Story [Frozen] The Snow Queen -- Chapter Eighteen Posted 3/5/14**Story Completed**

LOL, Just keep in mind, Rapunzel and Eugene was only in the movie for three seconds, and you only get a half second side-of-the-face look of Repunzel, and the remaining two and a half seconds you only see the back of her head, but it is them. They are in a very crowded scene, so it's blink and you'll miss it.

Trust me, go see this movie! You will love Idina Menzel rendition of Let it Go. I guarantee you, she's getting a golden globe, an Oscar, plus and Grammy for that song. I really think it's even better than her rendition of Defying Gravity.

 

Chapter 7

A whole day had come and gone and Elsa hadn't heard a word from Anna. Now, she was starting to get concerned. None of the staff had seen her all day. It was now late at night, and everyone was now asleep, everyone except for Elsa; she was on a mission to find her sister.

At first, she thought that they had gone off for some alone time or went to visit with the trolls. Then, a part of her feared that Anna was avoiding her out of fear. Now, she didn't know what to believe; it wasn't like her to vanish without a trace.

She made her way towards the Princess' chamber. At this late hour, Anna should be fast asleep in her bed, but at this point, Elsa didn't care. She would rather wake her up and make sure she was safe. Standing in front of the large wooden doors, she gently tapped on the door and waited to be invited in. No such invitation came.

She quietly pushed the right door open and peeked inside the dark room. Anna's bed remained undisturbed, and her chamber remained lifeless. There was no sign that she had been there the entire day. Now, Elsa's nerves were even more on edge. Her sister's disappearance may not have anything to do with visiting the trolls or being upset with her; she could be in serious trouble.

She rushed back down the main upstairs corridor, and made her way for Kristoff's chamber. She stood before the door, feeling a little awkward about knocking on his door. As uncomfortable as it was, she had to find out if he knew where Anna was. She knocked on his door cautiously. "Kristoff, are you awake?"

When no reply came, she mustered up the strength to open the door and look inside. Just like Anna's room, his room was untouched since the maids had done their work. There was a part of Elsa that felt a tiny bit better; if he was gone too, then they were together, and less likely to be in danger. However, this was not the final place she had to check. From what Anna had told her, Kristoff was known to sneak out to the stalls and sleep in the hay besides his reindeer. He still was not used to being civil, and occasionally missed sleeping outside rather than on a bed.

Elsa made her way downstairs and outside to the royal stable. This was where Sven stayed, along with her's and her sister's horses. She lit up a lantern and entered inside. Her horse, Cyphus was asleep in his stall. Anna's horse, in the next stall over, was also fast asleep. However, Sven was missing from his stall, as well as Kristoff's sled at the far end of the stable.

Elsa knew that they had indeed gone on a trip, but was it to the trolls? Why were they not back yet? Snuffing out the flame in the lantern and putting it away, she made her way back into the castle, now more confused than ever. Deep in thought, she slowly ascended the master staircase to the second level. She was about to make her way back to her quarters when she saw Versa in her nightgown walking around. When she saw Elsa coming up the steps, she met her at the top. "Your Highness, is something wrong?"

"Versa, I'm getting very worried. No one has seen or heard from Anna all day, and both she and Kristoff are missing." Elsa saw a concerned look on her face, but there was another look mixed in her facial expressions that made her think that her handmaiden had more information about their whereabouts than she was letting on. "You know something, don't you?"

The expression on her face quickly turned to panic. "No, Your Highness! I don't know anything."

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "You've never really been that good at lying. Out with it."

She could see a conflict waging inside of Versa. She knew that Anna had forced her to promise not to say anything, and that told her that she was not going to like what she was about to hear. Versa was usually good at keeping a promise, but this was one promise Elsa was going to force her to break. She was her queen, and at this moment, was speaking as such. "Please forgive me, Your Highness! She made me promise not to tell you. Please don't be upset with me!"

"Versa, please tell me where my sister is."

Her handmaiden looked like a volcano. The pressure became so much, the truth exploded out of her as did her words . "She went to the Eastern Mountains."

"The Eastern Mountains!" The news was worst than she imagined. Those mountains were extremely dangerous. What could her little sister be thinking? What could Kristoff be thinking taking her there? "Why would she and Kristoff go there?"

