An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Monster High (Cartoon 2010), Monster High (Toys)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Clair/Jackson Jekyll (Monster High), Chad & Clair (Monster High), Holt Hyde/Frankie Stein (Monster High), Abbey Bominable/Heath Burns, Heath Burns & Jackson Jekyll (Monster High), Heath Burns & Holt Hyde (Monster High), Heath Burns & Holt Hyde & Jackson Jekyll (Monster High)
Characters: Jackson Jekyll (Monster High), Holt Hyde (Monster High), Clair (Monster High), Chad (Monster High), Frankie Stein (Monster High), Lilith van Hellscream, Headless Headmistress Bloodgood (Monster High), Heath Burns (Monster High), Deuce Gorgon, Manny Taur, The Sheriff (don't know his name lol)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Canon Compliant, Oneshot, Long, long oneshot, Fantasy, Jackson Jekyll Needs a Hug, Jackson Jekyll centric, POV Alternating, (just once), Aftermath, Friendship, Developing Friendships, Platonic Relationships, Romance, Subtle Romance, Backstory, Trauma, Missing Scene, Gap Filler, Lore Exploration, Worldbuilding, Monster High Lore, TV Special: Ghouls Rule (Monster High), Monster High Generation 1
Summary:
Taking place right after the main Halloween party, the monsters and normies get to fang out and talk to each other more casually. Along the way, Jackson learns about just how connected he and Holt truly are to the tension between monsters and normies.
For @true--north 🩵❄️ Thanks for going on this journey with me—we’re nearly there!
Frozen (c) Disney. Fanart and fan fiction by @sunflowers-and-sandwiches, please do not use without permission.
Anna took a sip of tea. The sweet steam filled her with a welcome sense of cosiness as she sat by the window of the castle library and looked out over Arendelle. Most of the clouds had left the sky, though the ground was thick with a blanket of snow that had fallen overnight.
Elsa and Olaf sat with her in the afternoon light taking a well earned break, flipping through the books they had found in Iduna’s mysterious trunk. Suddenly their moment of peace was shattered as the library doors flung open and Kai rushed into the room, hand to his chest and puffing heavily. Knowing how hard the last few days had been for Anna, he looked at her with a smile in his eyes despite his improper intrusion.
“Princess Anna! The ice harvesters have returned!”
Snapping her book shut Anna gasped in elation as Olaf peered out the window watching the whole town come alive like a disturbed ants nest. Elsa promptly rose from the chaise and extended her hand to Anna, her excitement barely contained behind a graceful smile.
“Well, what are we waiting for?”
Anna took her sister’s hand and squeezed it tight.
“Kristoff’s home!”
As their snowman friend waved from behind frosty glass high above, the sisters ran hand-in-hand, following in the path that Anna had raced only a few crisp mornings ago. This time the tears in Anna’s eyes flowed with love and gratitude, a feeling that everything would turn out right in the end.
As they reached the still busy marketplace their footsteps slowed. The ice harvesters had pulled up at the far end of the square near the outskirts of town. With each step that Anna took past the stalls and strings of lanterns, she could feel that something was not quite right.
The ice harvesters seemed disheveled and distraught, their sleighs unusually disorganised, the horses sweaty and distressed. The returning men and women hugged their families desperately as if they’d thought they’d never see them again and after a brief exchange of words the faces of those greeting them fell, their hands covering their mouths in shock.
Anna's mouth felt dry as she scanned the crowds. Elsa sensed it too, a step behind Anna and a soft hand on her shoulder to steady them both. Desperately hoping to find a sign of Kristoff, Anna’s heart skipped when her eyes locked on the man that had clapped her love on the shoulder the morning the team had left Arendelle. She’d met him once or twice and Kristoff had mentioned him many times before. She knew that he’d taught Kristoff as an apprentice ice harvester, and now he was his right hand man. If anyone knew where Kristoff was, it was Tor.
Anna called out his name and Tor’s head turned sharply towards the sound of her voice, recognising it instantly. The tread of his boots left heavy footprints in the snow as he headed straight toward her with a sombre expression on his cold-ruddied face. Anna's mind started to race and panic rose up her throat. She swallowed it down, wishing it away and placed her hand on her heart to ease the growing ache of unease.
“Princess Anna.” Tor bowed solemnly, barely able to raise his head. Anna waved away the formalities and tucked her hands under the crook of her arms as suddenly the evening took a chill turn.
“We’re so glad you're all back safe,” Anna offered, trying to stay hopeful.
Tor forced himself to look at her, his eyes rimmed with red.
“Actually, we’re not.”
Anna squeezed herself tighter. Elsa’s fingers pressed into her shoulder.
“What do you mean you’re not?”
He glanced away for a moment then swallowed.
