Elsa took a deep breath. She had no idea where she was going, but that need not detain her, she decided, fiddling nervously with the clasp of her マント, 隠す and then tossing the thing to one side. She wouldn’t need it anymore, after all, she had never needed one, being immune to cold weather as she was. It had only ever been a status symbol, to mark her out as a princess. But right now, that wasn’t what she wanted. It was time for a change. She was no longer Princess Elsa of Duloc. For now, she was simply...Elsa, a young free woman with cryokinetic powers.

She threw up her arms and transformed her formal ティール and black ガウン into a simple blue dress with a slit in the skirt, translucent sleeves and a matching cape attached to the back, for the hell of it, covered in ice crystals. Her shoes came to match, the pattern on them similar to that of a snowflake and finally she unwound her hair from its neat bun, cascading it down into a fishtail plait and fluffed out her fringe, having had it combed back neatly for far too long.

The effect was striking, and though it probably wasn’t the best disguise in the world, although from a distance it was hard to tell that she was the same Princess who had just run out of the palace, she felt better for the change. There would be no もっと見る keeping her powers locked inside this time, she decided, they could be free now, and so would she.

She spent most of the night walking and trying hard not to think of Farquaad any longer. It wasn’t easy, however. Each time his image drifted into her mind, it tore at her ハート, 心 a little more. People always 発言しました that time was a great healer, and maybe with time she could learn to live with how he had hurt her. She had stopped crying によって the time the sun rose the following morning, having finally fallen asleep between the large roots of a shady oak 木, ツリー and been woken によって the twittering of birdsong in the early hours of the day, but the pain still twisted inside her, like someone forcing a ナイフ in between her ribs.

In daylight, the landscape looked easier to navigate and Elsa was certain that a great tower in the middle of nowhere shouldn’t be too difficult to find. And even if it was, well, it was an adventure, and she would go wherever it took her.

She soon came across a small stream where she could bathe her face and take a drink, but she was hungry too, and had no idea what to do about that. If she had a net, she supposed, she could catch some fish, but since she didn’t, well, that plan was out of the question.

Elsa sighed and got to her feet, noticing a field of sunflowers nearby, and then she did a double take upon realising that something was ploughing its way through it, judging によって the way the お花 were waving about. She tensed, wondering if it was something dangerous, または something she could make a meal out of, and then, reminding herself that she could use her powers to attack it in either case, she made her way towards the edge and parted some of the leaves to see what was approaching her.

She was surprised to say the least. A large, green ogre and a small donkey, of all the unlikely parties in the world, were ploughing their way through the sunflowers, and conversing, または rather the ogre seemed to be trying to explain something to the donkey that the donkey wasn’t quite getting.

“Layers!” he exclaimed. “Onions have layers! Ogres have layers! Onions have layers...You get it? We both have layers!”

With an irritated sigh, he threw down the 玉ねぎ, タマネギ he was holding and stomped off.

“Oh, あなた both have lay-ers,” the donkey repeated, sniffing the onion. “You know, not everybody likes onions. Cakes! Everybody likes cakes! Cakes have layers!”

Elsa began to giggle to herself as the ogre growled “I don’t care what everyone likes. Ogres are not like cakes!”

He turned to go and Elsa decided that this was probably a good moment to try and 襟, 首輪 them before the donkey suggested something that really upset the ogre. She was, she had to admit, surprised によって his demeanour, since she had always been taught that ogres were scary によって nature, but this one seemed almost human.

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” she said, pushing forwards to meet them.

Both ogre and donkey looked surprised によって her sudden appearance.

“Are あなた talking to us?” the ogre asked.

“Yes,” Elsa replied, offering her politest smile, “I was just wondering if あなた knew where I might find something to eat around here. Somehow I seem to have missed breakfast.”

The donkey looked pointedly at the ogre, who sheepishly held out two corncobs in his hand. “Well, if あなた like corn...I was saving it for myself but あなた can have it if あなた want.”

