A/N.
Well okay here it is, my very first fanfiction up and running! It may start a little slow, and be a little confusing but be assured your questions will be answered as the story progresses.
Also, this is completely unbeta'd, so if anyone would like to beta for me, just shout out!
I'll also be editing myself for syntax, grammar, typos and the like.
- Danika

OH I almost forgot, the word Iskolde is pronounced Ees-ko-lay, and translates into "icy" or "ice cold" for those of you who were wondering!

High pitched ringing ripped through her consciousness, melding in with the images in her mind while slowly forcing her to fade into half wakefulness. A limp hand came out from under the comfort of the blankets, grappling blindly for the source of the noise. After a moment of searching, irritation growing the longer the noise persisted, pale fingers fumbled with the old brass alarm clock unfortunately knocking it onto its face, effectively rendering the off switch out of reach. Slowly Elsa pushed herself up with a harsh sigh, blankets tumbling from shoulders as tired blue eyes looked over at the night stand. She felt as though she had only slept for an hour at most. Begrudgingly she leaned over to grab the offensive alarm, slamming the off switch with an irate growl. What time could it possibly be? The hands of the clock made no sense to her half-conscious brain, so instead she looked outside. Staring out into the shadows of the backyard, blearily confused in her tiredness, white gold hair in a disheveled mess and black band shirt crumpled around her chest exposing the very pale skin of her stomach, Elsa tried to orient herself to her reality.

"Elsa!" called a matronly woman's voice from the hallway, "up and at 'em!"
Confusion was slowly replaced by realization as her grandmother's muffled voice made it through the door. It was morning, a school morning, thankfully the last before the weekend, and it was just after 5:30am. Smacking her lips together, feeling the dryness of her mouth, Elsa reluctantly pulled the blankets off her feet, planting a wobbly step on the pink carpet floor.

"Elsa!" her grandmother called again, closer this time, "up! Up!" voice commanding this time When Elsa didn't respond the door opened and the woman's head appeared around the frame, "oh, good. Time to get ready for school." Curly white hair piled on a weathered but still attractive old face retreated quickly once its owner had assured herself of her granddaughters compliance, and was gone before Elsa could place her second foot on the floor.

"Yahh mm...Imma gonna," Elsa grumbled.

The walk to the bathroom was slow and Elsa placed a hand on the wall to steady herself. Over the course of the last year Elsa had gotten more accustomed to the early hours, but some mornings felt more sluggish than others. Today was one of those lethargic mornings and she was still was trying to fight the urge to return to her blankets as she flicked on the bathroom lights, bare feet stepping onto cold tile floor.
Mirrors were not her friends. This bathroom had a wrap-around mirror from counter to ceiling on three of its four walls in which she could see her entire body, not once but three times. With one look she grunted and turned her back on the mirrors, facing the shower instead. It wasn't the messy hair or the tired look on her face that bothered her, no, it was the fact that she was no longer the slim, toned, handsome youth she used to be. Over the last two years Elsa had become increasingly sedentary and withdrawn and careless with herself. So much had happened; so many nightmares flew through her mind it was hard to focus on caring about how her body looked when every day was a battle to keep the terrors at bay. Objectively though, she knew the fix for weight gain was a simple concept, but subjectively she couldn't think of where to begin with it. Instead of dwelling on it she pulled her clothes off as the water warmed in the shower, a fine steam rolling out of the open glass sliding panels that functioned as shower curtains.

Sunlight peeked over the horizon, the air crisp and cool. Elsa looked up at the sky, appreciating the beauty of it for a moment, the orange and yellows and blues, then swept her eyes out over the Puget Sound, the waters still and grey. Her view of the Sound was bordered by Vashon Island, and just behind it, barely discernible against the fog was the outline of the Olympic mountain range. In her mind's eye Elsa saw a distant figure with large webbed wings darting through the clouds and felt her heart pull with longing.

Beautiful... she thought and unconsciously grabbed at her blonde ponytail, running her fingers through the waves that cascaded over her men's-cut black shirt with another rock band printed on it. The article of clothing draped formlessly off her shoulders, half covered by a dark grey zipper hoodie, which was also baggy. Elsa flicked a shed hair off her hand as she turned from the scenery and finished her walk to the bus stop, heavy black combat boots making her footsteps loud.

