A fine line between chaos and a hullabaloo (OPEN)

[Olaf]

“Ouch... oof... ow...uff...ouch...”

A figure rolled down the hill, coming to rest upside down against a tree with a grunt.

“Oh my goodness... I’ve landed in upside down world. This is... amazing!!” Opening his eyes, he looked around, taking in the trees, the darkness and the general scary look of his new location. “Anna? Mommy? Sve... I mean, Kristoff?” He called out into the darkness. “Hmmm. I hope they didn’t fall into the sky. That would probably be bad.”

Gravity finally taking hold, his legs fell sideways and Olaf landed on his side. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees and looked up. “Oh thank goodness, it’s not upside down world. I don’t think I’d have liked it that much really... wait...”

He had noticed his hands. They looked oddly pink... and chubby... and human. Sitting back and extending his legs in front of him, his jaw fell open as he stared as his limbs. “Well, this is new.” He reaches up and felt his nose, jumping in surprise. “It’s so small and squidgy! Like a little mushroom! Oh this is the best day ever!!”

He looked around, frowning slightly and wondering what to do next. “I should have brought Sven...”

[Red Riding Hood]

You would think, given what had happened to her, that Red would not be the world's biggest fan of woods. It would be true, if it weren't for what had happened to her. That is to say, the wolf blood in her made her feel comfortable in the woods, and it didn't hurt that the woods tended not to be all that busy, it was a good place to escape nosy neighbours or annoying kids or mobs with pitchforks. Not that she'd had too much problem with the latter, but once or twice, when their sheep had gone missing and they became convinced it was her, despite it happening nowhere near a full moon.

Here in this weird, overgrown place there weren't so many people around, and she'd yet to have a negative reaction, but it was still new and strange and there were odd smells all over the place, so she had taken to the forest just to give herself a little stability, a sense of normality, forests were very similar whatever world you were in, and it made her feel just a little more at home. Homesickness was not something she had expected to feel, but here she was, trying to pretend she was in the woods near her grandmother's house, imagining she was going to see the old woman.

What she encountered instead was the sound of somebody rambling to themselves, and how did that even happen? Woods were supposed to be where she avoided people, not ran into them. Still, her path took him within view of him before she stopped herself, and she didn't want to just turn around and walk away.

"...Are you okay?"

[Olaf]

Olaf span around at the sound of a voice - span so fast, in fact, that he did a complete 360 and his feet slid out from underneath him, leaving him back on the floor with his back to the new arrival. He pushed himself back up, rubbing his bottom where he’d landed on a tree root. Pain was a very new experience, and as excited as Olaf was by all this shiny newness, he couldn’t say he was the greatest fan of this whole nerve-endings thing. He wondered how much impaling would hurt now he was apparently human, and made a mental note to get Anna to help him try it out.

He turned around to face the owner of the voice, and broke into an enormous grin, opening his arms wide and taking a step towards her. “Hello! My name is Olaf and I like warm hugs.” He introduced himself, his mouth open in an inviting smile as he wiggled his brand new and incredibly exciting eyebrows at her, hoping to entice her into a hug.

He paused as he looked at he properly, and took her in. His mouth fell open in what looked like an expression of severe shock, before he suddenly jumped on the spot and moved closer to her, excitement etched onto his face. “Oh my goodness! Are you a snowman too? You look so lifelike! Who made you? They did an excellent job, you should thank them.” He looked up to the sky in confusion. “Wait, where’s your flurry?” He gasped loudly. “Where’s MY flurry?!”

[Red Riding Hood]

Red raised an eyebrow at him, stepping forward to offer a hand to help him up, but he was already bouncing back to his feet. This was a level of enthusiasm Red was not used to dealing with, and she wasn't sure where to start. At the mention of hugs she unconsciously took a firm step backwards, placing herself out of range of hugging if he decided just offering one wasn't enough. Hugs and Red did not mix, she was not that type of person.

"Am I a what?" Red asked dangerously, before her brain caught up with her ears and she frowned. 'Too'? And what the hell was he talking about, flurries? She was fairly certain she'd understood the individual words of the whole sentence, but when put together they weren't making the slightest bit of sense.

"...You're not a snowman."

[Olaf]

This girl seemed angry at his question, and Olaf dropped his hands to his side, a slight frown appearing on his face. He didn't want to upset anyone - he wanted to make friends - and he definitely didn't know why anyone would be upset at the idea that they might be a snowman - being a snowman was wonderful! There was so much potential when you were a snowman!

But... wait a minute, she was right! He wasn't a snowman anymore! What did that mean?! Olaf could have been on the brink of an existential crisis, if it wasn't for the fact that he had an attention span of approximately 3 minutes and 28 seconds, and he was already moving on to the next thought.

