*
**
*****
**
*
“Snow! It
had to be snow” Anna complained to the world loudly as she continued to struggle up the hill, almost losing her right shoe -again!- before she managed to keep it on with a
twist of her foot, grunting as she also fought to keep her long dress up and out of the snow as she clambered up the last steps to the crest. She was in some disbelief mixed at how
deep the snow had gotten in such a short space of time - and some amount of awe at Elsa’s power.
Also, trying
not to think about how cold she was getting as she wondered how long until the sun came up, staggering finally to the top of the hill and trying to think warm thoughts. “She couldn't have had tropical magic that covered the f-fjords in white sand and warm...”
Her voice trailed off as she saw it.
In front of her was a tree covered valley looking charmingly picturesque ... but cutting straight up into the night sky through the still breeze was-
“Fire!!!!” she didn’t quite squee as she danced, seeing the long thin column of smoke rising not that far ahead through the forest from some kind of structure. Just down and-
Then the snowbank she was dancing on and in, collapsed.
“Woah!” she screeched as the ground gave way and with that she was tumbling down the slope, utterly out of control in the dark, desperately trying to stop as she slid down the smooth surface, finding no purchase with her numb hands as she somehow managed to avoid smacking into a tree and-
SPLASH!She came to a spectacular stop from the ten or fifteen meter drop as she landed in a small creek of some kind.
She took a second to take a breath… then she jumped to her feet as she realized that flowing cold feeling washing over her was-
“COLD! Cold cold cold cold cold!” she gasped aloud as she jumped to her feet, water dripping from her that instantly started to feel VERY cold as the increasing wind caught her soaked clothes and tore right into her, her teeth now chattering as she realized she had lost the surprisingly warm cape that had been keeping the wind off her in the fall letting the wind howl into her.
She staggered forward and almost fell as she realized her dress lower half was soaked - and oddly freezing rapidly into an awkward sort of shape but pressed on as quickly as she could as the wind picked up and sleet started to fly in with it, the warm light pulling her forward as she reached the steps to the large warm building, awkwardly twist stepping her way up as her dress seemed to solidify as she found what appeared to be a sign and lightly pushed it to let the snow fall off…
“Wandering … Oakens … Trading post” she gasped happily before a smaller sign she had missed under it dropped its snow to reveal... “oh, and Sauna!”
That sounded perfect. Sort of sideways walking to the heavy wooden door, she reached down and twisted the handle…
Success! It was open!
Blessed, blessed
warm air flowed out and she pushed the door open with a grunt, the wind trying to keep it closed as she squeezed around it and inside-
It slammed closed behind her and she smiled as she sort of walked forward, her exposed skin rejoicing in the warmth as she looked around. Seeing that indeed it
did appear to be a trading post! With supplies everywhere she looked-
“Yoo hoo!” a cheerful voice called and she turned to see a cheerful man waving at her from a counter out to the side and she waved back happily. “Big summer blowout! Half off swimming suits, clogs - oh and a sun balm of my own invention!”
The frozen wind howling outside underlined the insanity of carrying on the big-summer blowout … near 4AM according to the charming clock on the wall. The sun would be coming up soon - had he stayed up all night, just in case some lost travelers like her would show up? Or … was he getting up early? She was getting a little turned around here.
But he was just so … happy!
“Oh, uh, great! For now, how about boots - winter boots - and dresses?” she suggested with a hopeful smile back.
“Ah, that would be in our winter department!” he cheerfully pointed her … to a
tiny little corner of the store.
Understandable she supposed, given that it had been
summer this morning that he wouldn’t exactly have much on hand … but it seemed fortune was with her as she quickly looked through the limited range. The only outfit that would fit her was a
beautiful dress; a Bunad.
The traditional Norweagen clothes that immigrants from Terra had brought all those centuries ago came and went out of fashion in the cities from decade to decade. But among the more traditional Sami tribes that lived in the Northern part of this continent that tried hard to keep their ancient traditions alive, like the Northuldrans, they were
very popular.
