Reborn

12 - The Disease

Sorry for not posting for a while - I needed a break. And, great news! I now have had over 100 views on this story! Thanks, everyone! I've realised that I've forgotten to mention what those other images that the "mermaid"/Ancient Evil showed Elsa in the second chapter, so I'm gonna' reveal those soon. Whether it's in this chapter or the next few chapters, I'm not sure, but it will be soon. Warning: this chapter is a bit dark and contains some very scary stuff and one gruesome scene (the gruesome stuff isn't from violence, though). Not for the faint of heart.

~

Elsa yawned and stretched as she heard birds tweeting and chirping up in the trees above her. She opened her eyes and lay there for a few moments as she watched the birds flying around, gathering food or material for their nests. She felt rested and...peaceful, for the moment having forgotten about Anna and the reason for their travels.

But then it all came rushing back and terror gnawed at her. She stood up and stretched again. Time to get going.

A gust of wind knocked her over onto her back.

Oh no. Not again.

Dirt and dust swirled around, blasting her face. She raised her right arm to protect her face. The air thickened with the dust so much that it turned a sickening black. "Kristoff!" she shouted with all her might, but the thunder of the wind completely drowned out her voice. Dust particles stuck to her mouth and throat, causing her to cough and gasp for air, swallowing more dust, choking her.

Her hand went to her throat.

Anna...

The wind suddenly died.

The dirt in the air suddenly dropped to the ground. There had been so much that it completely buried her a few feet under it. Clawing her way upwards, Elsa's head soon broke the surface and she gasped for air.

And vomited up all the dirt that had entered her mouth. Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, she stood up and looked around.

Horror tore her heart in two.

There was no more forest.

No more greenery.

There was nothing.

Just dried cracked ground and dirt as far as the eye could see.

Nononono!!!

She turned around and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that the tree Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven had been under were still there - along with them.

Elsa went over to them and saw that Olaf wasn't there. Noticing that Kristoff was lying face-down on the ground, she focused on grabbing his shoulders and turning him over to face her.

She recoiled with a huge scream.

A hollow, old skull grinned up at her.

Sven let out a moan. She turned to him and screamed again.

His face was covered in large red welts that were leaking blood and his fur was rotting right before her eyes.

She screamed again and again and again.

~

"Elsa! WAKE UP!!!"

Elsa let out another terrified scream. Sobs racked her body, making it hard for her to breathe. Good.

SLAP!

Huh?

Wiping the snot from her face, Elsa cracked her eyes open slightly. Kristoff's extremely alarmed face was leaning over her.

She shot up, bumping into Kristoff's forehead. "OW!!" he exclaimed, rubbing his sore forehead. But she didn't care. She reached out and touched his face. It was covered in skin. He was completely covered in his normal skin. "You're here," she half-sobbed, half-laughed from immense relief. "You're alive!" and she threw her arms around him, drawing him into a tight hug.

"Uh...yeah. Pretty sure I'm alive," he chuckled, trying to figure out her bizarre behaviour. "You were having a really bad nightmare. You were screaming and thrashing about." He pulled back so that he could look her in the eye. "What was that all about?" he questioned.

Taking a deep breath, Elsa told him her nightmare. Kristoff looked horrified and stared at her with wide eyes.

"Did I miss something?" Olaf's voice piped up from behind her.

"Oh, Olaf! It's sooo good to see you!" Elsa said and wrapped him up into an embrace. She planted a kiss on the top of his head.

"What do you think it means?" Kristoff asked. Elsa put Olaf down as she considered her answer.

"Could it be a warning? Of what the Evil wants to do?" Elsa theorised after a few minutes.

"I was wondering that myself," he muttered quietly.

Elsa thought of Sven and him being eaten alive by some strange disease and shuddered. Then she froze. In one of the images that the "mermaid" had shown her was of Kristoff and Anna covered in the exact same disease that Sven was in her nightmare.

Hmmm.

She mentioned this to Kristoff and Olaf. "Then it's definitely a warning," Kristoff decided and he stood up. "We should get up North ASAP."

"Agreed," Elsa said as she and Olaf stood up. She shuddered again.

I hope we'll make it.