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Her father was always attached.
It was something that Nina would always scoff at.
"Don't go," he would say. It was always followed up by some justification, some sort of punchline, some type of joke to cover it up. But it was always there. It worked on her the first few times, but it grew tiring and old.
When she spotted the strange man who would sometimes hang around her when she hung out with Forrest, it was her father who encouraged her to stay away. "I'll tell you why later," he would say.
But he never did explain anything. He would allude to his past in whispered tones she wasn't ever supposed to hear. He would take away frozen books and never explain why her fingers were always cold. Later, he would say, later later later it was ALWAYS later nothing EVER came from his mouth!
Nothing except for cruel jokes and desperate pleads to remember where she lived.
Her mother spoke of a place she used to be at long ago. She had a bit of a wistful smile about it, a remembering of a place she couldn't go back to. That place that she once was at was a place called the Ice Tribe.
It's why her fingers froze over. It's why ice coated things she touched sometimes.
"Why stay here?" She asked her mother.
Her mother only smiled, gaze growing distant. "I don't mind it here. It's been nice here."
She looked at Nina's father. Stupid, stupid father. The one chaining her to a life that's nice, the one that tells her to look away, just look at him.
Nina went up to that strange man the next day and demanded something of him— teaching her. Or else she'd tell her father. She only learned later that the man already knew of her father's watchful eye over him, but what she did give him instead was information on her friend.
Considering the next time they interacted was that strange man saving her and Forrest's life, she decided in that moment that she trusted the man with the information on her friend. And she hounded him. She learned how to sneak. She learned how to pick locks. Mostly from watching him, but sometimes from directly asking.
It was more than her dad ever did for her. This man at least explained himself before telling her off.
One day, her mother told her about her twin. About her disappearing one day, leaving her behind to wait. And wait. Waiting for a master that would never come back. And her mother does not blame her sister, only herself.
Nina wanted to go right after that. Her father must have seen it in her eyes, because he bent down to her level and he begged to her to not leave. Stay here, Nina, there's a life for you here. Safe in a castle and not having to worry about fighting on the nightly streets.
The man, Shura as he eventually introduced himself as, was much more honest with her. Yeah, it was awful out there. But there's a lot of trust to be had in people who had to stick their necks out in order to see each other. You have to rely on yourself, on trickery, to make it.
Nina wanted out of here. Nina wanted to go to the Ice Tribe— the place where her icy hands originated from, the place where her mother was taken from, the place her father never wanted her to go. She didn't care about the danger of the streets, she needed to know.
And so, she bargained. It was one of her first bargains she truly made as a thief. Help me get out of here safely, and I'll help you with making sure my father is never able to find you.
He allowed it. One night, Nina was there. The next, she was gone. Assisted by a man far wiser than she was, she was able to escape out of the castle and past the woods that tangled the path to her destination. Eventually, there was something white. Eventually, the cold finally managed to be not from her fingers, but from the air around her.
She almost celebrated seeing her breath puff. But she wasn't where she needed to be.
Nina kept running. Her pigtails danced in the air behind her. The cold was her guide, and her heart was listening. Snow crunched beneath her boots.
Then, she hit a village. There were houses dotted across a snowy backdrop, and a statue in the middle of a giant lake. Nina couldn't help but gasp, letting her shoes carry her to the edge of the frozen water. She sat down, holding her hand out to the ice.
"Hold there." A voice that sounded eerily familiar, despite the fact that Nina had never heard it before. She glanced over her shoulder to the voice, only withdrawing her hand a little bit. Staring at her, with a sword in hand, was a lady with blue hair.
Her face looked like her mother's.
Nina flipped onto her knees, facing directly at the woman and the forces behind her. "You—! You're my aunt Flora, aren't you?"
Flora blinked in surprise, and the group of people behind her glanced among themselves. The lady still held her sword, but it lowered a little bit. "...Aunt?"
"Right." Nina leaned back, still sitting on her knees. "My mother is Felicia, a general of the Nohrian Army."
Flora winced at what she said. Nina grit her teeth. Ah, she said something wrong. Nina waved a hand in the air. "She told me about having a twin sister! You look like her! That's all."
