No Need for Titles
Chapter 19
Hiccup's POV
As the sun began to rise over the forest, Elsa, Hiccup, Anna, and Olaf continued north. They broke through the treeline and entered a rocky plain. Elsa called out to the Voice.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah!"
The Voice didn't call back, but Olaf did. And off key.
"AH, OH, AH, WAH!."
Hiccup gently coughed.
"Hey, Olaf, um, maybe just one of you should do it."
Olaf nodded.
"I agree. She's a little pitchy."
A soft chirping sound was heard as a wind pushed into Anna. Olaf smiled.
"Hey, Gale's back."
Gale blew past Hiccup, and then Elsa before shooting up a hill and wrapping around a wooden post. The movement whipped a flag out. An Arendellian Flag.
Anna was shocked.
"What?"
Elsa charged up the hill and gasped, her voice taken away as she took in the sight. It was a sailing ship. The sails were torn asunder and filled with holes, the main mast and the fore mast had fallen over, and there was a hole in the hull. On the back just above the windows of the main cabin was the ship's name in faded gold paint. HMS Runeard.
Anna held her sister's arm tightly.
"How can it be?"
Olaf tipped his head.
"What is it?"
"Mother and Father's ship." Anna replied, her voice breathless.
Olaf was puzzled.
"But this isn't the Southern Sea."
Hiccup shook his head.
"No, it isn't."
Elsa pulled out of her sister's arms and ran down the hill, Anna, Hiccup and Olaf following after. They entered the ship through the hole in the hull. It was a complete mess. The decks were shattered and buckled. Cargo laid about and the entire vessel seemed to groan against the wind. The four began to look around, digging through the wreckage.
"Why is their ship here?" Elsa asked quietly. "How is it here?"
"It must have been washed in from the Dark Sea." Anna replied.
Elsa stood over a mirror, the glass shattered, as she looked around.
"What were they doing in the Dark Sea?"
Anna sniffled, her voice choking.
"I don't know."
Hiccup pulled a tarp off of some boxes.
"How did the ship get through the mist? I thought nobody could but us… unless..."
He paused and looked at Olaf who looked up at him.
"... Nobody was on it." Olaf finished.
Hiccup pulled Elsa into a hug, comforting her. Anna came over.
"There's gotta be something here."
She paused, then her eyes widened.
"Wait. Wait. Look around. Every Arendellian ship has a compartment. Waterproof."
Olaf nodded.
"That's very clever. Although, it does make me wonder why they don't just make the whole ship waterproof."
Hiccup rolled his eyes and set to work, feeling along the edges of the cabinets and desks when Anna called out.
"Here!"
She pulled out a golden tube from a spot hidden in a bench and popped the lid off as Elsa, Hiccup, and Olaf came over. Pulling out an old ratty piece of parchment, she unrolled it. It was covered in an ancient language that Olaf, the girls, and even Hiccup could not understand.
"What language is this?"
Elsa looked at it closely.
"I don't know. But look, this is Mother's handwriting."
Anna began to read her mother's note.
"The end of the ice age. The river found, but lost. Magic's source. Elsa's source?"
Hiccup pulled another paper from the tube and gasped.
"It's a map."
He quickly rolled the map out over the bench as the girls came over.
"They traveled north and planned to cross the Dark Sea to…"
"Ahtohallan." Elsa whispered.
Anna was shocked.
"It's real?"
Olaf was puzzled.
"Octa-who-what?"
"Ahtohallan." Anna replied. "It's a magical river said to hold all the answers about the past."
"Reinforcing my "water has memory" theory. Mm."
Elsa's eyes widened.
"Water has memory."
She stood up and went over to the center of the room, near the back of the ship. She placed her hands upon the old wood, focusing her magic into it. Water droplets began to rise off of the floor of the ship, and freeze.
Hiccup called out to her.
"Elsa?"
"I wanna know what happened to them."
More water droplets peeled off from the walls off the ship and started to form an ice sculpture. It was their parents in an embrace as water rushed into the ship.
"Ahtohallan has to be the source of her magic." Iduna said.
Hiccup and Anna quickly came over to Elsa, and wrapped their arms around her tightly as they watched the final moments of Adgar and Iduna.
"We keep going for Elsa."
"The waves are too high!"
"Iduna!"
"Adgar!"
"Take care of my daughters, Hiccup."
The memory stopped as the sound of a wave crashing through the vessel was heard.
Elsa choked and began to sob.
"It's all my fault!"
She quickly fled the ship as Anna and Hiccup called out.
"Elsa!"
The two quickly followed her out and found her leaning against a rock, breathing heavily.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?" asked Anna.
"They were looking for answers about me."
Hiccup took Elsa's hand, which she promptly yanked away, still upset.
"You are not responsible for their choices, Elsa."
"No. Just their deaths."
Anna took her by the shoulders.
"Stop. No. Yelena asked, why would the spirits reward Arendelle with a magical queen? Because our mother saved our father. She saved her enemy. Her good deed was rewarded with you. You are a gift."
Elsa sniffled.
"For what?"
"If anyone can resolve the past." Hiccup said. "If anyone can save Arendelle and free this forest, it's you."
Anna hugged her sister.
"I believe in you, Elsa. More than anyone or anything."
Elsa broke off the hug, and turned to face the ship before turning back to her sister, and Hiccup.
"Honeymaren said there was a fifth spirit. A bridge between the magic of nature and us.