And she had to admit, the colours suited her!
“So, uh, I was just wondering” she asked as she greedily gathered the clothes and walked back to the counter, wanting to get out of her freezing, wet dress yesterday, “hasssss another young woman - oh, the
Duchess perhaps - passed here?”
The wonderfully happy man just shrugged, clearly unphased by her awkward and unusually specific question she was trying not to cringe at.
“Only one crazy enough to be outside in this storm is you my dear!” he noted - a split second before the door suddenly opened with a howl of the wind and Anna spun around, hoping against hope-
No. It was a … man? She thought so, it was hard to tell under the clothes covered in white frost and snow with only his eyes showing through the wraps around his face.
“You and
this fellow” the proprietor corrected himself from behind her. “Yoo hoo! Big summer blowout!”
She’d give him this, the man was … persistent.
The newcomer didn’t answer as he approached the counter … and her. And she sort of shuffled back into the counter as the man heavily stepped closer and closer into her personal space and making her feel just a
little uncomfortable as she whistled looking away awkwardly, trying not to make eye contact-
“Corates” he said.
“Huh?” she blinked, a little confused and he leaned in yet closer causing her to pull back -
“Carrots” he repeated slower, with emphasis and a tinge of annoyance -
this time she could hear him clearly. “
Behind you”.She blinked, glanced down - yes she was in the way, whoops!
“Oh! Right, ‘scuse me” she beamed a smile at him and slid out of the way, letting him reach in and pick out a bunch of carrots from the limited fresh food there, dumping it onto the counter - just
barely missing landing on top of her dress, to her annoyance.
“A real howler in July, yes!” Oaken cheerfully observed as the man slowly made his way to where various tools and equipment were, studying the ropes and tools.
It’s May, not July Anna frowned for a second before shrugging as Oaken continued to chatter on. “I wonder wherever this could be coming from?”
“The storms centered right on top of the North Mountain” the newcomer said dismissively and those two words rang in Anna’s mind like a giant bell, drowing out the conversation between the two men as she thought furiously.
The North Mountain. What was it mother said about it … Elsa … Elsa … North Mountain? She couldn’t
quite remember, it had been years ago and she still felt that pang in her heart every time she thought of her mother… but it was enough.
If the storm was centered
there, that
had to be where Elsa was, right?
Well it was as good a place as any to run away to she supposed-
“Forty!?” the protest from the man next to her cut through her thoughts and she looked up to see him
looming over the counter, sounding outraged. “No that's ten!” he gestured vaguely over at the shelf.
“Oh dear, that’s no good. See this is from our winter stock and supply and demand have a big problem?” Oaken said and Anna tilted her head slightly as she dredged up her memory on Arendelle consumer law. Trading posts, if she remembered correctly, had much looser restrictions on pricing and
could in fact change their prices around on account of things like weather to account for supply limits-
“You want to talk about supply-and-demand problems? I sell ice as a sideline” the man snapped back, jerking his head out the window and Anna couldn’t help but glance, seeing an absolutely adorable sled with blocks of blue clear ice stacked up in the back, fascinating her. Ice harvesting in the traditional Norwegen way was indeed a small sideline that certain Sami tribes engaged in during summer and it was very popular for tourists to try their hand at, from around the planet. She didn’t really get it, but apparently a
lot of other nobles on the planet had a
huge thing for using
only traditional and authentic harvested ice.
In
her mind, it was nothing more than a way for them to flaunt their wealth in their summer parties. Rather than use a freezer and water like a normal person, they
only accepted mountain ice. Harvested from lakes and delivered on the day for drinks on a hot summer's day...
With that said, she had to admit it
was kinda hilarious.
“Ohhh that’s a rough business to be in right now” she giggled a little, smiling at him, “I mean that is … really …” she trailed off as it became clear from the look he was giving her, that this man wasn’t seeing the funny side of things.