"Please, Your Highness, I tried to talk them out of going! I really did!" she pleaded as if she was on trial for her life.

"Calm down, and tell me what's in the Eastern Mountains."

She fought against her nerves and tried to calm herself down. "Anna is searching for a possible cure for your curse."

That bit of information was like a sword to her heart. It all stemmed from her losing her temper earlier in the day. Once again, she had put her sister in harm's way, and all she was doing was looking out for her well-being. "This is all my fault." She gasped. "Versa, go find the Captain of the Guard and have him report to me in my throne room, immediately!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" she said, and quickly turned and ran off to do as commanded.

Elsa turned around and headed back down to the main level. Her mind was racing with fears of what kind of things might happen on that mountain. What was she thinking going up those mountains? The weather conditions were brutal, and the mountains were highly prone to avalanches. The blizzards on those mountains often dumped several feet of snow per day, especially during this time of the year.

She reached the bottom level, and went straight for the throne room. There she paced around until the Captain finally entered the room. "Your majesty, how might I serve you?"

"Captain, please find the most experienced mountain climber you can find, and take your best men to the Eastern Mountains. I fear my sister might be in trouble there, and please hurry!"

"Right away, Your Majesty!"

* * * *

Grand Pabbie was very restless, that night. None of the other trolls had ever seen him this anxious before. He refused to turn himself into his rock form, which was how they usually slept. Mammie only watched as he stood in front of the small pond. The other trolls were fast asleep, and those who weren't didn't feel like they should disturb him.

After watching him for awhile, Mammie decided that it was time to find out why he was so restless. She hobbled towards him, followed by a couple other trolls who were just as curious as she was about the situation. "What do you see? Is Kristoff in—danger?"

"I sense great danger in the Eastern Mountains. I believe that not only is Kristoff in danger, but the queen, her sister, and everyone in these lands."

She and the two other trolls behind her were both stunned by the sudden turn of events. No one had sensed anything that was out of the ordinary, but none of their senses were honed as well as Grand Pabbie. If he had seen a vision of coming calamity, then you could rest assure that it was going to happen. "What can be done?"

Grand Pabbie turned towards her with a look on his face that told Mammie that he was going to say something that will not settle well with many of them. "I'm afraid there is no choice... I must go to the Eastern Mountains."

She looked at the two other trolls behind her, and they were all just now realizing how serious this was. No troll had ever left home before. Not one had ever left this wooded utopia of theirs; they were content to being secluded from all other life, and rarely took risks of being seen by unwanted prying eyes. To risk this much, there had to be something very wrong in the land.

* * * *

Anna struggled with keeping her eyes open as the journey continued. Daybreak had come, but the sun was nowhere to be seen. Instead, snow was raining down hard over their heads. The temperature had dropped even further, forcing her to put the hood of her shawl up.

The journey was longer than she had anticipated; mostly because the deteriorating weather condition was slowing things down. By now, Elsa would have found out that she and Kristoff were no longer in Arendelle. She only hoped Versa was able to keep this journey a secret, but she had a nagging feeling that Elsa was going to force it out of her sooner rather than later. Perhaps if she returned with good news, her sister would forgive her.

Olaf, who was sitting in the back with the supplies, was quickly getting bored. Both Anna and Kristoff were not talking, and on a long journey like that, silence was not something he enjoyed that much. "So, are we there yet?"

At the reigns of the sled, his eyes narrowed in frustration. "For the tenth time, we'll get there when we get there."

Resting her eyelids, Anna grinned. She tried not to show it, but she got a kick out of how much Olaf tend to annoy him. She knew that, deep down inside, he liked the little snowman, but he wasn't going to show it to anyone.

"Where are we going, anyway? I don't think ever been here before?"

"There's nothing around us but white snow; how can you possibly know where you are or aren't?" he returned.

Anna opened her eyes as she thought about how to answer the inquisitive snowman. Perhaps now that there was no need to keep a secret from anyone, she could answer him truthfully. "We're going to the Eastern Mountains."

Olaf gasped. "The Eastern Mountains! Never heard of them. So what's there?"

Anna's expression on her face changed to a more serious, and solemn look. "A cure—I hope."

"Why? Are you sick?"

