The Snow Queen: Jelsa *Third Book to Frozen Love*

Chapter 10

"Just... take this out on me, be mad at me, but please... just don't hurt Toothless!" --Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon

Tooth

 Tooth tried to flutter her wings slightly, only discovering that they were much too stiff from the cold to use. She bit her lip in worry, but kept tiptoeing after the wolf.

 Only in the golden light of Sandy's orb could Tooth make out long, pink scars marring the animal's snout and face. Some of them seemed old and healed, but others were raw as if made recently.

 "Were those scars because of the Snow Queen?" Tooth couldn't help but ask. The silence was getting to her, and Sandy was no conversationalist. But all she got in response was a snap of jaws. "Not in the mood, then," she mumbled, looking down. 

 As the chill began to ebb slightly, the three--four of them, Tooth reminded herself, looking at Bunny--could see a frosty light beckoning to them at the end of the passage. Her feet sped up automatically, eager to find someplace warmer, even if it was only slight. 

 But they were not greeted by warmth at all. Instead, Queen Ursa,wearing an elegant house robe, was standing in the middle of a small room housing a mysterious chamber of ice, as if she were waiting for them to show up.  Tooth shook herself out of her cold stupor and the wolf backed away, cowering. At the same time, she studied the woman she hadn't seen in about four hundred years. 

 Ursa still had the same chiseled face and dramatic way of speaking, but her lips were now permanently turned down, as if she'd found a surprise left by one of her animals in her best shoes.

 "What are you doing here?!" Tooth growled. She and Sandy blocked Bunnymund's cloud with their bodies. 

 "Well, I would've thought I was welcome in my own home. " Ursa smirked carelessly. "You, however..." 

 Sandy made an image of Ursa ripping the ice cave out of the ground. "Stole it?" Ursa gasped dramatically. "I would never! I simply took what I deserved." Sandy didn't look convinced. 

 As Sandy distracted Ursa for a moment, Tooth zipped around to aim a roundhouse kick to her back, unable to fly. In a flash, Ursa turned around and whipped Tooth across the room by her foot. Pain shot up the fairy's back as the wolf ran in front of her fallen body and snarled at the queen. 

 Instead of advancing any more, however, Ursa dusted herself off and helped Tooth up (roughly, if anything). "I'm not here to fight you," she said matter-of-factly. "Actually, I'm here to save me the trouble of killing you." 

 "Oh yeah, as we've seen from your bloody traps," Bunny grumbled quietly from his cot. Tooth's heart skipped a beat when she found out Bunny could even open his eyes, and she inched to the left, hoping to get farther away from the Snow Queen. 

 "Let me get to the point," Ursa continued. "The ice poison from my dart is making its way to your friend's heart, where it will slowly and painfully shut his body down within six hours. Five hours, by now." Tooth could see the next words coming from a mile away. "I, of course, have the antidote. If you leave, and vow not to interfere with my plans, then The Easter Bunny will live and I won't harm you."

 "Where did you get a poison powerful enough to destroy an immortal?" Tooth asked suspiciously.

 "It's an old family recipe," Ursa replied. "And even if the victim were able to live through the poison, he'll spend his whole life as motionless as a plank." 

 As Tooth looked to the ground in thought, she saw a stream of gold subtly winding its way towards her. It took the shape of a two-dimensional North, swiping his two swords bravely. Then it was gone within a second. Sandy was right; North was still inside somewhere. "Oh, and let's not leave out the fact that I found Mr. Clause wandering my halls and now hold him captive," Ursa cackled, apparently delighting in seeing their surprised faces. 

 As proof, Ursa opened up a wall to reveal an unconscious North lying in the next room, surrounded by stern winter foxes. His chest was rising and falling, but his face was bruised and his swords and coat were missing. Tooth longed to see if he was all right, but the wall was closed right after.

 "You'll release him with us if we agree?" Tooth asked. Ursa nodded. "But without Jack and Elsa," Tooth breathed. A raspy laugh came from Bunny's corner.

 "You must be lovin' this, Ursa." he smiled. It amazed Tooth that his pain wasn't impeding on his   sass. "That leg still sore?" Ursa's eyes flicked to her left leg, where she had fallen when Bunny had surprised her with a tunnel all those years ago. Ursa's eyes filled with fire immediately. 

 "I wouldn't act like that to the woman who's the difference between your life and death!" She leaned in to Bunny's face. He glared right back. After a second of that, Ursa straightened up and swept into a corner. "What's your decision?" Her voice contained a squee of delight, and her feet were tip-tapping with joy.

 "Obviously we have to take the deal," Tooth whispered, rushing over to the other two. The wolf followed, keeping an apprehensive eye on Ursa. Bunny shook his head, very slightly. He could still hardly move.

 "If you say yes, we'll...be stuck outside, where we'll be no help. And she'll...have some way of making sure we can't get in or are long gone before any bloody antidote come's 'round," Bunny muttered through his teeth. Sandy nodded, making signs to question whether Ursa even had an antidote. 

 "Of course she does! So that we'll be out of her hair forever! I'm not risking anyone's life. If we take it, there's a chance that Elsa and Jack can fight her from the inside while we try to get back in." She glared at Bunny. The blue veining was now climbing his stomach, and his chest rose and fell with much difficulty; he looked petrified. Tooth thought of North, weakened and asleep in the next room. 

 She was getting all of her teammates out of here. "We'll take the antidote," she told Ursa, before anyone could disagree. 

 "I knew you'd make the right decision." Ursa grinned giddily.