"A fifth spirit?" asked Hiccup.
"That's who's been calling me from Ahtohallan. The answers about the past are all there."
Anna smiled.
"So we go to Ahtohallan."
"Not 'we'. Me."
Hiccup's eyes widened.
"What?"
"The Dark Sea is too dangerous for us three."
"No. No!" Anna replied. "We do this together. Remember the song? 'Go too far and you'll be drowned.' Who will stop you from going too far?"
Elsa shook her head.
"You said you believed in me, that this is what I was born to do."
Hiccup spoke up.
"And we don't wanna stop you from that. We… we don't wanna stop you from being whatever you need to be."
Anna took Elsa's hand.
"We just don't want you dying… trying to be everything for everyone else, too. Don't do this alone. Let us help you, please. I can't lose you, Elsa."
"And I can't either." Hiccup added.
Elsa pulled the two into a hug.
"I can't lose you two either…"
She gestured to Olaf who had just returned from the ship to hug her.
"Come on."
Olaf did so. Elsa let the three go and Hiccup heard ice crackling.
"Wait, what?"
An ice canoe formed underneath them. Anna was surprised.
"What are you doing?"
Elsa stomped her foot and sent the ice canoe away with the three on board. As they skated down the icy path, Anna and Hiccup tried to get the canoe to stop, but to no avail.
"No! No!" cried Anna. "Olaf, help us stop. Give us a hand."
Olaf gave Anna his hand, and she took it, reaching up for a branch with it. The hand caught, but instead of stopping the canoe, it sharply turned to the right, sliding down a hill. Unprepared for the movement, Hiccup was thrown against the side of the canoe. The last thing he saw before he was knocked unconscious was a rock approaching him at high speed.
Hiccup groaned, his head pounding. A splash of water woke him from his daze.
"Oh, good! You're up!"
Hiccup's blurry vision cleared to see Olaf standing in front of him.
"Olaf?"
Anna quickly came over.
"Hiccup! You okay?"
He nodded, rubbing his poor head,
"Yeah… my head is pounding a bit. Was I hit in the head?"
"Yeah. I patched you up as best as I could… Come on."
Hiccup slowly nodded as Anna helped him to his feet.
"Where are we?"
"In a pit with no way out."
She held up a small branch which she fashioned into a torch, looking around. Olaf called out, pointing at a small hole in the cave wall.
"But with a spooky, pitch-black way in."
He quickly went through the hole, the cave opening up into a small tunnel. Olaf quickly took Anna and Hiccup's hand.
"Come on, it'll be fun. Assuming we don't get stuck here forever, no one ever finds us… and you starve and I give up. But, bright side, Elsa's gotta be doing a whole lot better than we are."
Hiccup rolled his eyes at Olaf, but couldn't help but worry about Elsa.
"I really hope she knows what she's doing." he thought.
Elsa's POV
Thunder crashed as Elsa stood on the beach, looking out across the Dark Sea. Waves crashed onto the rocky shore. Elsa was nervous, but pushed it aside as she put on a look of determination, and turned away from the sea. She tossed her cloak, and boots off onto a rock, and undid her braid.
Putting her hair into a ponytail, she turned to face the sea. With a deep breath she took off and leapt into the sea, forming sheets of ice under her feet, like lily pads on a pond, and using them to run across the water. The first wave came over her, and pushed her under. Making it back to shore, soaking wet, she prepared herself once more.
"Okay."
She took off again, using the same technique, though this time she was prepared for the wave, and leaped through it, climbing onto a rock behind it. Climbing over the rock, she made an ice slide, and slid down it, forming more sheets of ice under her feet as a wave, bigger than the last one, came roaring towards her.
She fired a blast of ice, making a ramp over the wave. As she ran up it, the sea broke through, causing her to fall back and into the water.
"Whoa!"
Opening her eyes under the water, she began to swim for the surface when lightning flashed and thunder roared, a shape in the distance appearing before disappearing. Lightning flashed again, revealing a horse made of water. It stared at Elsa, as if judging her before vanishing. Elsa's lungs began to burn and she quickly swam for the surface, breaching it, and sucking in as much air as she could when she saw the horse swimming up.
Forming a small floating ice sheet, she tried to climb up on it when the water horse broke through it, dumping her back into the water. Trying to cough up the water out of her lungs, Elsa barely had enough time to take another breath before the horse shoved her back under, deeper and deeper into the water. Pushing her hands against the hooves, she froze the horse, which vanished again, and she swam for the surface only to be pushed back in. An underwater battle ensued for what seemed like forever until the horse grabbed her hand with its teeth, and dragged her body through the water. Her vision was dimming.
"No! Not like this!"
Forcing herself through the pain, she formed a lasso of ice, wrapping it around the head of the horse, and pulling herself onto it's back, riding it as if to tame it. The horse bucked and reared, trying to throw Elsa off it's back. Slowly but surely it began to relax as Elsa guided it in the direction she wanted. Once it settled down enough she reached inward with her magic, sighing in relief when she found what she was looking for. She gently reached down and touched the horse's neck and gasped when she saw what was ahead. It was a glacier.
"Of course. Glaciers are rivers of ice. Ahtohallan is frozen."
"Ah, ah, ah, ah!"
Elsa smiled. The Voice was calling.
"I hear you. And I'm coming."
Elsa spurred the horse on, heading for Ahtohallan.