She cleared her throat.
“That's unfortunate” she lamley finished up, wondering if she would
ever manage to think before she spoke! Wasn’t driving Elsa into a panic attack and setting off an eternal winter
enough of a screw up tonight-
“Still forty! But, I will throw in a visit to Oaken's sauna!” the proprietor offered, turning to wave to a door on the side of the large room she hadn’t noticed before. “Yoo hoo! Hi family!”
A number of children and adults inside waved back equally cheerfully and Anna couldn’t help but smile and wave back at them in turn, envying them their happy uneventful night…
“Ten’s all I’ve got, help me out?” the man didn’t quite beg and Anna felt a sudden sense of pity and opened her mouth to offer to pay … then closed it, thinking about what she had just thought about jumping in and wondering...
“Okay, ten will get you this” the proprietor - she wondered if he
was Oaken, or if Oakan was a wandering person who came in and out, or if-
“Look you crook, I’m not asking for-”
There was a harsh scraping sound of wood on wood and Anna looked back to watch as, whoever the man was, he seemed to
grow a meter in front of her eyes as he stood up.
She had seen the footage from the Clan War, of those monstrous Clan Elemental soldiers … and she suspected this man
could have passed for one as he stood
so high, his head seemed to move out of the rooms light.
“What … did you call me?” he asked, sounding not … ominous. Or threatening. Or angry.
He just sounded horribly hurt.
Thirty seconds later however after the proprietor had (with one hand) hiked Mr ‘Crook’ out the door in an astonishing show of strength, Anna made a mental note to
not call him a crook.
“I am sorrys about this violence. I will add a quart of lutfisk ja, so we are having happy feelings? Just the clothes and booths?”
Anna swallowed heavily at the fish looking at her through the glass, fighting the bile moving up. She had always
hated lutfish, hated the fact that it was one of Arendelle's celebrated foods meaning she saw it everywhere...
She was 100% convinced that the very
best thing about living on Corona with her Uncle and Aunt - well other than
Punzy - had to be the complete
lack of lutfisk…
And as she dragged her eyes away from the poor poor fish staring at her in accusation, she saw the rope, pick and carrots waiting there.
“Actually … I’ll take all of this as well” she waved at the items. “Oh and you can keep the lutfisk”.
“Really? But I-”
“Keep. The lutfisk” she repeated, wondering how she could get so queasy just from saying the
word...“Well whatever you say dear” he shrugged. “Now that will be … three hundred!”.
Anna then realized a slight flaw with her plan. She wasn’t carrying any money. But-
“Do you, uh, have a scan-pad?” She guessed he would, she knew enough about this part of the world to know that a
lot of nobles had their holidays in various holiday houses and estates scattered across hundreds of kilometers and they would go to places like this in the ‘winter’ season for supplies. Being connected to the electronic payment system would be critical … she hoped-
“Of course my dear!” the man beamed and he dove under his counter before bringing up a gleaming pad. Capable of taking a biometric thumbprint scan like a verigraph, it would then identify her and charge it back to her account - her working account - which she knew had at
least a few million in it which she was pretty sure would cover this...
Then she froze in the very act of reaching for it.
Of course … if she put her palm on this, it wouldn’t just charge her account. If Galen and Victor and all those other people she
knew would want to drag her back to the Castle were looking for her and had put the word out, putting her hand on this would set off a red flag and she’d probably have Jump Infantry dropping on top of her in minutes, eager to drag her back to sit on Elsa’s throne…
She couldn’t risk it. But she wasn’t carrying any money...
“My dear?” the proprietor held the pad towards her hand sort of hanging halfway in the air and she blinked.
“Uh … “ she thought rapidly, moving the hand back to run through her hair in furious thought-
And froze again, as her hand nudged the disk in her hair. The gift from her Uncle and Aunt that was precious to her beyond most things she owned … and yet she
knew that they would understand - and it happened to be worth tens of thousands of pounds.
