A Snow Queen's Tale- a Frozen Fanfiction

Chapter 28: The Icy Rescue

🌨Elsa's Pov🌨
      I froze in place. It was Anna.
      Her voice was louder now. "Elsa! I'm over here!" she said. "I knew you would find me."
      My eyes scanned the forest, but I could barely see beyond the trees in front of me.
      "Help me!" Anna called. "I'm stuck!"
      I moved toward Anna's voice, keeping my arms out in front of me so I would not crash into anything. I knew that my sister was nearby, but I wanted to see her.
      "Help!" Anna cried out again.
      I looked up, scanning the treetops, but it was only when I looked down that I understood the problem. I gasped. Only a few steps ahead of me, hidden by shadow and brush, was a deep hole. In the dark, I could barely make out Anna sitting at the bottom.
      "I found him, Elsa!" Anna said.
      I was confused until I caught sight of my sister's eyes, which were lit with excitement. And my sister's arms, which were full of something white and fluffy, and kicking furiously.
      I took a cautious step backward. "What is that?" I asked
      "I told you!" Anna exclaimed. "It's the snow hare!" Now I could see that the white fluff had long ears and a puffy tail. It was larger than any rabbit I had ever seen, but otherwise it looked perfectly normal.
      Whether or not it was the legendary bunny, Anna struggled to keep hold of it. "I followed him down her, but now we're stuck. You have to help us!" she said.
      I walked closer to the edge of the hole and peered down. Someone must have been digging there, maybe to plant or to build something. The hole was deep and wide enough to hold our room in the Sommerhus.
      "Oh, Anna..." I said. My sister was asking me to do something that seemed impossible. "The hole is huge!" I didn't want to scare Anna, but I had to be honest. "I don't know how to get you out."
      "It's not just me," Anna reminded me, "but also the snow hare. He's coming with me! I saw him outside the cottage from our window and followed him all the way here." She sounded quite proud of herself.
      I sighed. I was pretty sure it was just a regular rabbit. But when Anna got an idea into her head, it was hard to talk her out of it. "Yes, and the snow hare," I agreed. There was no point in fighting about it.
      I stretched my arm out to Anna. "I can't reach!" Anna said, extending her own arm as far as it would go. Her fingers grazed mine, but she was too far away to grab it.
      "I have a better idea," I said. "I think you have to run and jump to reach my hands."
      Anna tried jumping once, and then again, but she lost her footing and landed back at the bottom of the hole. She fell on her back, and the rabbit wiggled free from her grasp. In a flash, he scrambled up the side of the hole and disappeared into the darkness.
      Anna began to cry. "Noooo!" she wailed. "He was supposed to bring us good luck!"
      "Shhh, Anna, don't cry," I said, trying to sound calm. "I will get you out of there!" I just had to think for a minute. I sat down at the top of the hole, careful not to fall in myself.
      I frowned, feeling hopeless. Someday a whole kingdom would be mine, but what good would that be if I couldn't even rescue my sister? I didn't have the power to do the one thing I wanted to do most.
      I sat up straight. That was it. I did have power—the power of my magic.
      True, my magic could be trouble, like when it led to me breaking the plate. It could be unpredictable. But when it worked right, it could let me do almost anything.
      Maybe even save my sister.
      "I'm cold," Anna piped up. "It's dark down here."
      I stood and forced myself to sound cheerful. "Think if it like our fort," I said. "It's your own special hideout! You're perfectly fine in there for now." I did not want Anna to lose hope. I did not want my sister to doubt what I was about to try next.
      Anna sniffled and put her head in her hands. "I miss Hildy and Hanna."
      "You'll be seeing them in no time," I assured her. If I could get my magic to do exactly what I wanted that was. It was a big if, but I had to try.
      I closed my eyes and summoned my power. I would need more than snowballs or icicles. Taking in a deep breath, I concentrated harder than I ever had before. I'd conjured up a sheet of ice. Could I make stairs? A rope? A slide?
      After a few minutes of intense focus, I heard Anna's reaction from below. "Oh!"she said. "I'm skating!" Without realizing it, I had spread a thin layer of ice around the bottom of the hole.
      "Sorry!" I said. "Let me try again." That was not quite what I had meant to do. "Anna, can you step off the ice for a second?"
      I stared below and concentrated hard. Stairs would be to difficult, I decided. A rope was too likely to break. But what about a ramp? That meant I had to come up with a sheet of ice that would stretch from the bottom of the hole to the to, where I stood, plus be strong enough to hold Anna. If it broke, Anna would fall.
      This was more than I had ever asked of my magic before, and my instinct was to scrunch myself up to control it. Unless... would it be better to let my powers go? At once, I knew what to do. I flung my arms out and let magic pour from my fingertips.
      I did not dare to look, but Anna told me what I needed to know.
      "There's a ramp, Elsa," Anna said with wonder. "Can I walk on it?"
      How long would this burst of power last? I finally glanced down at the ramp I was building. It was hard to make out in the dark, but I could see the uneven slope of snow and ice inching to the top of the hole.
      "Yes!" I said, once the ramp was long enough for Anna to get out. "But it's very slippery! Please be careful, okay? And hurry! I don't know how long we have."
My heart felt still as my magic kept flowing. I was almost frozen with fear, until I saw Anna emerge from the hole. My sister was fine, and it didn't matter that the magic was beginning to fade. I was brave, and Anna was safe; and if we were really lucky, we could get back to the Sommerhus before sunrise.