"Every inch of me is trembling, But not from the cold."
Elsa felt like she was always meant to be here. Like it was a part of the home she was missing. She leapt off of the horse as soon as they reached the solid ground, and she bowed to it, which the horse returned with a bow of it's own before disappearing into the water. Elsa undid her hair, and let it fall around her shoulders as she entered Ahtohallan.
"Are you the one I've been looking for all of my life? Show yourself! I'm ready to learn!"
Elsa called out to the Voice and a tunnel behind her lit up as the Voice called back. She ran towards the light and her hand against the ice, feeling it's cool texture as she slid down the tunnel.
"But I'm here for a reason. Could it be the reason I was born?"
Leaping across a chasm, she formed pillars of ice, making a new pillar as she leapt from pillar to pillar, landing safely on the other side. She touched the wall once more, the tunnel lit up in pretty pink and green colors, and shot off down the tunnel behind a wall. Throwing out her hands, Elsa cleared the entrance, the ice that was once blocking the tunnel forming an archway above her.
"Show yourself! I'm no longer trembling!"
Raising her hands, she lifted up towers of ice that seemed to have collapsed over the years, and put them back to where they once stood. Continuing forwards, she reached a wall of ice, and shattered it like glass. Beyond it was a black void with only diamonds of different colors sparkling inside.
"Oh, show yourself! Let me see who you are!"
Steeling herself, she stepped into the void and watched as the diamonds moved around forming images. One was a leaf, representing the Wind Spirit. It zoomed around Elsa, and formed a large blue diamond with the Wind Symbol on it. Red diamonds lit up, forming the Salamander, representing the Fire Spirit, making it appear to crawl around in the void. As if it was cooling down, the image of the Salamander turned purple, and formed a purple diamond.
"Come to me now. Open your door."
The Water Spirit in the shape of the water horse was next followed by the Earth Spirit represented by the Earth Giants, both of which turned to large diamonds. Lifting up her hands, Elsa moved the diamonds in the air, using her magic to bring them down to the ground.
"Don't make me wait….one moment more!"
A white four pointed star appeared in the middle of the diamonds. Elsa was surprised, but with no hesitation, she leapt onto the star, and a large snowflake appeared under her as Ahtohallan's magic rushed through her, and hit the ceiling. The room lit up with images and Elsa gasped. They were her memories.
"Where the Northwind Meets the sea."
"Ah, ah, ah, ah!"
Elsa instantly looked up, recognizing the image on the wall. It was her mother, holding her father as she called for help. The Voice was her mother.
"Mother."
"Come, my darling, homeward bound!"
Elsa looked up to see an image of her mother singing to her. Through the tears, she smiled and sang as loud as she could.
"I am found! Show yourself!"
Elsa felt her magic swirl around her as her dress transformed, forming into a long white gown as mini diamonds split off from the large ones on the floor, attaching to her dress as if recognizing her as the Fifth Spirit.
"Step into your power! Grow yourself! Into something new!"
Mother and daughter sang together as Elsa finally found who she was meant to be. It had been a long road, but this moment was a moment worth waiting and fighting for.
"Oh, show yourself!"
Elsa waved her hands and the memories on the wall seemed to peel off as a fog formed. The fog whipped around Elsa, and she collapsed to her knee, the fog billowing out around her. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted with ice sculptures of her memories. She walked around the various memories as they moved about.
"Hi, I'm Olaf. And I like warm hugs."
"I love you, Olaf!"
"Come on, you can do it."
"Here I stand! In the light of day!""
Elsa cringed at that.
"Is that how I used to sound?"
She jumped out of the way as a sculpture of the Duke of Weselton passed by.
"Oh! Like a chicken with the face of a monkey!"
"I just wasn't looking where I was going. But I'm great actually."
"Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."
With a wave of her hand, the statue of Hans crumbled as she stuck up her nose.
She turned to come face to face with a statue of Skaði. Elsa felt her heart ache as she went over to the statue. She missed her dragon. She reached out to touch it, and was brought into another set of memories that were not her own. She watched as a dragon that was pure white fought off attackers, shooting blasts of ice, much like the Bewilderbeast's ice, but not quite the same.
Elsa noted the dragon had a striking similarity to Toothless in terms of looks, except for the white scales and ice blue eyes. She covered her mouth as the dragon was mortally wounded and flew away, struggling for life. She watched it land, and collapse on the ground roaring in pain. Another dragon appeared. It was a Snow Wraith. Elsa watched as the ice shooting dragon laid an egg, and gave it to the Snow Wraith before dying.
As the Snow Wraith flew away, Elsa was pulled back to reality as she heard a voice.
"... Bring Arendelle's full guard."
Elsa turned to see her Grandfather talking with a Sergeant.
"But they have given us no reason not to trust them."
"The Northuldra follow magic. Which means we can never trust them."
Elsa was shocked.
"Grandfather?"
"Magic makes people feel too powerful. Too entitled. It makes them think they can defy the will of a King."
Elsa frowned and went over to the statue, as if defying her grandfather.
"That is not what magic does. That's just your fear. Fear is what can't be trusted."
Elsa watched as the two statues walked through a wall. Elsa followed, melting the wall. Following them down a flight of stairs, she listened to her grandfather speak.
"You see, the dam will weaken their lands, so they will have to turn to me."
Around her, her mother's voice called out.