"Not me—Elsa," She replied, her mood quickly turning into depression. "She's very sick, and maybe there is a cure somewhere in the Eastern Mountains."

"Ah, it's your wedding gift to her! What an incredible gift!" he replied in awe. "This is going to be the best wedding ever!"

Kristoff shook his head and leaned in towards Anna to whisper. "Somebody's got to set him straight."

Anna grinned. She had purposely not set Olaf straight on wedding traditions for this very reason. She enjoyed seeing Kristoff squirm whenever the little snowman confuses something. For some reason, the mountain man had some kind of quirk when it came to the truth. It was hard for him to hear misinformation and not try to set it straight. She had to step in a few times when Kristoff encountered a young kid in the kingdom, who was too young to know better. It was one of his idiosyncrasies he acquired from living most of his life without human contact. Perhaps the trolls were a stickler for honesty and truth. That was something she still wondered about. "Let him be."

Kristoff sighed, and was going to protest, but his mountain man skills had alerted him of danger. He was focused on his surroundings, and a quick glance brought to his attention the darker clouds up ahead. "Olaf, you better toss up some blankets."

"Why, what's wrong?" Anna asked, sitting up straight.

"We're about to be hit with a giant blizzard."

 

Ooh, Elsa is sending possible helps and Grand Pabbie is also going to the Eastern Mountains. Even if Anna doesn't know it yet LOL reinforcements are on the way. Hope a cure is finally found.

Olaf is always good for a chuckle.

 

Thank you!

And here's a shout out to the movie itself! After nearly two months in theaters, it did nearly the impossible! After two months, and having dropped to third, it nearly soared back to the number one grossing film last week, nearly toppling the Hobbit in it's second week. It is now the second biggest grossing Disney Animation ever, next to The Lion King. I'd dare say, I don't even think Disney was expecting this! It's already at half a billion dollars world wide, and it's still running wild, and it is getting ready to released in a few more countries, which could bring this feature close to one billion before all is said and down. Disney hit the JACKPOT!

 

New Chapter tomorrow. I doubt I'll be so lucky, but I am looking through other forums and such to see if anyone will help me do an image of Versa for me. Don't get any hope up though.

 

Chapter 8

The captain of the guard and a large group of his best men had pushed on through the night and made up a lot of ground thanks to their guide. He was a volunteer from the town’s people, who said that he was an expert mountain climber and hunter. His tracking skills had proven quite invaluable to the progress they’ve already made.

He successfully led them to the site where the princess and her suitor had camped out. They found the fire pit that the falling show had partly hid. He determined where they slept and even knew about how long ago they were last there. The captain could not have been happier about how much he had already proven useful.

“They went that way!” The guide pointed straight ahead.

“Excellent, let’s keep up the pace, men!” the captain shouted.

“Captain, the temperature is dropping and the wind is picking up. I fear that they are heading straight into a blizzard.”

This news was completely unwelcomed, but not totally unexpected. This was the season for severer blizzards in this region. It was for this very reason the queen had sent him and his men to rescue the princess. There was no turning back without her. At least, the storm could possibly slow her down so he and his men could catch up to her. The problem was that the storm was an extreme danger for not just her, but for him and his men as well. “You heard him men; we have no time to lose.”

* * * *

The wind was violent and uncompassionate. Anna was crouching as much as she could, but the wind still continued to pound mercilessly on her. The blanket did only so much to keep her warm. Olaf, in the back, was doing his best not to be blown away. He ducked behind the front seats as low as he could, but even then it was becoming a struggle.

Kristoff had no choice but to endure the stinging of the wind. His face was completely covered, except his eyes, by his hat and a scarf wrapped around his mouth and nose. The wind battered the side of the sled, threatening to push it off course. Poor Sven was giving it everything he had trying to push through the storm.

“The storm is getting worse,” Kristoff’s muffled voice came from behind the scarf. “We have to turn back!”

Hearing what he said was hard enough when he was speaking behind a scarf, and the howling of the wind only made things worse, but she heard enough to know what he was suggesting. “No! We can’t give up now! Elsa’s life depends on it!”

“You can’t save your sister if you’re dead!”

