#frostfractals

❁ ❁  “  ¿Are you sure it’s fine for you to wander this deeply into the forest alone at night? At least you could bring someone that’s alive.  ”

❝ GOTCHA! ❞

Pascal squeaked and exclamation and Rapunzel giggled before letting him down. She turned to Queen Elsa. ❝ See? He’s tricky, but I always find him in the end. ❞ She smiled as Pascal took his familiar place on her shoulder. 

She flushed a bit suddenly remembering her father’s words to her. “The Queen of Arendelle is arriving in Corona. I want you to be a regal example for Corona.” Playing hide and seek with Pascal wasn’t exactly REGAL. 

Nontheless...

      “ mmm...you l look lonely.. ”

      Galapagos had been hesitant to draw near, staying close to the ground--to the snow--where she was most comfortable. She didn’t think people could survive this long in the cold. She was going to draw nearer just to see if she could help, but when not seeing any notice of chill or hypothermia...Well, she had just remained quiet. Till finally she huffed and with a low glow of her skin, allowed a flower to sprout amidst the bright and peaceful gloom of winter. She picked it and waddled over, holding it out for the lone woman.

Cassandra had been practicing deep in the forest where no one could see. With each passing day, she grew more comfortable with her powers, learning the limits of her strength and the ways to bend it under her control into something useful, rather than just destructive. It was tiring- for all the energy she spent trying to avoid using it, it seemed using it on purpose was even more taxing- but it was satisfying, too.

She froze momentarily as a figure came into view- oh, it was Elsa. Shoulders relaxed, breath released. Elsa already knew about the powers, about more than the powers. And so far, she'd proved a trustworthy confidante.

In fact, she was probably one of the very few people she could share her progress with.

"Hey, Els." Her voice was a little ragged from all the practice, but Cassandra gave her a smile. "Been working on the rocks. And I think I've really started to get it down. I'll show you." She probably should have stopped a few minutes ago, but the exhilaration of seeing Elsa again perked her back up enough.

With strong focus and will, she drew a long spire of rock from the ground. Her legs shook as it climbed ever higher, higher than she had managed even before Elsa was watching, egged on by a desire to show off for her, put her all into it-

They weren't, as far as things went, bad at flying. Small for a dragon their age, yes, but nimble, agile, good in the sky with good control. The main issue was that they hadn't actually been flying for over a year now, instead living peacefully in the city, to the best of their ability.

The sudden shift, cornered and terrified, they had taken flight - awkward wings beating hard, panic taking over control and reason, and in the dark skies they had seen what looked like more sky only for them to realise too late it was glass and -

“Elsa!” 

There’s a crash through the door of the caravan that had taken her. A couple a bandits thinking they could get some large reward for the former Queen of a foreign country. It had been a mistake. Shang hadn’t worried at first. Their nights had always seemed to go like this. She went missing, and then Shang would find her somewhere waiting for him. But it had been different tonight. She’d really been gone and in trouble. 

Relief washes over him as he comes to find her. Her hands and feet were bound, her mouth gagged, her head had a small wound where they must have struck her unconscious. 

Sheathing his sword he grabs his dagger and steps into the carriage quickly. Coming to an almost sliding stop before her he’s quick to cut all the ropes from her, flinging them off of her before he drops the knife and pulls the gag away from her mouth.