"Dive down deep into her sound. But not too far, or you'll be drowned."
Elsa stopped just in time, looking over the edge of a deep, deep hole. She shivered, and could see steam coming from her mouth as she breathed.
"I'm… cold… but… how?"
Her grandfather continued to speak as she watched figures move down the hole towards the bottom.
"They will come in celebration. And then, we will know their size and strength."
Elsa looked back behind her into the light of the upper chamber, it's warmth and safety, calling to her.
"As you have welcomed us, we welcome you… our neighbors, our friends."
"I have to know the truth. I have to save Arendelle."
Elsa took in a deep breath, the cold seeping into her lungs. With a leap, she jumped from the ledge, falling deeper into Ahtohallan. She landed on her hands and feet. She began to look around when she heard ice crackling, and feeling her hands going numb forced her to look at them. They were being covered in ice.
"Oh, no. I'm freezing solid."
Laughter caught her attention as she saw ice figures of Arendellian's and Northuldra enjoying the festivities amongst a forest of ice.
A voice caught her attention as she saw her grandfather standing with the Northuldra Leader.
"King Runeard, the dam isn't strengthening our waters. It's hurting the Forest. It's cutting off the North…"
Her grandfather raised his hand.
"Let... Let's not discuss this here. Let's meet on the fjord. Have tea. Find a solution."
Elsa shivered more, pulling her hands closer to her chest. She could feel the ice beginning to coat her cheeks and neck. She watched as the Northulra leader kneeled to have tea, and saw her grandfather's figure pass her. Her eyes widened in horror as her grandfather pulled his sword from his scabbard.
"No!"
Elsa reached out, as if to stop him, but it was in vain. The ice had frozen her legs. Her right arm lost almost all mobility as the ice crawled up her body. She looked up towards the top of the cavern, and aimed her left hand up.
"Anna! Hiccup!"
She fired off a blast of ice as the ice clawed its way into her heart. With her last breath, she pulled her left arm around her stomach protectively.
"I'm sorry, my little one. I'm so sorry…"
As the ice consumed her, an icy tear fell from her eye, shattering on the cold floor below.
Back in Arendelle, Skaði screeched in pain loudly, clutching at her chest with her claws as she collapsed to the ground. Toothless quickly rushed over, settling Skaði and comforting her.
Skaði glanced north, whimpering and growling in pain as she felt the bond with her rider snap.
Hiccup's POV
Back in the Enchanted Forest in the caves, Hiccup, Anna, and Olaf were trying to find their way out. The three arrived at two holes in the tunnel, each one with a different path.
"Hmm." Olaf pondered. "Which lucky tunnel do we choose?"
A bright ice blue light came from the left tunnel as a ball of ice whipped around them, ethereal voices coming with it.
"You see, the dam will weaken their lands, so they will have to turn to me."
"King Runeard, the dam, it's hurting the Forest."
Hiccup gasped, seeing the statue of a man holding his sword in an attack position about to strike down another man kneeling.
"Elsa's found it."
"What is it?" asked Olaf.
"The truth about the past," Anna replied. "That's my grandfather… attacking the Northuldra leader… who wields no weapon. The dam wasn't a gift of peace. It was a trick."
Olaf was shocked.
"But that goes against everything Arendelle stands for."
Anna sighed and sat down on a rock.
"It does, doesn't it?"
She paused before speaking, her voice full of sadness.
"I know how to free the Forest. I know what we have to do to set things right."
Olaf was puzzled.
"Why do you say that so sadly?"
Hiccup closed his eyes, a tear falling.
"We have to break the dam."
Olaf turned to him.
"But Arendelle will be flooded."
"That's why everyone was forced out." Anna replied. "To protect them from what has to be done."
Olaf nodded in realization.
"Oh. Oh!"
He waddled over and laid his head on Anna's leg.
"Are you okay?"
"I could really use a bright side, Olaf."
Olaf paused, scratching his head.
"Bright side? Um...Turtles can breathe through their butts."
Hiccup raised an eyebrow.
"Huh?"
Olaf looked up and pointed.
"And I see a way out."
Sure enough, just ahead was an exit for the caves, light pouring through it. Anna smiled.
"I knew we could count on you."
Anna stood up as did Hiccup, heading for the exit.
"Come on, Olaf, Elsa's probably on her way back right now. We can meet her and…"
The two stopped, seeing snowflakes floating away from them. Anna turned to see what was happening.
"Olaf?"
Olaf waddled up next to them, snowflakes peeling off of him.
"What's this?"
Hiccup kneeled next to him.
"Are you okay?"
Olaf looked himself over.
"I'm flurrying?"
He paused, realizing the situation.
"Wait. No. That's... That's not it. I'm flurrying away. The magic in me is fading."
Hiccup was shocked.
"What? But that means…"
"I don't think Elsa's okay." Olaf replied. "I think...she may have gone too far."
Hiccup's eyes widened as he felt something snap within him. Something he never noticed before.
"No. No."
"Anna? Hiccup?" said Olaf. "I'm sorry. You're gonna have to do this next part on your own. Okay?"
Hiccup picked up Olaf, and held him close. Anna came to the other side, and held him as well.
"We got you."
Olaf smiled.
"Oh. That's good."
Olaf paused. He looked at Hiccup.
"Hey, Daddy?"
Hiccup's eyes widened. Olaf never called him daddy before. It broke Hiccup's heart to hear his voice say the words, the sound weak and tired.
