Beyond the Horizon (JELSA)

-Batten Down The Hatches-

Caribbean Sea

''Elsa!'' Rapunzel shouted from across the maindeck. ''We need to talk!'' she marched up to the stairs that led to the quarterdeck. The sudden outcry caught Elsa's attention causing her to drop the chart she was holding. She quickly bent down to grab the chart before it got blown away by the wind. ''What is it? I'm kind of busy!''

''Aren't you always?''

''Excuse me?''

''I'm sorry.'' Rapunzel sighed. ''Can we please just talk?''

''Fine,'' Elsa handed the chart to Hiccup, who stood at the wheel. ''I'll get back to you.''

She followed her first mate down the hatch. Elsa was painfully aware of the sound her boots made and the way the wood creaked as they descended the ladder. She tried to supress a cough as she inhaled the warm and stuffy air. The clothes of the sailors were strewn all over the floor, silver cobwebs covered the ceiling. A drastically different sight compared to Jack's cabin, which Olaf attended to. Elsa made a mental note to send him down there as well.

They walked over towards the back, where the hold was sectioned off with black sails. Rapunzel looked down as she lifted up the black sail, allowing Elsa to enter first. Unlike the men's section, the space was tidy. All of their belongings where neatly tucked away inside the sea chests which were placed underneath the hammocks. Four hammocks hung inside the space, one left untouched. Elsa caught herself staring at that one hammock as she hugged herself. ''I meant to come down, you know.''

Rapunzel felt her tense muscles loosen up as she watched her captain stand there. The lively spark in her captain's eyes seemed to have vanished, like the sun would disappear behind troubled stormclouds. Rapunzel had noticed that both captains seemed on edge, not a word was uttered about that bizarre night when the hatch got closed off. Since then Rapunzel had noticed a shift in Elsa's behaviour, not only towards her but towards everyone. She was constantly obsessing over her chart and kept re-altering their course, driving their helmsmen mad. The fact that they were fighting no longer seemed like something worth investing her energy in.

"It's okay." Rapunzel said. "I understand it'd be difficult for you to come down here with us...not talking."

"Can we put an end to that?" Elsa stepped forward and took Rapunzel's hands. "I'm sorry. I should not have blamed you for what happened."

For the first time in a while Rapunzel felt warm inside as Elsa spoke those words. Like a heavy weight, the feelings of guilt got lifted off her shoulders. The blissful feeling took a hold of her, she couldn't contain herself and pulled her hands out of Elsa's soft grip. She opened her arms and locked them tightly around Elsa, something she'd wanted to do since Elsa landed in front of her on the main deck of The Ice Queen. Her heart rate and breathing slowed; the wild array of emotions calmed down inside her. After some time Elsa pulled away from the hug and smiled at her friend. "Now what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

''Oh,'' Rapunzel said.  The heated face-off she had re-imagined over and over again in her head no longer seemed relevant to have. ''I've been wanting to ask what's on your mind. You seemed so distant these past few days. Does it have to do with that one night?" Elsa's smile faded and her expression immediately darkened again as the events from that night started to come back to her.

Elsa nodded. ''The sword. It's beyond what we expected.''

''What do you mean?''

''It's not just a treasure hunt like we thought.'' Elsa said in a lowered voice. ''It's a very powerful tool, and the wrong people are after it."

"You mean the company?"

"No, no." Elsa shook her head.

"Then who are we talking about? What happened that night on the deck? How powerful is the sword?"