Riding the bus to school was another one of her least favorite activities. Elsa curled deeply into the first available window seat soon as she was on the bus, jamming headphones in her ears to block out the shouts and talking from all the kids around her. She wanted nothing to do with any of them, or their conversations. None of the other kids on the bus ever tried to engage her anyway, but the precaution was one she felt she had to take. Glacier blue eyes stared out the window as the bus began to move. Music rang in her ears as she let her thoughts drift. Images flew through her mind, a fantasy of dragons and wolves, battles and magic played out like a video. As the tracks changed the fantasy mixed with her past, distorting the story until she worked it out to being just her history. Her mother's face from the last time she saw her came into her mind causing Elsa to clasp her CD player hard, making the track to skip. Closing her eyes tightly she fought to banish the thought. Thinking about her past would only serve to consume her day with a pile of complicated emotions that always sat in the back of her mind anyway. If she let it, it could drag her to the floor and then everyone would know just how messed up and ugly she was. Elsa's teeth clenched, anger at herself growing as she tried to push unpleasantness away and refocused her gaze out the window as the bus rolled to a stop in front of her school. She sighed gratefully - school was the ultimate distraction.

Today like every other day Elsa sat in the back of the class doing her work and contributing only when called upon, which really wasn't so much different from anyone else in school she had noted. Sometimes her neighbors would talk to her, or try to, and sometimes she'd respond, but most times she'd shrug and bury her head in her tasks, and always when the lunch bell rang she'd wait for the teacher to officially dismiss the class before getting up and leaving without a word.

"Heeeey Els!" a young man's voice hailed to her as she crossed the intersecting hallways that stood before the cafeteria. She knew the voice and turned to see the owner of it, Adam. He was a large man already at sixteen, broad shouldered and with a face that looked like it could have been sculpted by Michelangelo himself. Theirs was a strange friendship, and Elsa had found kinship with the boy's weirdness which he wore proudly and she admired. Adam was cliqued as a Goth, his black wool beanie studded with spikes, his black fingernails, the unconventional way in which he assembled himself, always in blacks and grays, his washed out pale skin and ripped band shirts made him stand out from the crowd. Slowly over the course of their friendship Elsa had found herself wearing more blacks than she previously did, energized into it by Adam's uniqueness. Elsa had always thought of herself as one of the outsiders, one of the others, not part of normal teenage society. The fact that Adam not only embraced his otherness in himself but physically displayed it on his person inspired her to make bold teenage statements about being 'different' also. Sometimes she'd hear other students say "there's that Goth girl," as she passed, or "that Goth girl is so weird." "She only talks to that freak Adam." "Have you ever seen her laugh? She's like some kind of gothic ice queen." Of course these weren't comments she was meant to overhear but she almost always did. It didn't bother her so much; she had made the decision to display her otherness as plainly as Adam had. Foolish comments from kids she didn't know or care about weren't going to make her mental battlements crumble.

"Hi," she waved and went over. Adam was already at a table with their other friends, Nicky and Beth. The two girls already had their lunches in front of them and seemed to be in a conversation so Elsa gently sat down her bag next to Adam's without a word.

"Hey Elsa," Beth said kindly when she neared causing Elsa to look at her with a sliver of surprise, expecting them to ignore her for each other.
"Hello," she said and nodded at Nicky when her brown eyes looked at her.

"Hey," Nicky said in a rougher tone then turned back to Beth.
"Comin'?" Adam asked and moved off to the lunch line. Elsa followed after giving Beth a short parting smile. Once at the line Adam looked down at Elsa, arms folded across his chest with a clever look on his face.

"So I'll have that webcam you asked about on Monday."

"Oh, really?" Elsa smiled, playing with her pony tail again.

"Yea, it's not a very high end one though, so don't expect anything amazing."

"Not a problem," she flicked her hand away from her hair in a dismissive gesture.

"Who you gonna cam with anyway? You never told me and I want to know."

"I...well I have another friend now. She's pretty cool. Gets along with my weirdness at least." Elsa grinned, a light blush coloring her cheeks.