"I just thought of one thing that's permanent."
Hiccup smiled sadly.
"What's that?"
"Love."
Anna began to cry.
"Warm hugs?"
Olaf nodded as Anna and Hiccup pulled him tighter against them. Olaf smiled as he closed his eyes.
"I like warm hugs."
Hiccup and Anna sniffled.
"We love you."
The two sat there for what seemed like hours. When Hiccup could no longer feel Olaf in his arms, he stood up suddenly, stumbling down the right tunnel. He vaguely could hear Anna calling for him, but his mind was in another place.
"Sound the bugle now, play it just for me."
Hiccup continued down farther into the caves, tripping over himself. He felt like he was fifteen again, alone on Berk, before he met Toothless, bullied for being a fishbone. There was nothing for him. Elsa was dead, Olaf was gone. What more did he have to live for? He had Toothless, but with the Mist locking him in the Enchanted Forest, there was no chance he would see his dragon again.
"There's nothing more for me, lead me away...Or leave me lying here.."
Hiccup turned another corner and was confronted with a dragon. A male Snow Wraith. Hiccup slowly backed away, but tripped. The noise woke the dragon, and it growled, staring at Hiccup. On instinct, Hiccup reached for Inferno, and pulled it off his leg, trying to activate it, but it was no good. Water had flushed the Monstrous Nightmare gel from it's chamber. The Snow Wraith charged up a blast, and Hiccup felt like he had nothing to lose, so he reached his hand out, and turned his head.
"Then from on high somewhere in the distance...There's a voice that calls, "Remember who you are."
Hiccup heard his mother's voice call to him.
"You have the heart of a chief, and soul of a dragon. Only you can bring our worlds together."
A cold feeling touched his hand, and Hiccup opened his eyes. The Snow Wraith's snout was touching his hand. Hiccup was suddenly pulled into a memory. When the memory ended, he had a look of determination.
"I need your help. We need to finish what Elsa started. Will you help me?"
The Snow Wraith growled out what seemed to be a yes, and it turned, allowing Hiccup to pull himself onto it's back. The Snow Wraith grunted, and flapped its wings, flying upwards through a hole in the roof of the cave. Flying through several tunnels that were like a maze, both dragon and Hiccup burst out into the morning light.
"You're a soldier now fighting in a battle...To be free once more..Yeah, that's worth fighting for!"
Hiccup looked over the landscape, seeing Anna running away from three Earth Giants. Guiding the Snow Wraith down, he flew above Anna, calling down to her.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Anna looked up.
"Hiccup! Where did you find that Snow Wraith?!"
"That doesn't matter! What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna use the Giants to help break the dam! Whoa!"
Anna tripped and struggled to get up. Hiccup looped back around. A boulder came flying at them.
"Whoa! Watch out!"
The Snow Wraith quickly dodged.
"We're not gonna get her in time!"
But just as Anna was about to be crushed by a foot of one of the Earth Giants, Kristoff swooped her up on the back of Sven. Hiccup pulled the Snow Wraith up and away, turning them towards the Giants.
"Come on! Is that all you got?! Let's go! Follow us!"
The Giants growled at dragon and rider as they turned and followed them towards the dam. Hiccup landed the Snow Wraith next to the dam as Anna finally arrived only for them to be greeted by;
"Lieutenant Mattias!" Anna gasped.
"Your Majesties, what are you doing?"
"The dam must fall." Hiccup replied. "It's the only way to break the mist and free the Forest."
Mattias was surprised.
"But we've sworn to protect Arendelle at all costs."
Anna spoke up.
"Arendelle has no future until we make this right. King Runeard betrayed everyone."
Mattias paused.
"How do you know that?"
Hiccup sighed, the tears beginning to fall once more.
"Elsa gave her life for the truth."
"Please." Anna begged. "Before we lose anyone else."
With a reluctant sigh, Mattias looked up, putting a look of determination, before banging his sword against his shield. The other soldiers began to follow his lead. The Earth Giants turned to look at the source of the noise and made their way over. Hiccup turned to the Snow Wraith. He paused before speaking, his voice breaking.
"Fire."
The Snow Wraith fired at the dam, blowing a large chunk of one of the towers away as Anna ran onto it.
"Destroy the dam! Come on! Throw your boulders."
Boulders began flying through the air, one by one destroying pieces of the dam. Water began to leak and burst through as the dam started to collapse. Anna quickly ran to safety as the dam fell from beneath her. She leapt through the air and was caught by the Snow Wraith which brought her back to safety. Once on the ground, Anna bonelessly collapsed into Kristoff's arms, watching helplessly as the water raced down to Arendelle. Above them, the symbols of the four spirits of nature flashed in the sky.
Elsa's POV
Back in Ahtohallan, Elsa suddenly unfroze, only to pass out from the stress. The floor beneath her gave way and she fell into the icy cold water. A few moments later she awoke on the back of the Water Spirit, who was running as fast as it could towards Arendelle. Elsa spurred it faster as they reached the fjord. Elsa could see the water ahead, racing down towards Arendelle. Suddenly, they burst through the wave, leaping down it to get ahead of it. Stopping ahead of the wave, Elsa threw up a massive ice barrier. But it began to crack.
"No! Not like this!"
