Frozen Beyond [gxg]

Black Sails

Snoring had Elsa waking up to the morning light filtering in the bedroom. She had expected Anna to be sharing a bed with Kristoff now. But somehow, her younger sister wound up in her bedroom, in her bed, snoring. Anna had never been a graceful sleeper. A puddle of drool dripped from her chin.

Laughing, Elsa stepped out of bed and went to the window to greet the warmth of the morning. Stretching, she stifled a yawn and went onto the balcony. Looking over the town and harbor. The sun just tipped the chilly horizon but people already scattered along the marketplace below.

It was a nice sight to see, something familiar and reminded her of when she was a child. Her eyes cast away from the market to the ocean's horizon. Narrowing her eyes, black sails dotted the line where the sky and ocean met. A heavy feeling settled in her throat and she turned to march back to Anna. Sitting beside her, she shook Anna enough to try and wake her without getting her into panic mode.

Anna sat up, rubbing the drool from her lip and taking another minute to open her eyes. "What is it, Elsa?" She groaned out.

"I see sails coming towards Arendelle. Are you expecting any trades or guests?"

Anna stirred a little faster and threw off the blankets. The flurry of sheets and blankets piled on Elsa and she clawed her way out of them to follow Anna on the balcony. They both looked out over the harbor to the sails edging closer.

"I don't recognize that flag." Elsa murmured.

"Neither do I. We don't have any sort of ship scheduled to dock."

They both got ready as quickly as possible. Elsa waved her hand and her magenta gown began to glow and shift from the bottom up. Her fifth element dress flourished beneath her. The white bodice holstering diamond shapes in various shades of blue and purple with the white sash fading into those same shades. The only difference with this dress was she made a few adjustments to it. Similar to her blue two-piece, she made white pants to hinder under a shorter dress and knee-high white boots that faded into a light shade of purple towards the bottom.

She kept her hair down, running her fingers through it as she raced down the hall and towards the main entrance to the castle. Anna and the rest were already waiting, along with General Matthias and a handful of soldiers.

Elsa couldn't help but smile at Anna in her royal attire. The long cape of the dress and the crown that rested on her head fit her so well. Once more, she felt nothing but pride. But when Anna looked back at her, she could see uncertainty in her younger sisters' eyes.

With an easy smile, she walked up to the group and touched the crook of Anna's elbow. "Everything will be fine. Perhaps their lost, we won't know until they dock."

General Matthias dipped his head in courtesy. His easy smile made her feel a little more relaxed, and from the looks of the way Anna's shoulders eased a bit, it did her sister too. "We will escort whoever is in charge, your majesty. Please relax in the throne room until then."

Elsa nodded in agreement, he was right. It could be dangerous for Anna to meet an unknown ship at the docks. She took one more look towards the ship that sailed into the harbor.

She didn't like the look of those black sails. Only two ships came in, but the ships were large.

Kristoff cleared his throat, putting an arm around Anna's shoulder as they turned back inside. Sven followed but Olaf came to stand beside Elsa. She glanced down at him, he was watching the sails cast a shadow over the other ships. Matthias and his crew of soldiers were already stalking towards the docks.

"Did you know many species of fish are hermaphrodites?" Olaf blurted out.

She choked and tried to conceal her shock as she looked at Olaf, trying to appear calm and poised. "Olaf, do you know what that means?" She edged.

Olaf rocked back and forth on his feet, smiling. "Nope! But I love big words. And that one was especially interesting."

Elsa sighed out dramatically, "Well," She laughed, getting over her shock, "let's not go repeating that one. Come on." She motioned for him to follow her as she went back to the castle. She took one last look over her shoulder before heading inside.

Anna had been pacing for fifteen minutes and Elsa crossed her arms, cocking a hip impatiently. She was about to go searching for the General when the doors clanked open.

Everyone, including Sven, stopped what they were doing and watched the doors carefully. Matthias strut in along with a handful of soldiers who surrounded a tall man about the same height at Matthias which was no small feat.

The man had deep tan skin from long days in the sun. His biceps large and full, a red bandana wrapped around his hair. Black strands cling to his forehead and the rest pulled back into a sloppy bun.

The hardened line of his jaw held grizzle from lack of shaving over the course of a few days.

He stuck out like a sore thumb. His black shirt was right across his broad chest and he wore tan slacks that came to the knee, leather boots covered the rest of his legs. A red sash adorned his waist.

Elsa narrowed her eyes and took a step down the few steps from the throne to put herself between Anna and the stranger.

Matthias' eyes were trained on the dangerous-looking man.

She immediately got a bad feeling. The man looked like the pirates in those children's stories that her parents read when she was young.

The man cleared his throat and took a step forward but wasn't allotted much room. He gave a bow, a hand held to his chest in a courtesy. "You can call me Crow, your Majesty." Sharp brown eyes looked upwards. She felt them pierce right through her and focus on Anna.

"What is your business here?" She asked, taking another step forward.

He scowled, "I was talking to the Queen."

Elsa bristled, shoulders stiffening as she narrowed her eyes at the man. Anna's hand came to her shoulder and she looked back at her sister.

Her eyes were harder than Elsa had ever seen them. "That's no way to talk to my sister. What's your business with Arendelle?" Anna asked, an edge to her voice.

Crow scowled and stood up straight, "My apologies. My people and I are wayfinders. Nomads of the sea, you might say. We have four other ships out at sea, just to be transparent." He held his hands in front of him as if he had nothing to hide.

She didn't like him and turned back to Anna. "Whatever they are here for they don't look to be distressed." She whispered.

Crow cleared his throat loudly. "We came because we heard the Queen had...abilities."

Elsa paused, angling her body towards the stranger as her interest peaked.

He seemed to notice, "I heard it was the Queen, but I can see your different. You're the one with the ice abilities?" Suddenly he abandoned his attention from Anna and solely focused it on Elsa.

She shifted uncomfortably. "You have yet to answer our question."

"Terribly sorry." He shifted as well, nearly mocking the way Elsa had moved.

She wrinkled her nose until he spoke again.

"Great rulers of Arendelle, I'm in need of your assistance."