“Anything as long as it’s edible,” Elsa replied, quickly taking one before he could change his mind and biting into it. It was raw but sweet and quickly sated her hunger. “Thank you.”

The ogre shrugged and made his way past her. The donkey, however, lingered.

“So, where’d あなた come from? あなた live out here?” he asked.

“Donkey,” sighed the ogre. “Let’s go.”

Elsa smiled and fell into step beside Donkey. “It’s a long story. I sort of ran away from ホーム and now I’m trying to find my cousin, although I’m not actually sure where she lives. I’ve never been there before.”

“Aw, that is a darn shame,” Donkey replied, and then his ears pricked up as he added brightly “Hey, maybe あなた should tag along with us! That’d be alright, wouldn’t it, Shrek?”

“Oh, for the 愛 of Pete!” sighed Shrek. “I’m supposed to be getting my swamp back, not picking up every ロスト down-and-out that crosses my path!”

“Hey! That’s no way to speak to a lady!” Donkey hissed. “Now I think she should come with us! I think あなた should come with us,” he added to Elsa.

Elsa smiled. “Well, that’s very kind of you, but I don’t want to put あなた out at all.”

“No, whatcha talking about, girl, あなた wouldn’t, would she?” Donkey insisted, looking at Shrek.

The ogre raised a hand to his temple and sighed “Ok, fine! あなた can come with us.”

Elsa stepped up to him. “Well, thank you, Shrek, was it?” She held out her hand. “I’m Elsa.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Donkey exclaimed. “The Elsa! The Princess who they say can create ice and snow!”

Elsa nodded, slowly. “Yes.”

“Wow!” Donkey exclaimed. “So, is it true あなた can really make all that stuff happen?”Elsa smiled and gave him a quick demonstration によって conjuring some ice in her hands and making it burst into a tiny firework in front of their eyes. “Ooh!” Donkey exclaimed.

シュレック was impressed, although he didn’t let on as he added “Then あなた won’t like where we’re going; great tower guarded によって a fire-breathing dragon.”

“Seriously?” Elsa ran to catch up with him. “Because I was looking for a dragon-guarded tower too.”

“Ain’t that a coincidence?” Donkey grinned.

シュレック glanced at her. “Really? How come?”

“It’s where my cousin lives,” Elsa explained. “Her name’s Fiona.”

“Whoa, hold up!” Donkey exclaimed, kicking his back hooves in the air. “Princess Fiona is your cousin?”

“That’s right,” Elsa replied. “Were あなた going to rescue her?”

“Aye, for Prince Hans,” シュレック replied. “He’s sent a whole load of fairytale things to squat in my swamp, and I have to bring back the Princess to him in order to get it back.”

“Oh, I see,” Elsa sighed. “He’s too proud to do the dirty work himself, so he sends someone else to do it for him? That’s not going to sit well with Fiona.”

“Not my problem, Princess,” シュレック replied, striding away from her.

“Well, wait!” Elsa ran after him. “How are あなた planning to fight the dragon? Don’t あなた need armour and stuff?”

“I don’t know, I’m making this up as I go,” シュレック muttered.

“In that case, I’m definitely going with you,” Elsa decided. “I can help. My magic might be able to keep the dragon at bay.”

シュレック shrugged and walked on. “Come on, then, if you’re coming.”

“Aw, don’t feel bad, Princess,” Donkey said, coming up to her. “He’s like that to everybody.”

Elsa smiled. “You two have a bizarre relationship, あなた know. How did あなた two meet?”

“Oh, I was getting sold to Prince Han’s soldiers because I can talk. あなた know, the whole Rewards for Fairytale Creatures thing.” Elsa nodded because she had heard about that, although it hadn’t extended as far as Duloc just yet. “And anyway, I’m no fool, so when the woman who owned me tried to sell me, well, I just kept quiet and they thought she was crazy. I slipped away with some fairy dust and the 次 thing あなた know I’m running through the forest headlong into an ogre who manages to scare off the soldiers chasing me.” Donkey nodded in Shrek’s direction. “He’s not such a bad guy, under the whole ogre thing.”