"Nohrian general..." Flora muttered, though she did lower her sword. "I don't... get her." She stepped forward, leaning in slightly. "...You do have her hair. And you made it through the snowstorm without trouble, much like we can."
... was there a snowstorm?
Nina's visible confusion made Flora laugh, the first smile Nina had seen on this woman's face. "Okay, definitely related. Did..." The smile fell. "Did Felicia send you here?"
"No." Nina huffed. "My dad wants me to stay cooped up around the castle, and my mom thinks things are just fine out there, even though I know there's worse thieves out there. That my dad was one of them once, you know."
"Felicia married a...?" Flora mumbled. She shook her head. "No, that's... anyway. I should take you to my father." Flora put her sword away, and bowed. "Men, back to your stations. This conversation should be private."
Flora reached out a hand for Nina. Nina reached up to take it. Ice spread from her fingertips, and Flora's eyes widened slightly as she pulled the smaller girl up. "Oh, you've been developing ice blood... Is that why my sister told you about us?"
Nina shrugged. "Dunno. Just lead me to my grandfather."
Flora did so.
In that grand house surrounded by ice, on the other side of the icy lake, Nina saw her grandfather. He looked nothing like either of the women Nina had seen related to him. When he invited her over to sit by his side, Nina could've teleported over with how fast she ran.
When he ran a hand through her hair, Nina leaned into it. Her father did something similar, but it felt more friendly when her grandfather did it.
Her grandfather, Kilma, tried to convince her to go back to the castle where she came from. Even despite the worried tone in his voice, Nina refused. She came all the way out here, the living proof that his daughter had made a new life for herself, and she wasn't going to go back easily.
He chuckled and continued combing through her hair. As he did so, his tone got serious, and he asked if what Flora told him was true. About his daughter being a general of the army. When Nina confirmed it, his hand in her hair stopped, and she could feel the tugging as he curled his fingers. He pulled his hand out soon after, instead simply placing his hands in his lap.
And he told Nina of why he was shocked.
Felicia did not leave the Ice Tribe of her own will. She was originally in the castle as a hostage, to make sure the Ice Tribe did not rebel. The previous king wanted to make sure that this Tribe was considered a part of his land, unable to truly spread themselves where they wanted without overstepping and being sent threats via Nohrian Army.
And the current King did not release them. The army still saw them as beneath them, and any visitors usually came out to make sure they weren't inspiring a rebellion.
Nina took the information in. Forrest's kind uncle twisted into something sour in her head. He kept them under control. For what reason? Just to make sure that his land was still his and not who they truly belonged to?
Despite wanting to send her back after that, Nina stuck in her heels and stayed. After a few weeks of trying to send her home, her aunt eventually relented. Her grandfather followed in her footsteps.
Nina learned about how the Ice Tribe functioned. Her thievery skills helped in regards to hiding from any surprise visitors, along with perhaps stealing a few of their belongings before they left.
The more she stayed, the more angry she got. She made some friends in the tribe, and could not help but wonder how the kingdom of Nohr kept such tight control.
How could her mother allow this to keep happening to her tribe of birth?
... She had to figure out something. After being dissuaded from directly stealing from the King, she set her sights on the very people who made it possible- the nobles who bankrolled the King. Hit them where it hurt, where they kept their wealth, and maybe Forrest's greedy uncle would feel it and release her family.
Forrest caught her immediately when she snuck back into the castle. But it wasn't like it was the first time they snuck around doing something they shouldn't. She convinced him, eventually, to keep her return a secret. That she just wanted to know those stuck-up nobles that Forrest always complained about, the ones that Forrest could get information on about how important they were in the politics.
Forrest had to think for only a moment before he leaned in and told her names. And that he wanted to see her again.
Nina promised that she would see him again. And then she left the way she came.
She didn't come back alone. She took a group of disconent Ice Tribe children around her age with her, and they all planned together. Together, they could make Nohrian Nobility pay.
It would take a while. Nina would pick up some other allies along the way. But... at the end of it all... it was her and her thieves' crew. It was something that gave her a purpose.
She didn't care how long it took. As long as she could hit the corrupt nobility where it hurt... she would make sure that it would happen.
It was all for her family of the Ice Tribe.