Suddenly she felt a cold rush of air above her as Skaði hovered, opening her maw. Instead of her normal ice-fusilade blasts, a stream of ice burst forth from her mouth, covering the cracks as Elsa held strong. With a wave off her hands, the ice dissolved as the water was forced back. Turning around on the water horse, Elsa watched as the wind, water, and fire returned to Arendelle. The earth settled and Elsa could hear the townsfolk cheering on the cliffs above them.
Skaði flew down to Elsa's level, and Elsa was shocked at her new appearance. Her body had become more spiky and her scales were more icy-white blue. She was also quite larger.
"You never cease to amaze me, girl."
Elsa placed her hand upon her dragon's snout, and Skaði purred quietly. Elsa gently patted the horse.
"Sorry. I think I need to bond with my dragon again."
The horse snorted and disappeared underneath Elsa, dumping her into the water. Skaði picked up her rider, and placed her on her back, the two heading back north. Elsa reached inward, expecting to find an empty void but was surprised when she felt a response.
"Oh! My baby! My beautiful baby! I am so so sorry! I will never do anything to put you in danger again! I promise."
Elsa felt full of hope. And she needed to tell Hiccup the news.
Hiccup's POV
Hiccup, Anna, Kristoff, Mattias, and Yelena watched as the mist lifted, revealing a crystal blue sky. Hiccup sighed as he listened to his sister-in-law talking to Kristoff.
"I'm sorry I left you behind. I was just so desperate to protect her."
"I know. I know." Kristoff replied. "It's okay. My love is not fragile."
Ryder and Honeymaren came over to Hiccup.
"Wow. Look at the sky."
Honeymaren nudged her brother. Ryder smiled.
"I just didn't realize there was so much of it."
"You haven't seen anything yet." Hiccup replied. "Just wait till you ride a dragon."
Mattias was in shock.
"34 years…"
"Five months…" added Yelena.
"And 23 days."
Everyone stepped out into the open field as the reindeers of the forest led by Sven ran around, bleating for joy. Suddenly, several snowflakes wrapped around Hiccup and Anna, forming into a larger one. Anna reached out for it and it flew off away from them. Chasing after them, and stopping on the edge of a cliff, they saw a speck on the horizon, flying over the water. They could hear a roar from a dragon. Squinting their eyes they could make out the shape of a white dragon with someone on it's back.
Anna gasped in shock, recognizing who it was, and quickly made her way down, Hiccup just behind her. The two stopped on the shore as the shape grew closer. The white dragon landed and the rider dismounted.
Anna spoke, her voice filled with hesitation.
"Is it really you?"
Elsa reached out.
"Anna… Hiccup..."
The two rushed over and hugged Elsa tightly. Anna let go to let Hiccup hold Elsa as tight as he could.
"I thought I'd lost you."
"Lost me? You saved me. Both of you."
Anna sniffled, hugging her sister again when Hiccup let go.
"We did?"
"And, you two, Arendelle did not fall."
Hiccup was surprised.
"It didn't?"
"The spirits all agreed." Elsa replied with a smile. "Arendelle deserves to stand with you two."
"Us?"
"You did what was right. For everyone."
"Did you find the fifth spirit?" asked Anna.
Elsa smiled a knowing smile. Anna's eyes widened in surprise.
"You are the fifth spirit. You're the bridge."
Elsa giggled.
"Well, actually, a bridge has two sides. And Mother had two daughters. We did this together. And we'll continue to do this together."
Anna smiled and hugged Elsa again, placing her forehead against her sister's.
"Together."
Kristoff called out as he came down the cliff.
"Elsa! You're okay!"
He hugged Elsa as Sven came down, Elsa scratching his neck.
"You look different. Did you cut your hair or something?"
Elsa snickered.
"Or something."
"Oh."
Gale blew by, chittering. Elsa turned to her sister.
"Anna, I need to ask you a question."
Anna nodded.
"Okay."
"Do you want to build a snowman?"
Her eyes widened.
"What?"
Elsa closed her eyes, and Gale chittered. A stream of snowflakes came racing around them, forming into a shape as Elsa waved her hand.
"Thank goodness water has memory."
Anna smiled as she realized it was Olaf. She quickly pulled out his hands, coal buttons, stick hair and his carrot nose as he finished forming.
Olaf opened his eyes, giggling softly.
"Anna! Elsa! Hiccup! Kristoff! And Sven!
He giggled even more.
"You all came back."
The five quickly hugged him.
"Oh, I love happy endings."
Once they let go, he turned to Elsa.
"I mean, I presume we're done. Or is this "putting us in mortal danger" situation gonna be a regular thing?"
"Well…" Elsa said quietly. "There's two more things. Skaði, come here, girl."
Hiccup's eyes widened as Skaði.
"Wait, that's Skaði?"
Elsa nodded.
"She got bigger, and grew more spikes. And she can fire ice like me now. Her mother was from Ahtohallan. She looked like Toothless except her body was more streamlined, white, and she had ice blue eyes. Her ice blasts are like my magic. But as for her father, I think it was a…"
A loud happy roar was heard as the male Snow Wraith flew down and nuzzled Skaði.
"A Snow Wraith." Hiccup finished. "And the other thing?"
Elsa blushed, but smiled and took Hiccup's hands, placing them on her stomach.
"I don't… oh..."
Hiccup froze.
"I'm… I'm gonna be a dad?"
Elsa nodded.
"Surprise."
"I'M GONNA BE A FATHER!"