“I, for one, am definitely for turning back,” Olaf commented. His carrot nose started to blow away, but managed to catch it and stick it back in its proper place.
Anna didn’t want to turn back; there was a part of her that would rather die than turn back. Elsa meant the world to her, and this was the only way to save her. To give up now, would be like giving up on her sister; it just wasn’t something she could get herself to do. At the same time, the last thing she wanted was to bring Kristoff into a perilous situation with her.

She was getting ready to respond when the two of them noticed the wind beginning to die down, and the falling snow slowed down. Visibility increased slightly as if the storm was taking a break from its constant pounding on them. Kristoff looked all around, puzzled by the sudden change. To his left, a giant mountain, reaching as high as their eyes could see, towered over them. “That’s strange. Perhaps the mountain is shielding us from the wind?”

Anna shrugged, as she stared up at the mountain. “Wow, that’s a very tall mountain! It’s very beautiful, too, with all the snow covering it!”

He Looked up at the mountain top and had to admit that it was a very beautiful sight. It was, at least, until he noticed a crack in the snow. Soon, the sound of thunder echoed from the top of the mountain as the snow on the entire side of the mountain began to slide down. It was an avalanche!

“Not good! RUN SVEN!” He shouted.

The Reindeer looked up to see what was coming down the mountain, and immediately pushed himself as hard as he could to pull the sled out of the path of the tumbling snow. The sudden jerk of the sled forced Anna to grab hold of Kristoff’s arm. She immediately felt the intensity in his arm and the rest of his body. That told her everything she needed to know about the situation.

“Here, take the reins!” Kristoff inadvertently shoved the leather straps into her chest. She grasped at the reins as he spun around in his seat and leaned over to scavenge through the supplies. It proved to be more challenging with Olaf always getting in the way. “Olaf, move it!”

Olaf fought against the G-forces just to stay in the sled, which became much harder when Kristoff had to shove him out of the way. From amongst the supplies, he finally found what he was looking for: a rope and his pickax. Turning back around, he threw the rope around his shoulder and put the pickax on his lap. He took the reins back from Anna, who was more than glad to give them back to him.

Anna looked up, and the amount of snow rolling down the mountain had nearly doubled as it raced down the mountain at top speed. She found herself grasping at her chest; she had to remind herself to breath or else the avalanche was the last thing she was going to have to worry about. “Hurry Sven!”

The thundering roar echoed louder and louder, as mountain of snow sped down the mountain at top speed. Anna’s arms were shaking as she again grasped at his arm. “Uh, Kristoff...”

The wind started to pick up again, and this time, Olaf could not fight it any longer. The wind picked the little snowman up, right out of the sled, and separated him into three segmented snowballs. “Uh oh, I think I’m flying away!”

“Olaf!” Anna squealed, momentarily fearing for his safety. It then dawned on her, that no matter how often the wind blew him away, he always managed to come back together. As she had tried to catch him, the map was ripped from her person. She didn’t even have the chance to make a grab for it before it was carried away. “The map!”

Kristoff didn’t notice Olaf’s untimely departure or the loosing of the map; his focus, right now, was solely on surviving. He was franticly looking for anything that could increase their odds. Up ahead, there was possibly something might fit the bill, but he was quickly losing confidence that they were going to be able to make it there before they were overrun. Even if they did, there was no way Sven would survive, not when he was busy pulling Anna, himself, and all the supplies. There was only one way to give Sven a fighting chance to survive.

“Sven, no matter what happens, just RUN!” He shouted as he stood up and raised his pickax.

Anna realized what he was about to do, and quickly became alarmed. “What are you doing?”

“I’m saving his life!” He replied. He brought the ax down upon the ropes that had Sven harnessed to the sled, severing it in one swing. The sled instantly slowed to a crawl as Sven picked up lightning speed. It took only a few seconds for him to disappear in the white haze.

Kristoff turned to Anna, and taking her by the arm, he pulled her up onto her feet. “Anna, JUMP!”

They jumped out together, holding hands. They landed in the snow as the sled came to a complete stop. Before she knew what was happening, he was pulling her along behind him, running as fast as they could. She had no idea why they had to abandon the sled, because there was no way they were going to outrun the avalanche on foot. Within seconds, the chill of the preceding mounds of snow hit them, and a few seconds after that... the avalanche came crashing down on the trail.