“I have a feeling you don’t know”
Her throat became tight, a shake in her voice.
“What do I not know?”
Tor’s brows furrowed as he looked directly into Anna’s eyes, his expression heavy with remorse.
“Kristoff got left behind,’ he admitted, “in deep, deep, deep, deep snow.”
Grief had a gravity that pulled her down and Anna sunk to her knees as great sobs wracked her body. Both Elsa and Tor darted forward to support her as her hands hit the cold hard ground, but as soon as they touched her she brushed them away. Wiping her nose on her wrist as she caught her breath, Anna forced herself to stand, her legs shaking underneath her. She squared her shoulders with her head held high and a flash of wild determination in her eyes.
“Crying is not going to help Kristoff. We have to find him!”
Anna’s heel dug into the snow as she surged forward toward the base of the mountain in the direction the ice harvesters had returned from. Elsa acted just as quickly—her fingers gripped her sister’s wrist and Anna’s braids whipped through the air as she turned to protest.
“But I can help!”
“Anna, please!” Elsa implored. “You’ll only make it worse!”
Anna’s retort caught in her throat and instead she took a sharp breath in, suddenly frozen in place. The desperate plea in her sister's eyes reminded her of how Kristoff had looked at her, in the still raw memory of him with one foot in his sleigh as her spilled belongings lay scattered on the ground by her feet. The moment both their hearts broke The breath she was holding came out in an icy cloud and the swirling storm inside calmed. This time she needed to act with her head, not her heart.
Going up that mountain alone and hot-headed wasn’t going to help Kristoff and might well fulfil the prophecy of his worries after all. She was no good to him dead. If anybody could survive out there, it was Kristoff. What he needed now was someone to believe in him. Someone to come home to.
Tor’s gravelly voice came from behind her.
“Princess Anna, let me assure you—as soon as our team is rested and it’s safe on the mountain again, we won’t hesitate to send out a search party for him. We would never give up on Kristoff. He’s an ice harvester, and ice harvesters are family.” Elsa squeezed Anna’s hand in reassurance. Anna’s lip trembled as she glanced back at her sister and returned the gesture. “One way or another Kristoff will return to Arendelle,” Tor assured, hope rising in his voice. “He has a reason to call it home.”
Anna nodded in agreement, tiny crystals of tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
“He’ll come home safe. I can feel it in my heart.” She reached out and touched Tor’s frostbitten sleeve. His hardened features lifted with a genuine and heartfelt smile. Anna took another steadying breath and instinctively her new royal role came into play.
“Thank you, Tor. Please, come back to the castle. We’ll make sure you all have everything you need tonight.”
“Yes! It’s the least we can do,” Elsa concurred.
“Thank you, your highnesses,” Tor bowed again. “But I think what we all need is to be home with our own families.”
Tor bid them goodbye and the rest of the world seeped into their awareness again. The crowds had begun to disperse—the ice harvesters and their families returning to their stables and homes, the citizens back to their Christmas shopping in the marketplace as festive music began to play.
Anna turned back to the road, wishfully hoping to hear Sven’s distant hoof beats and see Kristoff’s smug ‘I told you so’ grin under the bluster of his snow-encrusted fringe, but only the encroaching night drew closer. She felt caught between the light, cheery fullness of her village and the dark savage emptiness of the mountains beyond. A world it was clear to her now, she couldn’t be a part of.
Suddenly Anna felt tired, her body slumped. As the sun began to set and the faint glimmer of the first stars began to show, Elsa wrapped an arm around her sister and led her at a slow and heavy shuffle back to the castle.
“Let’s get you to bed.”
~~~
Kristoff awoke with a groan and held his head in his hands. As the stars cleared from his vision a velvety muzzle nudged his shoulder and in the hollow of his back, Sven’s warm chest rose and fell with each steady breath.
“Hey there sleepy head!” teased ‘Sven’ as Kristoff turned to look at the reindeer, still hazy in his groggy vision. “Was wondering when you were going to wake up!”
“How long was I out?” Kristoff yawned, rubbing the stubble along his jaw. Sven motioned with his head towards the exit of their makeshift shelter.
“Just take a look.”
Cautiously Kristoff shuffled closer to the pine needle wall. The wind had stopped howling, the overhanging branches no longer strained under the force of the gales. In fact, there was not a sound to be heard and everything felt still. A soft light emanated from a gap below the canopy and Kristoff lifted the branches to the side to see out.
Night had fallen, but the sky was completely clear and the winter moon was so big and bright that it lit up everything below almost as if it were day, blurring out the glimmer of the stars. Under its ethereal light the snow covered landscape seemed to glow.
