Trapped by Fear

Chapter 22

(Elsa's POV)

"So whatcha reading? What is it about? Is it good? Are there pictures? Why do you enjoy it, it just seems to boring, string at slivers of dead trees all day." Jack spouted off with a slight sing-song in his voice.

"I- uh- well"

"What's the title?" He continued before even giving her a chance to respond.

She huffed silently and, unbeknownst to her, donned a slight pout. 

"Why is your face like that? It's almost like the annoyed face Bunny makes but not quite."

She straightened out her features once more to resume her usual, unreadable expression. 

"Aaaaaand now it's gone." Jack continued, stating the obvious, "Why'd you hide your reaction like that?" now more curious that nagging.  

Jack was getting on her nerves. In fact the Guardians were all getting on her nerves. All she wanted to do was shut off and not have to think or feel anything. But nooooo they had to ask her stupid questions that dug up old memories. She knew she should probably be grateful, but it was just all a bit much. She couldn't hide away in her room because North was busy with the spell. She needed someplace quiet to clear her head. The workshop was out, there were elves and yetis everywhere. She couldn't go to the Tooth Palace or Bunny's Warren by herself (not that she wanted to anyway). So where then?

Sighing to herself she let her gaze wander to the window... of course! She would go for a walk. Not far, just out a bit. She slipped out before anyone could notice her and began to trudge through the snow.

It was cold, presumably. It was snowing lightly but she never felt cold. It just never seemed to bother her. It had been a while since she'd breathed fresh air like this. She was used to being in Pitch's lair and even with the Guardians she spent most of her time inside. It almost felt strange having this amount of crisp, refreshing air accessible to her. Subconsciously she wandered towards the cover of the trees and headed deeper into the forest. The moon was out tonight, making the snow seem to softly glow.

She was startled by a small snow bunny dashing across her path. It paused to look at her curiously for a moment before scampering off again. She smiled softly to herself. Focusing on breathing in the fresh air and watching where she stepped so that she didn't trip on an unsuspecting root or rock, she was able to almost clear her mind of her swirling thoughts for a moment. It was beautiful and peaceful, just what she needed.

She felt the shelter of the trees fade away and found herself in a small clearing. At the center was a frozen pond, the ice glistening like a sheet of diamonds. Looking around to assure herself that she was alone she tentatively placed a foot on the ice. With one still on the ground behind her she gradually transferred her weight to her front foot. Then moving her back foot to the front she repeated the process until she was in the center of the pond.

The ice was frozen firm and solid.

Sure she could have ensured that herself but she didn't want to use her powers and risk losing control.

It had been ages since she's last ice skated. It used to be one of her favorite things before her powers spun out of control. And even then she would (on very rare occasion) venture onto the ice in Winter to glide around a bit. Once again looking over her shoulder to see she was truly alone she tentatively began to skate.

Cautiously at first then more smoothly as the muscle memory came back to her. It was nothing Olympic level but she was more than competent and expertly skated across the ice. Enjoying the slight wind rushing past her ears and as she became lost in the moment she didn't think about the darkness as much.

But she also didn't notice the figure watching her from the shadows...

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(A/N: Sorry for short chapter. More longer ones coming soon)