* * * *

The storm had slowed them down tremendously, but the captain would not allow it to stop them. His men pushed on with the same determination as he did. They all loved the princess and would do anything to bring her home safely, even if it meant marching through several feet of snow in a blinding blizzard.

Despite the falling snow covering the tracks that they were following, their guide was still able to tell which direction she and her suitor had gone. He led them down a path which followed one of the tallest points of the mountains. If this was the way the princess had come, there was no other direction for them to go but straight. This gave the captain some confidence that they were still making progress through the storm.

The storm appeared to be in its final leg, as the winds had drastically died down and the snow had slowed to a flurry. The captain had assumed that this favorable turn of events would allow them to pick up the pace again, but instead the guide raised up a hand to bring the party to a halt. “Find something?” He asked the guide.

“We need to tread carefully. An avalanche had recently swept over this trail.”

“The sound of thunder we heard; that was an avalanche?”

The guide didn’t need to answer; his eyes were all the confirmation he needed. That unspoken confirmation brought with it a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. What if the princess had been caught in the avalanche? Were they too late?

“Captain, there’s no telling how much snow has fallen, or how compact it may be. I suggest that no more than five of us go by foot and scout the area before we risk riding the horses through this.”

“Agreed,” The captain used his right hand to motion for three of his men to come with them.

The Guide ventured first and dared to take the first few steps forward. Instantly the snow gave way under his weight, and he sunk into the snow up to his ankles. Fortunately, that was as deep as he would sink as it seemed to do fairly well holding his weight. The captain and his men soon joined him and spread out to test as much of the path as they could.

They carefully explored the area as they tested the snow piles for any soft spots. All the captain could do, at that point, was pray that the Princess had not been caught in this mess. That hope, was severely put to the test when he heard one of his men call out to him. “Captain! I found something!”

He rushed towards the guard who had called for his attention, forgetting about his surroundings. When he got there, his worst fears were being realized. His guard had found a black, wooden blank with golden details; there was no doubt that it came from the sled.

“I also found this!” He said, holding up a snow covered green hooded shawl. It belonged to the Princess.

His heart sank, as he didn’t need the help of the guide to translate what this evidence was saying. As if he really needed a final confirmation, he noticed a sheet of paper being carried by the breeze. He reached up and grabbed as it floated near him. He unfolded it to see a full-colored map. There were two trails labeled on the map, and one of them would have taken the princess this very direction.

He looked up at his men, who were all now coming to the same conclusion. Their heads dropped as the mood of the search party had sunk into depression. They sole mission was to come to the rescue of the princess and bring her back safely; it was a task now mired in failure.

 

Ooh, jop! Totally & extreme edge of seatness. They really are in a tight. And they haven't even found the cure yet.

 

Thank you! Today I was on such a role, that I might have another chapter ready tomorrow. I am on a huge roll right now. This story is just pouring out of me right now.

 

And thank you for reading. I can't believe the awesome reception I'm getting for this story from you guys, and the readers from FF.net and Archive of Our own. You guys are all awesome!

 

I'm telling you... Frozen is HUGE on the blogs! It's no wonder it's back at number one in the box office. This is probably going to go down as the best Disney film ever in the eyes of a lot of people. It's just amazing how much people love it.

Oh, and for this chapter, I would go get a box of tissues, there is a chance you may need it.


Chapter 9

The journey home for the captain was not the joyous occasion that he had hoped for. In fact, he was dreading it. He had the unpleasant duty of giving the queen the bad news about her sister. He had the entire journey to come up with the easiest way to pass on the news, but no matter what he came up with, nothing would dull the news that he had to present. There was just no easy way to tell anyone that their sister was killed in an avalanche.

They were now back in Arendelle and nearing the gates of the castle. The shroud of gloom was thick amongst him and his men. Many of the villagers had no idea what they had been up to, and it was probably for the best. The atmosphere of this town was going to go from festive to mournful in a matter of hours. These people were excited about the wedding of Princess Anna, but now... there was not going to be a wedding. Now, they would have to endure another heart breaking funeral, probably more sorrowful than the one they had for the former King and Queen.