Brushing himself off after crawling out into the open, Kristoff looked in every direction and a sinking feeling began to pull at his stomach. The blizzard had been so powerful that the entire landscape was now unrecognisable. Everything was white on the mountain that night, not a footprint to be seen. There was no clue as to which path the ice harvesters were on, or which way led back to Arendelle. There was not even a hint of where they had had to abandon his sleigh. Without any landmarks, north was south, left was right.
“Uh… buddy? I think we’re lost in the woods.”
Sven shook like a dog, sending a shower of fur-frost over his friend and let out a groan as he took in the alabaster surroundings. Kristoff wiped the snow off his face with no thought of annoyance—he needed to find his way back but had no way to orientate himself. In the stillness of the night, he searched for a sign but there was none. This was something Tor and experience had not prepared him for. Still deep inside his tunic, could feel the strap he had woven for Anna pressed against his chest. With all his heart he wished he could find his way back to her and make everything right.
Frustrated, he let out a low breath to clear his thoughts and at the same time a soft breeze blew. It tangled in his hair and made him shiver as it swirled around him, collecting the suspended mist of his breath and sending it over his shoulder in a sudden whoosh. Pulled by its momentum, he turned to follow its path. The gust sent the icy particles in a playful spiral that headed towards a patch of trees, and vanished.
“This way, I guess,” Kristoff shrugged. Sven nodded and they headed through the patch of forest together.
“This feels like we’re getting more lost, not less.” Sven narrowed his eyes and tilted his head towards Kristoff as they found their way deeper into the trees, the place where the frozen lake should be now gone from view.
“Well, unless you’ve got any better ideas,” Kristoff retorted. “What was it Grand Pabby said to do when you’re unsure? Do the next—“ As the trees began to thin, one of Sven’s antlers caught on a low hanging branch and it whipped back right in Kristoff’s path. “Woah!” He ducked just in time as it lashed overhead, grazing his crown. Now they were both paying attention! Cautiously he stood back up and took a moment to steady himself, adjusting his hat. As he brushed the fringe out of his eyes, they became wide with astonishment. He almost forgot to breathe. “The next right thing.”
“I think I might cry,” ‘Sven’ exhaled in relief. Kristoff patted his buddy’s back, but kept his sights set on the beacon of hope, guiding them home to Arendelle.
“Go ahead. I won’t judge.” He took a few more steps forward clear of the woods and closer to the spires of Arendelle castle far below. In the moonlight, the enchanted snowflake at its highest peak glistened a celestial pale blue—an earthly star. Kristoff’s chest swelled with the same golden warmth that beckoned from its triangular windows. “It’s funny how some distance makes everything feel small,” Kristoff breathed, touching his mittened fingers to his tunic, his gift, his bridge back to Anna. “The fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all.” At last he had found his direction and the brothers headed down the mountain, together.
🚀 New ESO Companions are coming with Update 44! Meet Tanlorin, the High Elf with Dragonknight and Soul Magic abilities, and Zerith-var, the Khajiit Necromancer emerging from a mysterious past. Their quests and unique perks will surely make your adventures unforgettable! 💥
Rating: G
Characters: Rayman, Globox, Murfy, Betilla, Magician|Ales, Polokus|Bubble Dreamer, Teensies
Relationships: Rayman & Globox & Murfy Friendship; Rayman & Betilla & Magician|Ales Friendship; Rayman & Polokus
Themes: Hurt/Comfort, Healing, Friends supporting each other, Worldbuilding and Lore Exploration
Estimated length: 7,5k+ in bitesized chapters (22 and counting; as of aug 1st)
Summary: Rayman returns home, but home is no longer what he remembers it to be.
The terrible flood that dragged him to the Glade several years ago has turned the valley into an archipelago and our limbless wonder tries to get used to the change.
Aka: Post!R3 Ray returns to the valley. He expects to find what he left behind in R1 but comes across the world as it’s portrayed in Origins.
Uses the Dream Catcher Canon for worldbuilding. Knowing the story is not essential (but recommended 💖)
AN under the cut
You thought for sure, I was done with Dream Catcher didn’t you? Well I certainly did! But this particular rabbit hole is deep.
None of this was planned, but I made the mistake of coming across the wrong song in a medley at the wrong time and being hit with a truckload of inspiration at once.
“We know the Way” from the Moana Soundtrack carries about 90% of this premise, even though Sailing is only a part of the first couple chapters. I do get strong vibes of “Coming Home and trying to be optimistic about all the things that changed in my absence” from this song though and I can just keep it on loop for hours on end.
Right now 10 chapters are written, though I have yet to find a proper conclusion for the story that either feels like a round ending or seamlessly blends into the opening of Origins, so there is room for more chapters yet! What I have written thus far I plan to publish one day at a time, while parallely working on the rest :)