“Well, if he can get my cousin out of her tower, then he’s got my vote,” Elsa replied. “Does he know where he’s going?”

“I heard that!” シュレック called from the front.

“Yeah, Prince Hans gave us some vague directions,” Donkey replied.

“What’s he like?” Elsa asked, certain that she had heard the name mentioned somewhere before, but she couldn’t place where.

“Oh, he seems kind of nice,” Donkey replied, “although he has a thing about fairytale creatures. I think he’s got perfection issues または something.”

Elsa bit back a laugh, thinking that her cousin was probably not the kind of princess that Prince Hans was expecting to get at all.

They made their way through a grassy meadow and up a 丘, ヒル towards an abandoned windmill, during which she and Donkey kept the conversation going, with シュレック giving off the occasional grunt または grumble but mainly keeping to himself. The 丘, ヒル led downwards into further grassy pastures, filled with clover and giant boulders, with シュレック getting a bit irritated every time one of them stopped, but they bore it well. He just seemed a bit grumpy to Elsa, that was all, but otherwise decent underneath, as Donkey had said. Eventually, when night set in, they made camp, starting a 火災, 火 easily and soon Donkey had fallen asleep and was muttering in his dreams, twitching sometimes and causing Elsa to giggle.

シュレック glanced over at her. “So, why is it you’re going to see your cousin, then?”

Elsa had known that it was inevitable, that one of them would ask for details of her flight from ホーム sooner または later, and somehow it was a bit easier to open up to シュレック than to Donkey. She had a feeling he would listen, whereas Donkey would probably start talking halfway through her story.

“I had to leave Duloc,” she confessed, “because...well, I married Lord Farquaad and I thought that he loved me. But it turned out that he was just using me, for my powers. He thought he could win some political battle with them. And when I found out, well, I just couldn’t stay there.” シュレック 発言しました nothing and she sighed, covering her face with her hands. “I was such an idiot. I thought I knew what 愛 was, but it turns out I’ve got no idea.” She moved her hands. “Well, maybe if Fiona does marry this Prince Hans, maybe she can put me up somewhere. I can’t stay in Duloc. I just can’t.”

“Won’t he be looking for you?” シュレック asked.

“He is looking for me,” Elsa replied. “But he can’t make me go back with him.”

“But you’re married,” シュレック replied.

“And that matters?” Elsa clenched her hands into fists. “Love, True Love, it’s when you’re there for someone no matter what, it’s when you’d give up your life in a 秒 to save them, when you’d sacrifice anything it takes to make them happy. If Farquaad isn’t prepared to give me that, if he can’t 愛 me, then I’m never going back to him.” They were quiet a while and then she added “It hurts, あなた know, when あなた find out that someone あなた 愛 doesn’t feel the same. Betrayal feels worse. I’m all torn up inside and all I can do is hope that time’ll somehow heal the wounds.” Pulling herself together, she added, “So, once あなた rescue Fiona, what happens then? あなた get your swamp back?”

“Exactly the way it was,” シュレック agreed.

“Just あなた and Donkey?”

“Just me. I’d rather be alone.”

“But being alone’s so...lonely.”

“Not for me, it’s not.”

Elsa had a feeling that that was as much as she was going to get out of him for now, so she smiled and 発言しました “Well, I guess everyone’s different in that department.”

She lay down on the hollow log they’d been sitting on and stared into the dying flames of their fire, willing sleep to come. Then, シュレック 発言しました “You know, you’re probably the first person I’ve ever met that hasn’t run away in fear and disgust yet.”

“Well, there’s a good reason for that,” Elsa replied. “I’m not scared of あなた and I’m not disgusted によって you. I’ll admit I was a bit surprised to see あなた and Donkey coming towards me through a field of sunflowers, but あなた seem alright, not how I thought an ogre would be at all.”

“Well, thanks,” シュレック said, with real feeling, and Elsa smiled at him.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied, closing her eyes and letting sleep finally take her.