He sent the rest of his men away to go mourn in the best way they saw fit; he was going to deliver the news himself. His preparing himself to address the queen personally, but the Queen’s handmaiden, Versa, had encountered him first when he entered the castle. She, too, was not going to like this what he had to say. She was more than just a plain handmaiden to the queen and princess; she was like part of the family. He wasn’t surprised in the least that she would want to know before the queen, and perhaps that was for the best. Perhaps it was better for the Queen to know the truth from someone she was close to.

“Captain, where’s...” She was looking all around him, wondering why she wasn’t following him into the castle. Her eyes were then drawn to the wooden plank, the green Shawl, and the map in his hands. He presented them to here with a mournful shake of his head. She covered her mouth with her hands, trying to hide the gasp. “No!”

Her eyes instantly watered, which quickly began to stream down her rosy cheeks. She gently took the shawl and held it in reverence. Her jaw began to quiver, as it took every ounce of strength she had not to break down and weep before the captain. “Oh Anna,” She held the shawl up to her face and rubbed her gently across the face, as if trying feel her presence one last time. Instead, it only made her want to break out crying even more.

Realizing that the captain was watching, she regained her composure and accepted the rest of the items in his arms. “I will inform the queen.”

The captain nodded, daring not to open his mouth out of fear that his voice might crack and openly display his broken heart. He turned around and excused himself to go somewhere he could be free to show his emotions without anyone seeing.

* * * *

Versa could not get herself to report the news immediately to the Queen. She needed some time to herself to mourn and get her emotions in control before she could even think about telling her the news. When she was able to accomplish that, she set forth to the main Throne Room where the queen waited anxiously for her sister’s return. As she approached the twin doors, she held the wooden plank, Anna’s shawl, and the map in her arms. Her nerves were on end, as she realized that she was about to break Elsa’s heart. That meant, she was going to lose control of her powers. She had to be very careful and be ready to run out of the room upon first sign of icing. For the sake of the people of Arendelle, Versa prayed that the Queen could control the powers enough so not to cover the town with another blizzard.

She slowly and cautiously opened the left side door and peered into the room. Elsa was sitting on her throne, looking to the right. Her mind was busy elsewhere. Versa ventured inside the throne room and slowly stepped towards the throne. The Queen was so distracted by her thoughts, that she didn’t notice her in the room until she was half way to the throne.

When she finally saw her, she jumped to her feet, hoping to hear that her sister had been found and was safely back in Arendelle. With no more time to prepare for what was to come, she commenced telling her the WHOLE story. The Queen’s look of hope quickly turned to shock. The walls and floor started freezing and ice spears started sticking out of the walls and all around the queen as she crossed her arms across her chest and gasped for air.

Versa squealed, and ran as fast as she could out of the room as the ice was quickly overtaking the room. Elsa fell to her knees; her tears already dropping to the icy layers on the floor. Finally, her emotions exploded, which only caused the icicles and ice spears to grow in speed and to unnatural sizes and thicknesses. She collapsed to her knees, cupped her face in her two hand, and leaned forward until the back of her hands were nearly touching the ground. From behind her hands, the sounds of her weeping could not be masked.

* * * *

The people of Arendelle were confused when the sun was suddenly hidden behind gloomy, grey clouds that covered all of the town and the castle. What was once a pleasant September afternoon quickly became a howling blizzard. Everyone caught outside in the town, quickly ran as fast as they could to their homes to take shelter. The winds came suddenly blowing through the streets, bringing with it a blanket of heavy snow.

Just as the storm came upon them, there had been rumors that Princess Anna was killed in the Eastern Mountains by an avalanche. If there was any doubt to those rumors, they were immediately laid to rest as this storm was clearly no natural phenomenon. There could be no doubt that this storm was a result of the Queen in a severe state of emotional agony. Those who have heard these rumors took time to embrace their families and shed tears together. At the same time, though, the mourning could not last long when the threat of being buried in snow was currently and literately over their heads. If the Queen did not recover from this lost sooner than any normal human being usually did under these circumstances, then everyone in town would either freeze or starve to death.

* * * *

When Anna opened her eyes, she was looking up at a large stone boulder hanging over her. At first, her mind was trying to catch up on what had just happened. It took her a few seconds of staring up at the boulder and watching her breath rise upward, before she remembered that they had been overtaken by an avalanche. The last thing her mind could not grasp was... how did they survive?

“Anna, you alright?” Kristoff said, sitting up beside her.