He moved closer to his new friend, and stared at her, his nose less than an inch from hers. "But you're so pale." Olaf said in an awed whisper. "You must be made of snow, back in Arendelle I was made of snow and I was pure white, it was very impressive, but I wasn't as well crafted as you - no offence to my mummy, she's amazing and so clever and can do all kinds of amazing things with snow and ice, but she made me look a bit more traditional, you know, stumpy little legs, chubby tummy with 3 black buttons, sticks for arms and a huge carrot nose - well, actually Elsa didn't give me the nose my bestest friend in the whole wide world Anna did, she's the best she really is, anyway so it turns out here I'm not snow anymore I'm a real live person now which is so amazing but kind of scary and did you know how much falling over can hurt because I sure didn't!" Olaf paused for a second to take a breath.

"So I guess we don't need flurries now we're human, huh?"

[Red Riding Hood]

Red would have backed away when he came so very close to her, but honestly she found herself almost hypnotised by his babbling. As near as she could tell he had been an actual snowman, but somehow coming here and changed him to a human. It was a curious thing. The fact that he was a snowman at home wasn't, in itself, all that odd, after all the land she came from had talking wolves and gingerbread men and assorted other sentient creatures and things, a snowman wasn't all that much of a stretch of the imagination. She was still a little offended that he thought she was made of snow because she was so pale, but it wasn't the worst thing anybody had ever said about her skin tone.

"I'm not made of snow," she said firmly "And I never was. I'm just... a very pale person. Just a normal person." who definitely isn't a wolf once a month. Totally. "You didn't know falling over could hurt? Oh, wait, no, of course you didn't, you were made of snow. What am I thinking."

This was without a doubt the strangest encounter she'd had here, and he was only the second person she'd met. Was it going to get weirder than this or did she just have bad luck?

[Olaf]

If Olaf had still been a snowman, he would have dropped backwards to sit down and hold onto his feet in awe as she told him she was a normal person. But - he wasn't anymore, and it was a long way to drop now, plus there was that whole pain receptor thing he now had going on. But that didn't stop the awe. He stared at her admiringly, slumping slightly as an awed "wow" escaped his lips.

"You are really beautiful, did you know that?" Olaf couldn't stop staring, and having absolutely no concept of personal space or how uncomfortable a short, fat teenager staring at you could be, he took a step forward, reaching out and touching the girl's cheek with one finger. "Beautiful like snow. It's so pure and white and it glows in the moonlight - does your skin glow in the moonlight? It looks like it should. I love snow, don't you just love snow? I think it might be my favourite thing in the world, it's so soft and cold and white."

It could never be said that Olaf wasn't entirely open with his thoughts and feelings, given that he shared every single one that crossed his mind. He shook his head rigorously when she asked him about falling over, stopping suddenly and grabbing his head in case it fell off. That was never fun, his body had a mind of its own and always ran off, and it was such hard work to get it to come back.

"It's ok, it's taking me some time to forget I'm not made of snow anymore too. But - hey - do you think this means I can't melt? Oh, how wonderful!" He hugged himself in happiness, swaying slightly on the spot as one hundred things he could enjoy now he couldn't melt passed through his head.

Opening his eyes again, he smiled warmly at his companion. "So, are we friends now? I love making new friends!" He opened his arms again, still hoping for that warm hug.

[Red Riding Hood]

"Uh...thank you." Red said slowly, brow creasing in confusion. It was probably the first time she'd been called beautiful and she didn't quite know what to make of it. She also didn't know if 'does your skin glow in the moonlight' was really a compliment, but the way he phrased it, it was so obviously meant to be. She got the impression that he was a little simple, but there was something sweet about his open naivety, and she couldn't quite bring herself to be mean to him. That didn't mean she intended to totally humour him about everything, of course, but she would at least take some of the edges off her usual rough nature.

"My skin doesn't glow, and I quite enjoy snow as well," the wolf in her had clearly evolved for colder climates, because running through snow was far more fun than she would ever admit "and yes, I think that means you can't melt."


"...sure." she said reluctantly, she didn't feel particularly inclined, but she could only imagine how crushed he would be if she said she wasn't his friend, and hey, she didn't really have friends, maybe it would be interesting.

[Olaf]

His face lit up when she said she liked snow - oh they had so much in common! He was pretty sure he was talking to his new best friend in the whole world ever apart from Anna and Elsa and Kristoff and Sven.

"Oh I hope it snows here, then we could make snow angels together and have snowball fights and make a little family of snow people!" Olaf's eyes glazed over slightly at the thought. This was going to be amazing, he was so excited! He glanced up a the sky, hoping to see snow clouds and a flurry beginning - but he was disappointed to see a clear sky. His disappointment didn't last long though:

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" He shouted, bouncing slightly on the spot. "I just need to find Elsa and she can make it snow! And then we can play and laugh and have fun in the snow. Oh it'll be wonderful!"

And then she said the one thing that pushed him over the edge of happiness. She was his friend! He had made a new friend! He thought he might burst with happiness as he lunged forward without warning and hugged her tightly. "Oh I can just tell we're going to be bestest friends for ever and ever and ever!!" He finally released her and held her at arms length, beaming at her. "I should probably know your name if we're going to be best friends."