"That makes your friend count now...oh, two. I don't understand why you couldn't have said that sooner." He laughed when she gave him a blank look. It wasn't untrue, Adam was about the only person with whom Elsa shared even a little bit with, and people like Nicky and Beth were just people she knew superficially. She gave him a small shrug.

"Just show me that comic book you were talking about," she said as they picked up their lunch trays looking to change the subject. It worked and Adam's eyes went a little wider in mild excitement.

"Oh yah!" he exclaimed, "okay it's really crazy and dark. And bloody. In the best ways."

The rest of the meal period was carried out with easy conversation for Adam and Nicky and Beth, with Elsa flipping through the dark comic with its strange art style. Adam hadn't been kidding; it was quite the gore fest. Honestly gore wasn't so much her thing so instead of actually reading she politely skimmed while eating and mostly listened to her friends talking. Nicky wanted to go to Seattle this weekend and Beth wanted to go to the movies and they agreed Saturday would be the only full day to do things. Adam suggested they go to the movies after school today because it was only two in the afternoon when they were let out, and they could go to Seattle tomorrow. That started a whole new conversation about what movie to see and which theater to go to and by the end they decided on that year's big horror flick at the Tukwila Regal Cinema. When asked if she'd like to go with Elsa responded with a noncommittal maybe. Finally the lunch bell rang out the end of their free time and Elsa gladly handed the comic back to Adam.

"So, what'd you think?" he asked.

"A little dark," she answered vaguely, "but there's some funny jokes."

"I love the part with the ice cream bar in the handy mart," Adam laughed, "I mean, the guy's dead and he still pays for it!

"Ha! Yeah I saw that. Guys totally nuts."

"Dude, that's what it's about, him being totally crazy. It's like, who knows what he's going to do next.

"I'll bet it has something to do with blood or dark introspection," Elsa replied a little blandly then turned towards the door when Adam picked up his bag, "see you Monday."

"What, oh, see you later," he waved at her as he hefted the backpack

School passed quickly from there on out, and after school was driver's education class that her grandparents had enrolled her in, though she was almost finished with them. It was an exciting prospect that she might have her license come summer. Today there was no writing test, no pop quiz about road rules, and when it was Elsa's turn to drive the instructor simply told her to drive herself home.

"Only a few more drives Ms. Vinther and I think you'll be ready for the drive test."
"Really?" Elsa grinned proudly then composed herself, "good, that's good."
"Well, I'll see you on Monday," he smiled,
"Yes thank you, see you then." Eagerly Elsa went inside.

Soft light illuminated Elsa's face, a gentle rhythmic tapping sound the only noise to be heard. The light to the office was off as were the speakers to her old Dell computer. Periodically her taskbar would blink blue, alerting her to a message. She used MSN Messenger for chatting and Bluecadia for role-playing. Elsa sighed and reclined, continuously clicking between the two programs, taking part in clipped conversations with other players of the window client game until at last the name she'd been waiting for popped up. "Sunstorm has logged in to MSN Messenger". Immediately Elsa's mind was ablaze with excitement.

Iskolde: HEY!
Sunstorm: Oh hey!
Sunstorm: You beat me on today. How was your day? Lunch break was so crazy today.
Iskolde: Oh?
Sunstorm: Yeah! Okay so, there's these two brothers, Alek and Edward, and the one, Alek, was being mean to the other I guess? I believe it because he's kind of a jerk all the time. Anyway, so they were arguing and suddenly Edward throws a banana.
Iskolde: ...a banana..?
Sunstorm: Yes, a banana, pay attention.
Sunstorm: But it misses cuz Alek ducks and it flies across the dining hall and hits the lunch lady in the chin! LOL! Banana mess everywhere of course but of course she was holding a ladle full of lasagna and it flicked all over the place. I got some sauce on my dress because I was in line. It was still like..
Sunstorm: One of the best things I've ever seen.
Iskolde: oh...my gosh...LOL WOW I would have laughed SO HARD.
Sunstorm: RIGHT?
Iskolde: So what happened to Edward?
Sunstorm: He was sent to the principal's office of course. I don't know anything beyond that.
Iskolde: At least it didn't start a food fight.
Sunstorm: Do food fights even happen anymore? Is that even a thing?
Iskolde: I don't know, I've never seen one but you always hear about it in movies and stuff.
Sunstorm: Well if one happens I'll be sure to let you know first. Okay okay okay what did you do today?
Iskolde: Nothing special, totally boring day. I had driving classes though, I'm really surprised I beat you. You're running really late.
Sunstorm: ...I may or may not have had to stay behind to do some make up work because I may or may not have forgotten to turn an assignment or two in.
Iskolde: Shame on you.
Sunstorm: I said I may or may not have!
Iskolde: Which means you did!
Sunstorm: SHHH!