“So, uh, Oaken?” she queried, getting the happy nod from the smiling man and beaming her own back at him. “Rather than a scanpay, might I propose a trade?”
*
**
*****
**
*
“...of emergency, we repeat the news bulletin. To confirm the impossible news that has spread across the entire planet like this storm; the Duchess Elsa has what can only be described as some kind of magical powers over ice and snow. This is not
a hoax or a joke - the footage is all over the vid and please, feel free to look out the window and see the incredible snow in the middle of summer! These incredible powers were revealed during an argument between the Duchess and her sister, striking no less a person than Victor Steiner-Davion himself, hero of the Federated Commonwealth!
There are a great deal of mixed messages coming out of the investment, but official statements are that the entire situation was a tragic accident and Victor himself is fine, but being held for observation overnight. In the aftermath, the Duchess was said to flee on foot across the Arendelle Fjord, by freezing it under foot! This in turn has set off a massive winter storm that is expanding rapidly, but we all pray passes quickly.
Please remain calm!
Galen Cox, commander of the 10th Lyran Guard escort force was placed in command of the situation by Prince Victor himself. He has designated the emergency state response to the Government and gave a speech which designated as his civilian liaison one Han-”Kristoff killed the somewhat battered but still perfectly functional short wave radio and put it back into his pocket, shaking his head slowly, somewhat bewildered, but oddly indifferent. Sure, it’s
not what he had expected to hear … but unlike most everyone on the planet - and Inner Sphere for that matter; he
knew that there was much more to the universe than what you could see and hear.
With that said; not his problem!
Putting the radio in his pocket, he picked up his lute, equally battered but with fresh strings and smiled as he strummed a few chords, getting the mass of fur next to him shuffling closer and smiled as he sensed what he wanted to hear.
“Reindeers are better than people. Sven, don't you think that's trueeee?” he asked lightly.
“Yeah, people will beat you and curse you and cheat you. Every one of them's bad except you”.“Oh, thanks buddy” he chuckled. “
But people smell better than reindeers. Sven, don't you think that I'm riiiight?”
“That's once again true, for all except you!”“You got me, let's call it a night” he laughed.
“Good night!”“Don't let the frostbite bitttteee” and with a final strum, Kristoff let the song end with a smile on his face despite everything.
Things were not
exactly going as planned right now, he supposed. What, with a
massive winter storm in the middle of summer rather derailing his plans to make a quick buck selling harvested ice to those up themselves nobles on Royal Ridge.
Well, he was all but out of cash, with what money he still had (which wasn’t exactly a small amount as he honestly had always earned more than he spent) down in the guildhall he stayed in most of the time. And without the rope and pickaxe, he didn’t fancy his chances going on through the rest of the night.
So, he supposed he was stuck until the storm blew over.
On the other hand, he was stuck with Sven. His best friend. Only friend he needed. And they’d made it through far worse together. Not that Sven had been exactly happy about the lack of carrots...
That Oaken he snorted silently as he put his lute aside. Oh, the man wouldn’t go back on his long standing agreement to use the shed here as a shelter when he needed it, but in his long experience, rocks rolled downhill and when you were on the bottom like him, well, you learned to either roll
with them or got crushed. There wasn’t much point in getting upset about people being
people after all and looking out for themselves, so he’d follow Svens lead as he settled down next to him and-
“Nice duet!”
He jumped in surprise off the hay he had been lying on in alarm at the sudden voice next to him. His cap sent flying as he looked around, feeling Sven next to him equally startled and getting to his feet-
“Oh. It’s just you” he exhaled slowly as he laid his eyes on the intruder by the door, about to turn away dismissively before he did a double take.
It clearly
was the young woman from Oakens … but she had changed clothes.
And her hairstyle for that matter.
