distance.
"I've thought about it but these guys are family. I was only twelve when the empire ruined my life. They took me in, have to be loyal you know?" she said. Anna's gut reaction was to tell her how dangerous loyalty to others could be, but again something about this girl's presence prevented her from a cynical comment.
"What's your story then?" Anna said.
"You wish to hear the tragic tale of Freya, the sweetheart of the resistance herself? Very well," she shifted round to face Anna directly.
"I'm from the Southern Isles, I was living in the last city still standing. When Arendelle's final, brutal assault was launched my parents told me we would run and not look back. The monsters were roaming freely killing everything without mercy and wrecking anything they came across. I was small and quick, easy to miss. I got through but when I escaped to the city limits I had to stop to catch my breath. Up to this point I had assumed my parents were just behind me the whole time," Freya sighed.
"Anyway I was aimlessly wandering the lands on my own, hungry and tired. After a couple of days someone found me and took me in," she said.
"Hans," Anna concluded.
"No actually, her name was Claudia. She's dead now," Freya had said this so flatly that it dawned on Anna just how familiar death was to a generation that grew up with Arendelle's dominance. Freya had known it all from a young age.
"I went with Claudia because I was desperate and hungry, but these new people terrified me. Everything was so strange and part of me expected my parents to show up and fix everything. Naïve optimism I guess," she said.
"I knew that feeling all too well," Anna said. Freya had been forced to grow up so fast.
"Yeah well I started to get the hint nothing would return to normal when we shipped over to the mainland, I kept hearing there was nothing left to save on the isles. I was moved from hideout to hideout, still so scared of all these strange people. I hadn't even spoken a word to any of them. They asked questions but I would just shy away. Then one day, I'm curled up in the corner of one our big hideouts and this man just sits next to me. No questions; didn't offer any help or talk down to me, he just says "I miss home too kid." He stayed a little longer but I still didn't say anything, what he said just kind of stuck with me though. Later that day I went up to him, he was talking to Jasper at the time. I tugged on his coat and once I had his attention I said "I'm Freya." He's looked after and looked out for me ever since. Now I know him better I realise he was probably lying when he said that too me, but it was exactly what I needed to hear," Freya said.
"Jasper said you haven't seen him for months," Anna said.
"Yeah, Hans goes around finding and recruiting people for us, he always took me with him but when it came to finding you, he told me to stay behind," Freya said. This was an odd but intriguing detail to Anna.
"So Hans raised you then?" Anna asked.
"He's like a big brother, or father, something like that. I think he's found it harder as I've gotten older. Ha, I know I haven't made it easy for him at times," Freya said.
"I appreciate anyone that gives Hans a hard time," Anna said, they both laughed. They laughed harder than the comment deserved. It was a surreal situation for Anna, she was sitting in the snow talking with a girl raised by someone she had hated. Hans had changed though, whether it was raising a child, time or Freya's influence he was a different person now. She was starting to regret how she treated him up to this point. Her initial suspicion was justified but talking to Freya confirmed how ready to ignore the changes she had seen in her brief time with him.
"Did he ever mention me?" Anna asked.
"On the recruitment trips the odd scrap of his old life came to the surface, I think I was about fifteen when he straight up told me about his crime. It didn't matter to me as Hans had always been there when I needed him. After that he never really mentioned it again," she said.
"So he didn't mention me at all?" Anna said, she wanted to know what Freya knew about her, what Hans could have said.
"You aren't the centre of his life you know," she replied.
"I don't think you get what…" Anna stopped her own snap angry reaction, she realised a bit late that Freya had been joking. She was embarrassed. Freya made a bit of a face but carried on.
"I asked about you a couple of times, he doesn't like to talk about it. He always just dodges my questions on the topic," she said.
"But in a way that you don't realise he avoided the question until a few hours later," Anna said.
"Hans' manipulation of language has gotten the better of me more times than I'd like to admit," Freya said. They both laughed, Anna was actually feeling happy. This was a sensation she had not felt for a long time. She had not even opened the drink she had swiped. It was not much, but just talking like this helped her forget about her worries. She made an effort to keep the conversation going.
"So you want to go out and fight do you?" Anna said.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to watch Hans' back and do message and transport runs but it just feels like we aren't doing much," she said.
"Take it from me, fighting isn't all it's cracked up to be," Anna said. Freya's well-meaning nature was so rare that the last thing Anna wanted to do was push the girl down the same path she had taken, she would never forgive herself if Freya ended up like her.
"You must have some good stories though. Everyday something new, fighting for what's right and living free," Freya said.
"You've probably done more right in just one of those messenger runs than I have in seven years. Truth is I fought to survive, it might be freedom, but it's not a good kind." Freya looked disheartened after hearing this. Anna realised how she was coming across to her, she wanted to do what she could to alleviate the tension.
"Well there was this one time," Anna said, recalling a story that did not romanticize the mercenary lifestyle too much. Freya's face lit up as Anna began her story.
"I had been travelling around with a group of mercs for a month or so, fighting with them and learning the trade. One day I'm minding my own business at our camp when one of the others comes up and says there's a job for me, it had been deemed simple enough to only require one of us. He told me where to go and who to see. So I go on my way and get told by this nervous man that there was an ice-warrior down in his cellar, he had heard it moving around and wanted it gone." She said.
"An ice warrior stuck in a cellar?" Freya said.
"That was the job, he said it must be quite a small one. So I go in, running through every combat scenario I could think of. There wasn't much light in there but there was no immediate sign of life. I'm about to go back up when I hear something moving. I went to investigate, thinking it might be hiding," Freya raised an eyebrow at the hiding comment. Anna continued.
"Yeah I know. Anyway, I go over sword at the ready. I didn't even have a shield back then but I was prepared as I could be when it jumped at me out of the darkness," she said.
"There actually was a small warrior hiding from you in a cellar?" Freya said in disbelief.
"Nope, it turned out this vicious creature I had been so scared of was not an ice-warrior, but a cat," she said. Freya burst out laughing.
"I was so nervous about going solo and fighting one on one with an ice-warrior that I completely failed to notice how nothing added up," Anna said.
"What did you do then?" Freya asked.
"What any self-respecting mercenary would do, let the cat out of the cellar. Told the guy I dealt with the warrior, took the pay and left," she said.
"Wow, your first solo mission against the horror of a feline attacker," Freya said, her laughter had died down but she was still giggling to herself.
"The one who sent me on the job must have known from the start it was nothing. I was annoyed at the time but it certainly shook off my solo jitters," Anna said. She felt like this was the right story, so many others ended badly. That stupid cat provided her with one of the few light-hearted tales she could tell. There was another lull in the conversation, though Freya was looking inquisitive.
"Something on you mind?" Anna asked.
"You're fond of that shied of yours aren't you," she said. This seemed like a non-sequitur until Anna realised she had been idly holding it very tight in front of her, almost hugging the thing.
"This shield has got me through a lot," she said.
"Not a fan of them myself, only slows me down," Freya said.
"Is that right?" Anna said; Freya smirked. She dismissed the annoyance she felt at the cockiness of Freya's comment, she was still young and Anna did not want to look totally jaded.
"The others will probably want us back soon. Well me back anyway," Freya said.
Anna got up.
"Can't keep them waiting if I'm to fix the whole embodiment of the empire thing," she said.
"Go ahead I'll catch up," Freya said. Anna walked off to the cobbler, she looked back at Freya who was watching the light fade from behind the clouds.