Elsa laughed airily at her computer screen, a perpetual grin on her face as the conversation continued on. They had only been talking in private chats for several months but Elsa thought she could have known Sunstorm for years, even if she did not yet know her real name. Sunstorm was a well-known role-player on Bluecadia, a client and avatar based role play game. She had a bright personality, compassionate, energetic, open and friendly with everyone, she was always glad to be part of someone's role play ideas. Elsa had read her role-plays and conversations without engaging in them for a year before she finally gathered the courage to speak directly to her. It had been a turning point for Elsa when Sunstorm received her and even began to pay special attention to her, going so far as to opt out of previous role-play plots or turning down ideas in lieu of spending time talking to Elsa. Sunstorm had cracked her out of her internet shell. In short amount of time Iskolde the dragon that was Elsa, had become a popular entity as well. First only by association but after a couple weeks it transformed into genuine interest from others. Apparently the other players liked Elsa's brand of sassiness. However, Sunstorm was the only person with whom she felt close to, or knew anything about. Elsa was a year and a half older than Sunstorm. Her favorite colors were green and pink where Elsa's favorites were purple and blue, and they both liked yellow as an accent color. Sunstorm's favorite food was fish and chips, favorite drink was hot chocolate, where Elsa's favorite food was cookies and just about anything smothered in melted cheese, but to balance it out her favorite drink was ice water. She had also learned that Sunstorm was mostly Norwegian with a little German thrown in, where Elsa was one hundred percent Danish, and that the other girl lived on an island. What island or where she hadn't said though. Elsa had told her that she lived in Des Moines Washington, not an island. Sunstorm had seemed really excited about that which made Elsa a little nervous at first, because for all she knew her chatting partner could be some creepy man on the other side of the screen, though she didn't really believe it or want to believe it. Elsa doubted that Sunstorm was a threat, but in rationality, she couldn't rule it out as a possibility. She decided the only way to quell her concerns was to see her with her own eyes and when she told Adam she wanted a webcam her luck had proven good as he provided her with a free solution. She had to evade a barrage of questioning from the boy but he eventually got the hint that she was not yet willing to share.

Iskolde: Oh yeah hey, my friend is going to hand me his old webcam on Monday so maybe we can put MSN messenger to real work! Hahaha.
Sunstorm: Oh really?!
Sunstorm: Awesome!
Sunstorm: I've never cammed with anyone before! This will be totally bizarre.
Iskolde: Maybe a little at first, yeah.
Sunstorm: Which is totally okay because isn't it always kind of bizarre when you just meet someone even in real life like Hey I don't know you but let's talk about stuff even though we literally know nothing about one another and it could totally come off sounding crazy or creepy.
Sunstorm: And I bet it's weird to like, to go interviews and stuff with this boss you've never met and have to put on a good show because they're going to judge you, but you have no idea what kind of person they are so you just have to wing it.
Iskolde: I...I don't know. Meeting other people really can be intimidating sure but... You're thinking about that stuff already? What, are you planning on getting a summer job?
Sunstorm: Oh, no! No, I was just...trying to draw parallels... sorry if that was confusing.
Sunstorm: I know I go off on little tangents sometimes.
Iskolde: Sometimes?
Sunstorm: Shush!
Iskolde: Are we going to RP? You aren't even on Bluecadia yet.
Sunstorm: I totally forgot to log in! HAHA! Heck yah we're going to rp!
Iskolde: Well hop to it missy.
Sunstorm: :P