She wasn’t wearing that dress that
screamed ‘Barons oh so precious daughter’ anymore (
that would have had her turn into an ice statue by tomorrow) but a surprisingly
cute Sami-
Nope. NOPE, not going there Kristoff scolded himself, channeling his irritation.
“What’d you want?” he asked, hoping if he was as dismissive as possible she would go away. If she wanted to share the shed … well, there was a whole corner over there he supposed, so long as she didn’t try to actually
talk to him.
Worryingly as she edged in from the door, he had a feeling that that was
exactly what she was about to do…
He wasn’t disappointed as she stiffened slightly at his brusk question, before raising her chin and-
“I want you to take me up the North Mountain,” she said. Her voice, her face and her very bearing
hilariously serious for such a young little girl lost in a snowstorm.
Okay, it was
worse than talking to him. He called it alright, Barons daughter who never had anyone tell her no before and thought he was a taxi service … and wanted to
go up the North Mountain?!“I don’t
take people places” he scoffed to her after processing the ludicrous idea, fishing his cap off the floor and popping it onto his head as he leaned back. In his experience if you just
ignored people like this, they tended to get the hint sooner rather than later. Especially when they were clearly insane.
Sven of course didn’t sit back down, like the damn puppy he kept thinking he was he could feel him excitedly bouncing on his feet as he stared at the newcomer, but he ignored him-
“Let me rephrase that” the sweet voice came back-
THUMPKristoff had the wind knocked out of him as something
heavy dropped onto his stomach and he bounced to sitting up with a gasp for air, his hat going flying again. That crazy girl had come within a
very short distance of dropping a heavy bag onto his...
“Hey!” he yelled in no small amount of annoyance. He might have been manhandled by that crook Oaken, but he
wasn’t going to take this damn
party girl throwing him a sack with … the rope … and new pickaxe he really needed.
He blinked, then looked up in more than a bit of confusion.
“Take me up the North Mountain … please” she finished … and damn it to hell there was something …
something about her expression and the way her voice softened that made his tongue freeze as he prepared to reflexively tell her to get lost. Those eyes he had thought were blue inside the trading post seeming to flicker almost green in the light of the lamp-
STOP. What the hell was he
thinking? Seriously? Her
eyes?!
Get it together Kristoff!“Look, I know this sounds crazy, but this winter isn’t, well, natural” she continued. “And I know how to stop it if I can just get up to the North Mountain!”
That … for the first time, he paused and looked at her.
Really looked at her.
Pabbie … Pabbie had been
cryptic when he had left the valley three days ago. Even for him. Telling him that on
this day, he would find himself in the right place at the right time to do the right thing. And that he would
need to do the right thing.
When he had asked him what he was talking about, he had gotten (as he should have expected) nothing more than a smile and gestures to be on his way.
He had concluded that he was full of it in all honestly when today had been one disaster after another, what with his carefully shepherded cargo of fresh glacier ice that would have made him a good couple of hundred pounds selling to the guildmaster now making a joke of his hard work while he was stuck here instead of down at the Fjord in the guild hall...
But unlike everyone else on this planet, he
knew in his bones that this
storm was
not some kind of freak natural weather pattern. He had seen, above the clouds, very
very strange lights and sounds illuminating the region from the top of the Mountain. And there had been … something. Something in the very air itself that had caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand rigidly straight.
He had only ever felt that way
once before in his life, on a night that he would never forget...
And here was this … tiny … girl. Who was
demanding that he take her there, that she could stop it all. This tiny, utterly helpless yet crazy determined girl. A combination which would surely get her killed if she went alone.
And to top it all off, Sven (damn him) was bizarrely
excited, seeming to have taken an instant like to the young woman in a way he never did for
anyone.
And Kristoff just
knew if he sent her away,
he would be sulking for days.
And he
really didn’t want to put up with that. Reindeers might be better than people, but Gods could they
sulk.He sighed and tried to keep his indifferent face on he realized he really didn’t have a choice here...