He picked up Elsa and spun her around before setting her down, pulling her into a kiss. Elsa giggled and turned to Olaf.
"Now… we're done."
"Actually." Kristoff said. "There is one more thing."
Kristoff got down on one knee. Anna gasped.
"Anna, you are the most extraordinary person I've ever known. I love you with all I am. Will you marry me?"
Sobbing, and waving her hands to push air against her face, she nodded.
"Yes!"
She threw herself into Kristoff's arms, smiling happily. As everyone celebrated, the three Earth Giants from earlier came over to them. Taking Anna and Hiccup's hand, Elsa led them over to them, and touched them gently. Hiccup smiled. Soon, everyone returned to the main group. Hiccup went over to Mattias.
"Arendelle's okay."
Mattias was surprised.
"What?"
Elsa went over to Yelena and Honeymaren.
"Ahtohallan is beautiful."
The Salamander jumped into Elsa's hands.
"Oh! Hello. I have a name for you now. I'll call you Bruni. Do you like that?"
Bruni nodded, and sprawled out in her hands, turning over onto his back.
Honeymaren looked at Elsa.
"You know, you belong up here."
"I know… but I told my sister we'll be together no matter what. I promise to visit, and if you need me for anything, I'll be there."
Yelena nodded.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. What will you do now?"
"I think I will take a vacation with my husband. But first… there's something that must be done."
"I now pronounce you, husband, and wife! You may kiss the bride!"
Anna launched herself into Kristoff's arms, kissing him. It was now winter time in Arendelle. Elsa stood and clapped for her sister in the front row, her stomach noticeably rounder. Hiccup was beside her, clapping.
Once the wedding was over, Elsa, Hiccup, and the newlyweds made their way to the town square where Lieutenant Mattias, now General Mattias, stood with Halima, his now girlfriend, as old feelings had been rekindled.
"What is this crazy magic called again?"
"A photograph." Halima replied.
"Photograph. Huh. We look good."
Elsa smiled.
"Halima. General Mattias."
Mattias stood to attention.
"Uh, Your Majesties."
He turned to Halima.
"I'll be right back. You can look at our photograph while I'm gone."
As Elsa, Hiccup, Anna, and Kristoff pulled him away, he called back to her.
"I'm just kidding."
He turned to Anna.
"How am I doing?"
"Fantastic." she replied.
The five soon reached something covered in a tarp, and they each pulled on a rope, revealing a statue of the child versions of Adgar and Iduna.
"Our lands..." started Elsa.
Anna nodded.
"And people."
Kristoff smiled.
"Now connected…"
"By love." Hiccup finished.
Gale chittered and blew past Elsa, and Anna.
"Hi, Gale. You like it?"
Gale chittered again before vanishing. The clock in the town square struck noon, and Elsa turned to Hiccup.
"It's time to go on vacation. You ready?"
Hiccup nodded.
"For you, my dear? Always."
Elsa hugged Anna goodbye before climbing onto Skaði. With a wave to their people, Elsa, Hiccup, Toothless, and Skaði took flight heading north to the Barbaric Archipelago, but they had to make a quick stop at Ahtohallan. As they neared the Glacier, Elsa glanced over to Hiccup, and smiled, to which he returned. They didn't know what parenthood would bring, but Elsa was excited. She couldn't wait for their little one to be here.
But everything would change. And not in a good way.
Meanwhile in the Northern Waters, north of the edge of the known maps, a camp on a lone isle was set up. Ships by the dozen sat in the water around the isle, each with gages strapped to the deck. An airship flew through the sky, carried by four red dragons. The airship landed on the isle outside a massive arena. Two hooded figures leapt from the airship, landing on the dirt.
"Archers!"
Archers drew their bows, and aimed at the two figures as they walked into the arena flanked by two red dragons with massive tusks, sticking out from their mouths.
"Deathgrippers."
As the two hooded figures walked through the arena amongst the cages, they could see dragons being controlled by cages and chains. They made their way to a group of people overlooking a map.
Ivar spoke up.
"The Dragon Riders attacked us here…"
He picked up a small wooden boat and placed it on the map.
"Off the eastern strait."
Another man picked up another boat, and crashed it into Ivar's playfully.
"Nnneeaoowww, BOOM."
Chaghatai Khan snapped at Ragnar.
"Ragnar!"
"Um, sorry."
One of the hooded figures chuckled.
"My dear warlords. How go your plans to go conquer the world?"
Ragnar smiled as the figure pulled down his hood.
"Ha-ha-ha! Grimmel, my old friend. Thank you for coming."
One of the Deathgrippers attacked and pinned Ragnar down when he got too close to Grimmel.
"Oh-ah!"
"Less than a year since Drago's defeat, and no further along with your dragon army, I see."
"You can thank the chief of Berk's son for that." Griselda the Grevious replied with a frown.
"Stoick's boy? I thought he was down south. Married a queen with magical powers, I think."
Ragnar struggled to get the Deathgripper off as it drooled on him. A slender hand stroked the dragon's neck.
"Hush now, my pet. He meant no harm."
Cold and dead eyes stared at Ragnar as the figure stood over him.
"Right?"
"Yup! No harm indeed."
The Deathgripper looked at the owner of the voice and stepped off. Ragnar stood up and turned to Grimmel.
"Who is that?"
The figure pulled down their hood, revealing an older woman with piercing dark grey eyes. Her hair was a fiery red that seemed to shimmer. Grimmel smirked.