[Red Riding Hood]

Red stared at him blankly, she hadn't done almost any of that since she was a little kid, and okay he kind of had the temperement of a kid so she could maybe see how he would be into that kind of thing, but he expected her to join in? Hopefully had as short an attention span as he seemed to and he'd forget all about his plans by the time it actually was snowing. That or she'd just avoid him, surely he'd have other people to go and do all that stuff with.

And then before she knew it he was hugging her, and for a second she just froze completely, totally uncertain how to react. By the time she got control of herself he'd let go and stepped back, and he just looked so pleased she didn't know how to respond - all she knew was that she wanted to get herself out of this conversation before it went on too much longer.

"Red, call me Red. And you are?"

[Olaf]

"Red..." Olaf repeated her name reverently, his voice hushed as he tried it out. "That. Is..." He paused, trying to think of the right word. "The most beautiful name I've ever heard in my life." He meant it, too. "It's so evocative -" he'd learnt some big words since living in the castle at Arendelle, "it makes me think of roses and sunset and..." he thought for a second... "blood. I love it."

"My name is Olaf, and I like warm hugs." Olaf parroted off his standard greeting, before diving in to hug her again. "I jumped through a big magic swirly thing to come and find my friends who jumped into the big magic swirly thing before me, but they don't seem to be here." He put his hands on his hips, looking around as he finally remembered why he'd come here in the first place. "I wonder where they are... they probably went exploring. This looks like a great place for exploring!" He turned back to Red. "Oo, oo, we should be explorer bestest friends forever! Where shall we explore first?" He grabbed her hand and began to drag her off into the woods, his friends momentarily forgotten once more.

"So, tell me all about yourself. What brings you to the most amazing place I've ever seen in my life?"

[Red Riding Hood]

Roses and sunsets and blood... somehow it was the most poetic thing anybody had ever said to her, and oddly accurate. For all his strange quirks and rambling talk, he was certainly a very complimentary young man. She wondered if he spoke to everybody like this, or if she was just special - probably the former, while it was common for people to treat her differently to everyone else, it was very rarely in a positive way.

Of course then he hugged her again and she rethought her slightly pleased attitude towards him. Especially when he grabbed her hand and started to drag her through the words, going... well she wasn't actually sure where, she couldn't tell if they were supposed to be looking for his friends or just exploring. Either way, she desperately tried to think of an excuse to leave, he was very sweet but it was just a bit too much for her to put up with.

"I came through a portal as well," she said simply, not wanting to give him too much information. "Look, I have to go, I've got to go and meet a friend." she didn't have a friend, unless Will counted, and she still wasn't so sure about that, but it was as good an excuse as any.

[Olaf]

Olaf stopped suddenly, spinning on the spot and almost falling over again. He stared at Red with a thrilled look on his face, his mouth falling open, but not letting go of her hand.

“You have another friend! That is the best thing I’ve ever heard, I am so happy for you, you can never have enough friends! Do you think they would be my friend too?” Olaf was almost bouncing with excitement again. “Can I come with you?”

He looked around. “I don’t know where my friends are, but maybe they’re with your friend too! We could go together and then team up and search and go on adventures and Oh won’t it be wonderful!” He turned and headed off again, pulling Red with him once more.

“Is this the right way?”

[Red Riding Hood]

"Uh...yes." that was... technically true? Did Will count? She didn't want to have any friends but if she had to call them something she supposed the word would do as well as any other, and it would avoid them being upset or anything. "I'm sure they'd be your friend." Will seemed nice enough that he'd probably befriend Olaf, although the ex-snowman's enthusiasm might scare him away, he did seem pretty jumpy.

And then he was inviting himself along on her imaginary errand and trying to drag her behind him as he headed what looked to be deeper into the forest. She sighed, wondering how long she would have to humour him before he got bored or distracted and wandered off. Then she had an idea.

"This is a pretty big place to search for all of our friends," she said slowly "We should probably split up, that way we can cover more ground."

[Olaf]

He shook his head, his eyes closed and his nose slightly in the air. "Uh-uh, no way. I know what happens when people split up on adventures, someone gets hurt, or lost, or kidnapped or..." Olaf whispered the last word, as if simply saying it aloud could make it happen... "killed!"

"Nope, we should stay together and find our way out of these woods. Which way do you think we should go?" He circled a few times, weighing up their options. "Where do you think we are?" The question crossed Olaf's mind properly for the first time. This definitely wasn't Arendelle, or even the woods the below the North Mountain. This was somewhere different - it had to be to have turned Olaf into a person, and for the first time a flicker of worry crossed Olaf's mind. Where were his friends? Were they ok? He turned to Red with a worried expression.

"You don't think there might be monsters in this wood, do you? We definitely shouldn't split up if there could be monsters. I met a snow monster once and he was so rude and mean. But he was made of snow so it wasn't so bad. Other monsters could be worse, don't you think?" He stepped closer to Red, having scared himself slightly, and considered hiding behind her. He missed Elsa and Anna and Kristoff.