“Uch. We leave at dawn” he sighed, plonking his hat back on,
again. Before shooting her a smirk as he suddenly realized he should at least make her
pay for the privilege. “Oh and you forgot the carrots for Sven” he added, getting an agreeing whine from the … wait that wasn’t an
agreeing whine but a -
THWACKThis time she had hit him in the side of the head! With … carrots?
“Oops! Sorry! I’m sorry, I didn't mean…” he stared at her to see her leaning forward, her hands out as she apologised over and over … then paused as he stared at her. She stared back. Then she snapped back up straight and cleared her throat, putting her hands on her hips and striking the pose as if she was the damn
Duchess or something!
“We leave … now. Um, right now!”
It was both hilarious … and against his better judgement, adorable in a sort of sad blue blood way as she glanced around for a second, hesitated, then
marched out of the shed with her head snapped back...
After a moment, he picked up one of the carrots from the bunch that had hit him and held it up, Sven instantly snapping it up and he just kept staring with no small amount of incredulity at the door this …
whoever … had just stomped out of.
Well, this was going to be …
interesting, if nothing else he supposed as he got up with a sigh and turned to start dragging Sven out of the warm hay pile-
He needn't have bothered.
His treacherous reindeer flowed past him even as he turned, out the door after this stranger he followed and to his irritation and disbelief, he found Sven was
prancing as this stranger petted his nose telling him he was a
good reindeer!
‘I’m the best
reindeer nice lady, do you have any more carrots?’ he could hear Sven trying to scam more food and rolled his eyes as he stomped towards the sled.
“Hey, make yourself useful, we’ve got to unload this ice” he said as he started to unstrap the ropes holding his
painstakingly harvested ice on. “Just stack it against the wall here” he added as that done, he picked up his first two blocks and did so.
“Got it - woah, heavy!” the woman giggled -yes giggled- as she tried to slide the block out, seemingly unaware of how heavy it was.
To her credit, she adjusted her grip and carried it over, without any seeming trouble. “Wow, it’s
really clear ice” she admired the quality of the ice before she put it down and moved back to pick up the next one, smiling at him.
“You … just need to know where to look” he dismissed her praise, feeling a bit of embarrassment at her gawking over his harvested ice … why?
‘Because her praise is nice!’ Sven answered for him, the Reindeer tilting his head and gruffing at him, causing Kristoff to roll his eyes and get back to work.
“Okay stand back” he said when they had stacked the last block. And again, grudgingly, he was impressed that while her cheeks had turned red …
adorably … she didn’t seem at all winded or exhausted.
“For … what?” she asked in confusion, blinking at him. He shrugged - he
did warn her after all!
“This” he couldn’t help but smirk as he reached up to
thump the side of the shed-
Okay, she was
fast. Very fast. His fist had barely touched the metal of the roof when in between blinks she seemed move safely out of the way as the masses of fresh snow on the roof were dislodged and came pouring down to cover and bury the blocks of ice, where they would insulate them from the sunlight in case he wanted to come back for them.
“I’m okay!” a slightly muffled voice came back and he glanced down to see that this crazy girl had, somehow, managed to trip into the snow and roll over the top of it, now jumping to her feet almost gleefully, bouncing to brush off the snow. “So, uh, I don’t know your name?” she pointed out.
“Kristoff” he replied, still just … staring at her as she dusted the snow off and started to move back to the sled as he in turn started wrangling Sven out of where he was nosing through looking for more carrots, starting to harness him into place. “So … you” he managed as he realized he didn’t know her name, deciding to press her a bit as he latched the harness around Sven, “do you want to break down to me exactly
why we are heading up the North Mountain? You have a weather control machine in your back pocket or something?”
Because, you know, he kinda thought it was a valid question...
“Oh right. Um, well, I’m Anna and my sister Elsa sort of has magical powers and set off a bit of a winter after knocking out Victor Steiner-Davion - totally accidently - after freezing the Fjord…”