17"Whoa whoa there, stranger! What wildness and why?" Anna asked, trying to go any way out other than the Castle Gates.
The ranger cursed. He should had known that the younger princess had no idea, that Queen Elsa has not told her about what they are about to do. Well, that could be solved.
"Your sister had enlisted me for your tutoring. And that, was written in this letter, which he promptly held out to Anna. A personal letter? Who is this man?
She snatched it from his fingers and started reading:
Ranger Cairn,
As the return to your previous letter, I shall list what I wish to be included in my sister's training. First of all, independence and decision making, then competent survival skills and if possible, ranger and weapons training.
Wildness survival, the ability to control and hold back her impulses were essential. Teach her in any way you can.
Be noticed that while this letter holds affect, which will until the end of her training, or maximum one year unless lengthened by another letter from the Queen of Arendelle. The princess would be relieved of her title, and was to be treated as any other ranger apprentice. But in case of emergency, refer to the normal procedure.
The rest were open topic. But please be reminded, she was a royal born.
Sincerely,
Queen Elsa.
Okayyyyy that was hard to take in. Anna was going into the forest, infested with creepy crawlies of every kind, not to mention all those scary predators! Wolfs! Bears! Mountain Tigers! Every thing that can kill you!
"Damn." Anna mouthed the only word she could think of after stuttering for a few seconds. A few passer-bys gave her and her companion odd looks, but carried on their business after a while.
The ranger raised an eyebrow, and said,"Not creative but true enough. Come on, let's get going."
"Wait a moment! I haven't even packed things ye-"
"No. Nothing anyone like you would bring can help you."
"Of course not!"
"Really?" The ranger stopped yanking on her arm, "And what would you bring?"
"Uhhh...Clothes?"
"You want to bring a dress to the forest?"
"I got boots and jackets, you know!"
"Those leather boots and jackets you buy are too soft and thin! One good scratch on a branch and its a goner! Everything you will ever need was already prepared in my place. Now will you please walk?"
"MY point is that, as a princess I can't just simply disappear!"
"Why not?"
"I am a princess! What are the people suppose to think if I just go poof? They-"
"That, was taken care off. This very morning I had talked with your sister and your steward about this. By now, every one in the castle should know about this."
Anna's previously open mouth clopped shut, her mind furiously trying to think up some excuse of not going.
"Just face it, would you? Get going!" The ranger pulled at her arm again.
"No!" Anna screamed at his face.
"If this is how you respond to un-expected things, then I got a lot to work on. And please tell me that you know how to ride a horse!..."
Kristoff-
"A pick axe? You serious about this?" the General asked, surprised.
"What? You ask me what I like and this is it! A pick axe!" Kristoff said, incredulous.
"I understand that!" The General snapped at him," But may I ask, why a pick axe?"
"Look, as an ice digger, I use the pick axe all the time, so I like it."
"Fair enough... But we got a small problem." The General glanced at the weapon rack he prepared," As you can see, pick axes are not exactly what warriors typically look for. We got swords, axes, maces, even a giant pair of metal claws! But no. I afraid that we don't have a pick axe at hand."
"Wait a moment. Why can't I simply use mine? It's good enough to crack stone and ice, surely it's enough to crack skulls..."
"No. The problem is that a normal pick axe is to short, the reach is not long enough. The only sharp point is the end and is trick to swing..." the General realised that he was ranting, and cutting it short, "It is not efficient!"
For a moment, Kristoff was severely disappointed. Really? What is wrong with a good, old pick axe? It perfectly lethal in the right hands...
Suddenly, an idea sparked. A truely awesome one. Hastily and excited, he turned back at the General and asked,"What about a scythe?"
The General blinked, "Excuse me? Did I hear you wrong for I heard you say-"
"Scythe!"
"Scythe," the General repeated.
"Yes. A scythe."
"Are you out of your mind?" The General asked incredulously.
"What's wrong with it? Again?"
"It's a tool for harvesting! Not killing!"
"So? It got a sharp edge and a sharp point. The handle is longer too! What practical things can you complain about this time?"
The General's mouth opened and closed rapidly, stuttering for a few moments.
