Cold Hands [ Elsamaren ]

17 - Last-Minute Guffaws

Everything felt hazy and distant when Elsa woke up. She felt lighter, dizzier and stranger than usual. The last thing she remembered was falling down from the shock of the new memories, and now she had woken up outside, just beside the entrance to Ahtohallan.

With a groan, the Fifth Spirit pushed herself off of the ice-cold ground, furrowing her perfect brows in sudden pain. Elsa reached up to touch her head once she was balanced and on her own two feet, surprised at the stinging pain, only to retract her fingers and see blooding dripping down them like a leaking tap.

This worried the Spirit, she didn't know how long she had been out cold, but the setting sun in the horizon gave her a good enough hint. She had been out for a least a few hours, which meant she had knocked her head on some sharp ice and had lost a plethora of blood already.

"S-Shit." Elsa stuttered, feeling her head spin. She needed to get back home, and fast. The blonde stumbled over to the shore, reaching out her hand to call the Nokk. Within seconds the creature appeared at her side. It neighed with a worry in its tone, its lifeless eyes staring at the blood dripping down the Spirit's clothes.

"I'll be okay, girl. I just need to get home." Elsa groaned, holding her head with one hand. With her other free hand, she holstered herself up onto the ice horse, hissing in pain when her ears began to ring like a siren. She ripped off a piece of fabric at the bottom of her dress and lazily wrapped it around the wound. It was better than nothing, in her eyes.

"Take me back to the forest, please. I don't have the strength to guide you today, is that okay?"

The Water Nokk nodded in acknowledgment. It whinnied and jumped onto its back legs, before jumping off into a sprint, making sure not to bump Elsa off or injure her more.

As the Water Spirit ran with more life and soul than any living horse could, Elsa pondered in silence about what memories had been shown to her. Usually, the room would have glowed with positive lights, shining like the sun, showing her memories of the past or visions of the future. However, that time the room had radiated darkness. Pure, evil darkness that succumbed Elsa, making her temporarily pass out from the pain. What did all of that mean?

The smell of the ocean breeze calmed Elsa as she let her head drift for a while. She wondered how Honeymaren was doing, did Maren miss her? She wondered if Anna was handling all these issues by herself in a positive light or negative one. Did Anna need her?

It was as if the Water Nokk could almost feel her negative aura, as the horse looked back at her, nuzzling its ice nose against Elsa's side, tickling her ribcage. The Fifth Spirit chuckled and rubbed its thick and cold mane, shaking her head. "Thanks, girl."

Elsa took a breath in, she needed a plan. She didn't know how she was going to get the Arendelle people back, as they had been turned into floating creatures, but she did know she was going to save Arendelle's thrown for Anna's sake, and she was going to get rid of the Sixth Spirit.

A large groan from the Water Nokk caught the blonde girl off guard, swinging her back into reality. It seemed they were coming across a large wave, one that was too big to jump over without a struggle. These moments were usually Elsa's favourites, as she loved riding inside of a wave, seeing her reflection on the water.

The Water Spirit than slowed from its gallop and into an almost trot, spinning sideways and slowly turning into the now three-metre tall wave. Its hooves lightly patted across the water as Elsa felt herself entering another type of world.

Every small fish, plant, dirt, anything, it could all be seen with the naked eye this close up to the gigantic water wave. Elsa's eyes glistened as she spotted her shaking reflection glistening against the sunset. Her blue eyes were almost grey, most likely from exhaustion, while the injury on her head could be seen more clearly than before.