Elsa
Silence. The very moment my fingers curled around brass doorknob, leaning into the brown-polished wood of her dormroom door, the lethargic quiet of someone deep in their slumber met my ears. The pale strands of hair knitted together in a thick braid rested gracefully against my shoulder, bouncing in time to my subtle steps as I neared Anna's motionless figure. Beside her, identical beds layed out in a methodical, grid-like pattern hosted other girls, all joining my sister in her dream-state.
"Anna," I whispered, my hand hovering a few inches from her face. One of my fingers ducked slightly, just enough to graze the skin beneath her closed eyes.
"Whuh..." she answered. Her dark lashes remained bowed, her eyelids refusing to flinch in response.
"I'm going to the pond."
Instantly, as if I had spoken the words to undo a curse, the sky color pooling Anna's gaze became visible. The corners of her cherry-tinted lips drew back, revealing two rows of teeth, tiny pearls that shined in sync to her happiness. "Can I come?" she asked me.
I raised an eyebrow. "Why else would I tell you?"
Anna gathered her blanket together, throwing it from her legs to a small corner of her bed, the pale green material folding into a wrinkled form. "Just give me five minutes."
Smiling, I nodded, watching her retreat to the bathroom at the end of the room, then turning to her bed. The blanket Anna had deposited was swiftly transformed into a rectangular object, tucked beneath the mattress in a comfy and clean manner.
Approximately twelve minutes later, she emerged, her copper hair gleaming with the drops of water from her shower. "Okay, let's go!"
"Sh," I chided, lifting a finger to my lips. She rolled her eyes, the childish, plump roundness to her cheeks becoming more pronounced with her stifled laughter. I grinned, shaking my head in mock disappointment.
The summer moisture in the air wrapped around us in a thick hug when we stepped outside, producing way too much sweat than we needed. My legs beat past each other in harmony, my pace quickening to a jog so I could reach the pond quicker. Anna panted as she followed suit, piping out, "Can...you...do some...of it...now?"
"No," I replied, running my palm over my wet skin. The sharp tang of salt touched my taste buds, and I grimaced, Anna's request becoming more and more tempting. "Don't worry...we're almost...there."
And as sure as I was, the pond did appear within moments, the surface smooth and unmoving, a mirror reflecting the dim sky. Anna knelt down, her breath evening out. From her position, her arm stretched out, a fingertip meeting the water. Circles resonated from her contact, breaking apart when they met the pond's mucky borders. "Ew..." she declared, rising to her feet. A grimace was etched onto her face. "Even the water's boiling."
I smiled, lifting my arms. "I can fix that." A gust of pleasant, icy temperatures and chilling flakes of snow filtered out from my palms, blowing towards Anna. A relieved noise escaped her open mouth, and she laughed, lifting her chin to the sky.
As she cooled down, I stepped towards the water, placing my foot against the surface. The branches of a snowflake unfurled from beneath my heel, breaking apart and joining other branches until the entire pond became frozen. I flicked my wrist towards Anna's shoes, thin blades forming beneath her soles.
She jumped from her place on the hard-packed dirt to the glowing ice, landing with a thud but continuing her movement all the same. I joined her, relishing the feel of the wind on my heat-ridden skin.
"Oh, the weather outside is frightful," Anna sang, flashing me a grin as she passed.
"But the fire is so delightful," I replied, preparing for a jump. My stomach tightened, and I launched, my legs twisting together as I performed the triple axle. My heart threatened to leave me while I was in the air, its deep, thrumming plea running through my mind.
Anna let out a cheer when my foot slipped into its place on the ice smoothly. "And the crowd goes wild!" She skated to my side, grabbing my hands and causing me to join her in her version of Ring-Around-the-Rosy on ice. "Elsa! Elsa! Elsa!"
I laughed, leaning back so we were relying on each other's pull. My eyes went to the sky, a blend of a peach's fuzzy skin and an artist's pastel pallette. "And since we've got no place to go," I sang, resuming our song.
Anna grinned. "Let it snow, let it snow..."
"Let it snow!" We giggled, the sound a beautiful melody.
Following the silence that erupted at the end of our ruckus, a low whistle echoed out from the trees that surrounded us. Anna's grip on my forearm became stronger, and when I lifted my eyes to see her, I could see fear. "What was that?" she asked.
I looked to the inky darkness between the tree trunks, willing myself to admit that we had both imagined the whistle. It was in vain, though, because we heard it again, and it was longer this time, as well.
"Let's go," I muttered, dragging Anna with me. Control, control, control. I tried to keep the cold inside me, to make sure that any trace of it wouldn't leak out and catch the attention of someone else.
Someone did notice. They had whistled, a jolly tune. What was it again? I asked myself, if only to calm myself down. Let it Snow. That was it. He--or she--had copied our song.
The mistresses were just beginning to rise from their beds when Anna and I had reached the orphanage. No longer were we worried about the heat that ceased to end.
"Who do you think that was?" Anna asked me. Her pencil-line eyebrows were furrowed, her expression drifting between worry and excitement.
"I don't know," I said. I bit my bottom lip, staring at the woods we had just ran from. "I don't know."
YOU ARE READING
Branches of Our Tree
Fanfiction"Elsa, don't ever think you're alone. After all, we're all branches of a tree. And that tree belongs to everyone. That tree is our tree." For Elsa's entire life, she had lived safely within the thick, brick walls of her home, Arendelle Manor. Lesson...