Then, he said quietly," Are you really serious about this?"
"Yes. Why not? I like being a grim-reaper of death."
"It... Can be arranged, but it will be tricky. But first of all, you mean a one handed one or a two handed one?"
"The bigger the better."
"Ahh fine. Now how on earth are we going to find someone to teach you how to use a scythe?"
Elsa-
"Your leader... I trust you do not mean his significance-"
"No! Of cause not. I mean the leader of this particular faction, the part that handles magic."
"How would that help?"
"Signing you up for a magic school? Teach you himself? These things, are not for me to say."
"So basically, you yourself have nothing much to offer."
"Well, no. When you first notified me to come over here, I was told what your magic was, so on my trip to Arendelle, I spend most of my time devising several practical ice practices for you to do, at least before you go find someone professional for your tutor. If you want to ask about my leader, talk to me at... Dinner. Now shall we get back to our practice, hmm?"
"Fine," Elsa said, somewhat abashed," Now what are we doing?"
"I see that you are adept in creating ice already, but just what quality is the ice?"
"Quality?"
"Is it brittle? Could it be broken easily?"
Elsa thought about it for a while. No, her ice was quite hard and heat resistant. She made a bridge out of ice and it held! "Hard enough."
"Hmm," the paladin mumbled, unimpressed with the answer," Why don't you show me? Make two ice pillars, one as hard as possible, one as fragile as possible."
Elsa shuffled over to a relatively more open space. And began working on the first pillar. She wanted it to be glasslike, or as if made of sugar. She decided that maybe leaving tons of air bubble, the actual structure thin and web like, would make it crumble to the touch. Now, concentrating, she struggled to raise her pillar.
God. It was harder than she thought it would ever be. So far, she had not really force her self to make a particular sort of snow or ice before, and it proved that she was not really competent at this.
After a few minutes, she finally finished her pillar. And in a sudden, she realized that she was sweating. Sweating!
"Sir?"
"Yes?" the paladin answered, amused by his title, referred by a queen (that was not exactly queen, now).
"I think that your methods are actually working."
"You got one pillar done. Now let's get going on the second one, shall you?"
With a huff, Elsa turned back on the pillar and started building the second a pillar next to it. This time, because she was aiming hardness, she sealed the entire pillar, driving all the air out, making the pillar a single, smooth mass of ice.
Sighing and sweating again, she looked at the paladin with raised eyebrows.
The paladin nodded, and went to inspect the the pillars. The fragile one was first. He ran his fingers on the surface, and suddenly rapped the ice once.
And a small crater appeared. Nodding in approval, he went onto the next pillar.
He ran his fingers on it again, testing it.
He then went over to the weapons rack and grabbed an iron hammer. He walked back to the pillar, and smashed at the pillar with all his force.
The pillar cracked.
And the hammer splintered into pieces, the metal ringing on the floor.
"Hmm," the paladin hummed unhappily.
"Something wrong?"
"Your fragile pillar was expertly done, it broke easily at your other pillar..."
"What was wrong with it?" Elsa said defensively," Your hammer broke apart!"
The paladin frowned," It was certainly solid enough, but really, it should not even crack."
"You freaking smashed it with a hammer! Of cause it would crack! even stone cracks if being hammered!"
"Shhh! What I mean was that although it was hard, it could be better. You can magic to reinforce it, not just physically!"
"...?"
"Okay, try this. Think magic as not physics, but just magic."
"Just magic?" That, wasn't really helping.
"When I see that you have trouble doing what I asked you, I knew what you are thinking. Are you think things like 'lighter' or 'compact'?"
"You are not suppose to?"
"You are suppose to think it as magic, not reality. Think about what you wished it to be, not how to be. Think solid and it shall be."
"How did you know about all this?" Elsa asked, amazed. In her hand, she was already trying to make ice spheres, testing out his methods.
"Lets say, I got some talent myself, but only much milder," he smiled, "And I find such methods effective. Now why don't we call this a day?"
Elsa glanced at the window, and to her surprise, what had seemed like one hour with her tutor, had turned out to be hours. The sun was already just over the horizon.