"My wife… Æsa… The Fire-Bringer."
Ragnar nodded.
"As I was saying… Even though he is to the south, he created a Dragon Rider team stationed at Berk to raid our ships and steal our dragons."
Grimmel hummed.
"That does sound like a nuisance."
He turned to leave.
"But I'm in the business of killing dragons, not retrieving them."
"Huh? But, Grimmel…"
"That idiot boy has done all of the work for you, gathering the dragons in one place." Grimmel replied. "Why bother me?"
Chaghatai spoke up.
"Because he has a Night Fury."
Grimmel and his wife stopped dead in their tracks.
"Not possible."
Chaghatai chuckled.
"Hah, well, it seems one slipped through your fingers. Two actually."
A burst of flame shot out in front of him singeing his beard.
"Say another word about my husband's dragon-killing abilities, good or bad, and you fry."
Æsa stood holding a flame in her hand. She extinguished the flame by closing her fist in a rapid motion. Ragnar gulped, but spoke up.
"Look, the Night Fury is the alpha dragon. Berk's dragons will follow it as will the dragons of Arendelle where it is located, so we'll pay you to capture him and bring the flock to us. We even have your favorite bait."
"Indeed we do." said a voice. A man stepped out from the shadows, his skin dark with his black hair short. A red Singetail stood behind him. He smiled.
"Krogan of the Dragon Flyers. At your service."
He bowed as Grimmel raised an eyebrow.
"Surely the bait is not a Singetail?"
"Indeed not." said another voice. A man with black hair and beard stepped out, a covered cage being pushed out on wheels.
"Viggo Grimborn at your service. This is my brother, Ryker."
He gestured to the man behind him before continuing.
"I think we have something worth your time. Ryker. Remove the tarp."
Ryker nodded and ripped the tarp off, revealing a pure black dragon with wide dark-blue eyes that were looking around quickly. Grimmel went over to the cage.
"A female? Hmm."
"Not just any female." replied Viggo. "The last female Night Fury."
The female Night Fury was frightened and hunkered down in the cage. Ragnar smiled.
"So, do we have a deal, old friend?"
A nearby dragon, a Rumblehorn, got agitated from the Deathgrippers being near it and broke it's chains, charging to the Warlords who jumped out of the way.
Chaghatai shouted.
"Watch out!"
Grimmel didn't move, but swung around and shot a projectile from his crossbolt which hit the Rumblehorn. The Rumblehorn collapsed and skidded on the dirt towards Grimmel, stopping on his foot.
"When all is said and done, this young King will bring me the Night Fury."
He yanked his foot out from underneath the Rumblehorn as his wife and the Deathgrippers turned towards the gate.
"The people of Arendelle don't have a leader, just a boy."
Meanwhile below the arena, three people with bags over their heads were led out of some prison cells and taken outside to be executed, their hands tied with ropes.
"Well, your time is up, Dagur. You've outlived your usefulness."
"Oh, come on, Savage." Dagur responded. "Don't you remember the good times? When we fought side by side?"
Savage chuckled.
"That was then, Dagur. That time has passed."
"Well… okay then."
Dagur suddenly turned around, and tackled Savage, pushing him against the wall off the cave. Savage was knocked unconscious. Taking Savage's knife, and cutting himself free, Dagur pulled the bag off of his head, and went over to the other two prisoners and cut their bonds.
"Alright, we don't have much time."
"Who are you?" a woman's voice said from underneath the bag.
"Dagur the Deranged. I'm getting you out of here."
A man's voice replied, full of a suspicious tone.
"Why are you helping us?"
"Uh… because it's the right thing to do? You have nothing to do with this war. You're not in my way so I have no reason to kill you unless you did something to me in the past, but I've never met you before so… Oh, I'm rambling. Sorry!"
"You remind me of my daughter."
Dagur frowned and got red in the face.
"Are you saying I'm a girl?"
"No, your personality is very similar to my youngest daughter." the male voice replied.
"Oh… Is that a complement?"
"I think so?"
"Oh… I'll take it."
He pulled the bags off of their heads. The woman was slender, with blue eyes, and had fading brown hair. The man was also slender, with fair skin, strawberry-blond hair which had lightened, and a mustache with sideburns. He also had green eyes.
"Come on. We're taking a fishing boat to escape."
Dagur led the way out of the tunnels and to a quiet part of the dock. Finding a fishing boat that was abandoned, Dagur quickly got the man and the woman in the boat. He handed an oar to the man.
"Can you row?"
The man nodded, and took the oar, sitting down on one side while Dagur took the other. Slowly but surely they made their way out of the harbor and into the open ocean. Once the isle was nothing but a speck on the horizon, Dagur raised the sail, and got it set for the wind.
"And we're on our way. Once we get to Berkserker Island, I can get you set up on a boat to take you anywhere you need to go. Obviously you're not from around here with your accents."
"No." the female replied. "But thank you for your help, Dagur. We are in your debt."
"You can settle the debt with your names. We'll be here a while anyways. Might as well get to know each other."
The man and woman glanced at each other.
"Adgar." replied the man.
The woman nodded.
"Iduna."
Dagur smiled.
"Well, pleased to meet you! Hug?"
But before they could say a word, Dagur hugged them both.
"This is gonna be so great!"
The former King and Queen of Arendelle said nothing, but focused on returning home. To their daughters. And Hiccup.