“Oh yeah, I’m just dandy!” She grunted as she forced herself to sit up and see what was going on.

The two of them were sitting under a large rock, that apparently was sticking out from the base of the mountain. They now found themselves in a small snow cave with very little moving room, and very little light, other than a small lantern that Kristoff had somehow manage to have on him. She wasn’t even sure how he had managed to get the miniature lantern from the sled before abandoning it, but she was sure glad that he had.

“We are extremely lucky to be alive right now,” he said. “I pulled you under this rock, hoping that it was deeply entrenched enough into the mountain not to collapse on top of us, and to redirect the snow around us. It was.”

“Yay, us,” She said half sarcastically. She was still trying to break out of her state of shock after watching her life flash before her eyes. “How do we get out of here, now?”

He looked away. He had no good answer to give her. The chances of surviving were not the best in the world; actually, their chances were slim to none. One wrong move and the snow could bury them alive. With no one knowing they were down here, things could not look grimmer. He wasn’t about to tell her that, though.

When he gave her no answer, she suspected that he was afraid to tell her the truth. She was not ready to admit defeat so easily. In the limited space she had, she spun herself around until she was able to get onto her hands and knees, and then crawled to the far snow wall, which formed immediately at the edge of the large boulder. She started to dig diagonally upward through the snow.

“Whoa there, Princess! Don’t do that!” he said, pulling her back as gently as he could.

“What? We need to get out of here, don’t we?”

“We don’t know how much snow is on top of us,” Kristoff explained. “If there’s a lot of it, then you may cause it to come crashing in on us.”

“Then how do we get out here? We can’t stay here forever! We got to get out of here and help Elsa!” Anna started with her rapid babbling; the clearest sign that fear and hopelessness was trying to take hold of her.

“Calm down!” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “I really need you to stay calm. We’ve got very little air down here, and panicking will only use it up all the more quickly.”

He forced her to stare into his eyes, in an attempt to pass on some of his calm demeanor through his eyes. Looking into his eyes did have a calming effect, and her nerves started to slowly subside. Unfortunately, they subsided a little too much, and she started to sink into depression. “This is my fault. I should have listened to you from the start.”

“Hey, none of that now, either,” he replied. “We’re going to find a way out of here, and we’re going to find a cure for your sister.”

Anna managed a smile. She knew how often her recklessness had gotten them in tight situations, but never once did he blame her or hold it over her head. He had always tried to bend over backwards to make her happy, no matter how uncomfortable it made him. He never once complained about it, either. He may not be prince, but she was very lucky to be marrying a man like him.

 

Ooh, what a turn things have taken, in Erendel and with Anna and Kristoff. They really do need to get out of there.

 

Chapter 10

Elsa wondered down the hall in a daze. Her heart felt like it had been shattered into a million pieces; her grief felt like and endless pit that she just could not climb out of. Maybe it was the fact that she had been so excited to see her little sister get married. Maybe because it was so close from happening, that this hurt all the more. She knew a part of it was because she had kept Anna at arm’s length for so long, and they were just starting to make up for that.

Now, that opportunity had been taken from her. Fate had taken everything from her that she loved: her parents... her sister... everything. It had taken everything, and left her a curse that made her a freak. Perhaps the Duke of Weaselton was right, perhaps she was a monster. If she was, she had lost the only thing that had made her feel... normal.

She was wondering through the castle, not quite sure where her body was taking her. She didn’t have the will to guess where she would end up. Her soul was directing her path, merely just bringing the rest of her along for the ride. She entered a chamber, not quite sure exactly which one it was. She looked up and she found herself in the last place she wanted be at that moment. Standing in the center of the room was the ice sculpture of Anna.

Just seeing the icy face of Anna again, brought a new wave of emotions over her. Breathing heavily, she fought against that rising anger that did not want to remain bottled up. Her right hand balled into fist that clenched so tightly, that it shook violently. The ground beneath her feet started icing up, and the ice spread rapidly until it reached the walls. It then climbed up them when it ran out of floor space. Snowflakes swirled around her clenched fist, and it continued to pick up speed and intensity.

