Chapter Text

Elsa watched as the wolf that had jumped at her fell. It was child’s play to deal with the goblin’s and wolves that kept coming back. They were gluttons for punishment but they made for good practice. She’d made a good name for herself by bringing perfect hides back. Usually they’d have arrow holes, sword slices, magic burns.

All she did was freeze the brain. They simply shut down. It was much more complex than simply putting a spike through them but the goodwill her hides had brought her was worth it.

Another jumped at her from behind, probably attempting to avenge the other one. “My cart is full” She said simply as she froze this one solid with a wave of her hand. She clenched her fist and it turned to snow. A pile of such fine pieces of ice that it quickly blew away. It might make good fertilizer wherever it melted.”

She grabbed the wolf and threw it over her shoulder. It was unfortunate that they didn’t know where this pack kept coming from. Perhaps it was for the best though. While yes the wolves were a problem, their meat was a source of food and their fur was good for the winter months. If they wiped them out they would lose both and they probably would attempt to do so.

As she threw the wolf onto her cart and made her way to the front, her mind went back to the girl from earlier. She was young. Perhaps sixteen to eighteen, which made her much, much younger than herself. Her request of a handshake was strange. Why would a handshake between the two of them matter? Rank was a silly thing. There were so many ways to attain a higher rank.

She pulled the reins and the rented horse began to pull the wolf filled cart.

There were ones like herself where their power alone was all that was needed to attain a higher rank. There were some who pushed their way through the ranks. Proving themselves again and again. They were among the few adventurers she had any care or respect for. Perhaps respect was a strong word but the only one she had at the time.

Then there were those with status and money who bought their standings. If there were anyone she would prefer to get rid of it was them. Unfortunately getting rid of them would only do more harm than good for her. At least none of them could buy their way into an S-Rank. The interview and background check for that was well known for just how brutal and intricate it was.

Sometimes she wished there were more interesting things to do while going back to town as her mind began to drift back to the last time some fool with an unearned rank thought so highly of themselves that they tried to pick a fight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was simply handing in the report for a quest in the next town over from Arendelle that had requested that a mage investigate an overflow of magic from the north. It’d turned out to be nothing more than a broken cursed medallion.

“Ah! A fellow A-Rank. Zaph. Zaph Breigmann.” He put a hand out which Elsa promptly looked at before turning back to collect her pay.

Suddenly there was a hand between herself and her pay. “I don’t think you heard me. My name is Breigmann.” His smile was tense and patently fake.

She of course had heard of his family. They’d sent a few requests for her to work for them. Each less respectful than the last until they finally had stopped asking. Apparently it was because they’d rather make one of their children an A-Rank instead of “owning” one.

She reached over his hand and again was stopped. This time by his grabbing of her hand. “Look, Bitch. You might have ignored my family but you’re not going to ignore me.”

The rest of the room went quiet. Thankfully he did too. But it wasn’t because he was waiting for a response. It was because she’d frozen him solid. A gentle push from the hand that’d turned to face him sent him sliding a foot to the side. “He’ll thaw soon. It’s a thin layer.” She said to the figuratively frozen receptionist as she collected her pay and turned around.

True to her word the layer of ice had been thin and as she approached the door his arms were free. The ice falling to the ground. His fist quickly went up, punching himself in the face far harder than was needed to break the ice.

“Agh! H- How dare you! You bitch! How dare you! Do you have any idea who I am?! Who you’re messing with?!” He shouted as he held his now bleeding nose.

But Elsa was already out the door by the time he finished speaking.

“Agh! A gold to whoever helps me teach that bitch her place!” He shouted to the bar. Only a couple of people took him up on his offer. A young woman with a scar across her face and a large man with an equally large sword.

Elsa wasn’t surprised that he continued to chase her but she was annoyed. She wanted to study what was left of the medallion. She decided that dealing with them quickly would be the easiest. While getting rid of him would be a headache, the other two weren’t anyone she recognized.

She turned around as she arrived at the end of the alleyway and watched as they approached, cutting off her exit as far as they knew.

“Alright bi-” Was all Zeph got out before he fell to the ground.

Elsa blinked and watched as the girl knelt next to him, rifling through his pockets. “We’re not dumb enough to fight you” She called out as she pulled out a bag and looked through it “Ugh. Didn’t even have any golds. Probably was going to have his family pay later.

She stood up and looked at Elsa “No hard feelings if he thinks you knocked him out, right?” She asked with a cheeky grin. It was clear she didn’t care what Elsa’s answer was.

“I was busy anyway” She answered simply before walking forward and past the two. She could hear a light shiver escape them as she did.

~~~~~~~~~~

She was pulled from her annoying memories as she approached Arendelle. It was time to hand in this bunch. Perhaps she should go back and experiment with that medallion again.