Branches of Our Tree

Chapter Two: Unintentional Decisions

Elsa

"Good morning, ma'am," I said, instinctively. Anna still had her fingers wrapped around my wrist, the fleshy, pink skin tucked underneath her cream-colored fingernails white with the terror we had just ran from. I pulled her close to me, relishing the warmth that radiated from her body. I will protect her. I did protect her, from the whistler in the woods, and I felt a surge of accomplishment envelope me graciously.

"Good morning, Elsa."

But that disappeared as soon as I met the steely, dark gaze of Mistress Fodner. I wished I hadn't managed to memorize the color of her hair, a plastic orange too bright and alien in the gray surroundings of the orphanage. Whenever I cast a glance towards her freakish hair-do, I'd think of the hard tips on the end of a toy gun, sporting the same color. Fodner was deadly, and I had the scars to prove it.

Thankfully, Anna hadn't been touched by her. And I'm not starting now.

"It was me," I told her. In my periphery, I could see Anna jerk her chin up, frantically shaking her head to decline my words. "It was hot, and I figured we could go for a swim."

"Swim?" Fodner arched an eyebrow, the hairs almost non-existent. "Perhaps you can care to explain why you aren't wet, then."

Oh, yeah. "We dried off, Mistress."

"Ha!" Fodner scrambled towards me so quickly, I flinched, sending my hair in its elaborate braid to smack against Anna's cheek. She lifted a hand up, her fingers brushing the grazed skin, shock playing in her eyes as she anticipated Fodner's next move.

I knew what it was. I could feel the bones creaking in my jaw as I set it, the anger causing my teeth to push against each other forcefully. I didn't dare close my eyes-I was not afraid.

Crack.

Tears sprouted from the corners of my eyes, but I stayed put. Fodner rose her hand again, but I wasn't thinking of the pain, or the red mark that was appearing on my neck. I was thinking of Mama, how she would let my play with her luscious, chocolate hair. Of Papa, and how he would never decline a request for a piggy-back ride, despite the long day's toil he had trekked through.

"Stop!" Anna's voice, heavy with grief and despair, pulled me out of my dreams and back into reality. The skin that stretched over from my chin down to my collarbone was strangely numb, and I glanced down. It was resonating, glowing with red.

"Shut your mouth, girl!" the Mistress yelled, her eyes lacking human emotion. One minute, Anna was crying, the next, she was on the floor of the doorway, clutching her face.

Anna. "No!" I turned on Fodner, not realizing what was coming out of my palms.

The Mistress's eyes widened, unsuspecting of my power, of my strength to throw her from the top of the world to the pit of Hell in just a matter of seconds. You touched her, you vile--

"Don't you dare come near her, ever again," I threatened, my voice unusually low. I didn't care if ice was creeping up on her, encasing her in a frozen, unfriendly blanket. "If you do, I'll make sure you'll lose the ability to walk anywhere at all."

"Elsa!" From the dark hallways that lead to us, dozens of curious eyes blinked up at me, including that of Mistress Evelyn. "Elsa, what are you doing?" I didn't stop, not until Fodner was trapped within a deep layer. Only then did I look towards Evelyn, the caring Mistress who tried to tap into my heart and rid it of worry.

But that's impossible.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. I released my clenched fist, allowing Fodner to defrost.

I grabbed Anna's arm, pulling her out the door, not waiting to see the crystallized snow drip from that woman's body.

"Elsa?" I was walking briskly, away from the orphanage. Anna was, as well, her hand limp in my grasp.

"Yeah?"

"Where are we gonna go?"

Jack

"Oh!" I leapt to my feet, my eyes darting excitedly across the screen. The inky circle of a puck dashed across the ice, flitting from one player to the next. I followed its course, hooking my fingers together to contain my pleasure. There, keep it, go, go!

DON'T PASS IT!

Of course, it got passed. The buzzer zapped the roaring crowd into silence, disbelief stretching through the home team as the score was flashed on the screen. 12-12.

"Thaht's fine!" Merida bent her elbow, digging it into a very convenient location between two of my ribs. I shoved her away, glaring at her optimistic smile. "Thaht wahs ah good game!" she said.

"It was a tie, Merida."

"So?" Her blue eyes dimmed, annoyance flickering briefly. "Oh. I keep fohrgettin'."

I smirked. "What?"

"Hahckey jahck."

"What?" I blinked at her.

"Hahckey jahck."

What? "I'm sorry, Mer. I didn't understand a thing you just said."

She let out a groan of exasperation and rose to her feet, causing the couch to bounce without her presence. After a quick flick to my forehead, she walked towards the kitchen, pinching the silver zipper of the backpack that rested on the counter. Wait, a backpack? I threw mine out when school ended. "Who's is that?" I asked her.

"Hiccup's, ya dolt." Right. "Ya know, ya should give it bahck to him."

"Honestly, I don't even remember taking it from him."

"Uh-huh." A smile pulled up her cheeks, and her eyes, the color of turquoise, glinted mischeviously. "Now...ya said ya didn't know whaht I said."

"That's...right?" What was she getting at?

"Well...think fahst!"

A puck! I pushed against the couch cushion, lifting my feet so I could stand on the comfy furniture. The rounded object nicked the sides of my knees, passing right between my legs to hit the wall behind me.

Merida gasped, bringing a hand up to her mouth. "Oh, no! My mum's gonna kill me!"

"Why?" I asked her. She lifted a finger, and I followed its path, my eyes stopping at the flaking crack in the wall. "Oh."

She rushed forward, kneeling onto the couch beside me. In the process, her red hair danced its wild way into my mouth, and I coughed, gagging at the impact. "Oh, I'm dead."

"Well, the good news is..."

Merida glanced at me, her mouth a hard line.

"...you're only dead figuratively."

"Jack!"