She clenched her eyes shut tightly, and her breathing got heavier to the point of turning into a snarl. When her eyes opened again, they were glowing. The last strain of her light blond hair disappeared, leaving all of her hair white as the snow she manipulated. The rage exploded out of her; she screamed as she violently swung her clenched fist across and over her head.

A deafening rumble came from the ice sculpture as a giant crack formed at the waist. The top half of the sculpture started to tip forward and gravity did her dirty work. It crashed onto the ground, and the arms and the head broke off. The raging blizzard inside of the magical ice sculpture was unleashed, filling the room with a violent blizzard storm for about thirty seconds. When the storm ended, the sculpture was nothing more than a shattered ice sculpture, which was already in progress of melting.

The glow in her eyes subsided, and the sudden realization, of what she had just done, began to take hold. The ice head of Anna lay on the ground, seemingly looking up at her as it melted before her eyes. The sight reawakened the tears in her eyes. They streamed down her face as she turned and ran. She ran by several workers, not even caring what they may think or say. She raced through the castle to her private chambers. Slamming the door shut behind her, she leaped onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow to suppress the sounds of her sobs.

As she scooted on her bed, she felt strange objects on her bed. Risking to look up from her pillows with her tear stained face, she saw the items that were brought back by the captain of the guard. The items were gently placed on her bed. There was the wooden plank from Kristoff’s ice sled and Anna’s green hooded shawl, which was neatly folded. On top of the shawl, was a piece of paper... the map that Anna had used and Versa had told her about.
She opened the sheet and looked at, letting out a sniffle in the process. Indeed, this map did lead her to the part of the Eastern Mountains that were very prone to avalanches. “Why Anna? Why?”

There was a nervous and gentle knock on her door. “Your Highness?” Versa’s soft and reluctant voice came from the other side of the door.

Elsa quickly wiped the tears from her face. “What is it, Versa?”

“I need to speak to you... it’s kind of urgent.”

“You may enter,” Elsa said, though she found it ironic. Versa obviously was the one who laid this stuff on her bed in the first place.

The massive door opened and she nervously, and cautiously, entered the room as if her life was in jeopardy for merely coming before her presence. “We’ve kinda—sorta—have a slight problem.”

“What problem?”

“Arendelle is kind of being buried alive under a massive blizzard.”

Elsa knew what she was referring to; her broken heart was unleashing another out-of-control storm over the kingdom. She had been so wrapped up in her mourning, that she forgot that there was going to be a huge negative effect on the people of Arendelle. Even now that she knew, she couldn’t just stop mourning on a blink of a dime. Her sister had just died; there was no easy cure for that kind of a broken heart. “I’m so sorry; I can’t help it! I’m heartbroken,” her voice cracked, as she fought off the urge to break down in front of her handmaiden.

“I understand, Your Highness,” was all that Versa could say seeing the suffering that was going on inside of her. She dreaded this very moment since having learned of the incident. How could anyone expect someone to recover immediately after receiving news like this? There was nothing she could say or do to change anything. This was the queen’s curse to bare.

Elsa’s emotions started to show as she shook her head. “Why is this happening to me? Why do I have to be such a monster? Why can’t I just be... normal?”

As she said those words, she looked at the folded map in her hands. Anna had died trying to find a cure for her curse. She was so certain about what she would find that she sacrificed her life to attempt to go this location on the map. Their father sounded fairly optimistic in the pages, that Versa showed her, that there was a cure out there. Maybe she didn’t have to be the monster that she was destined to be. Her people were suffering because of her heartache; just maybe if she could rid herself of these powers, they would no longer have to suffer, and she could spend her time in mourning.

“Your Highness?” Versa looked at her inquisitively.

“Prepare my horse; I’m going on a journey.”

Versa’s eyes could not display the horror any more clearly than they did that moment. “Please, Your Highness, we can’t afford to lose you too!”

“It is for the sake of my people, that I have no choice BUT to go. Besides, I’m the snow queen; the snow doesn’t bother me.”

* * * *

Being stuck underneath snow, there was no telling how long they’ve been there. All Kristoff knew was that it had already been too long. He was using his pickax to dig a tunnel through the snow, and he was going as fast as he could. There was no telling how long it would take before they would suffocate to death, and he didn’t really care to find out either.

Occasionally, he would look back and check up on Anna. There was nothing she could do but to sit there, hug her knees, and watch him. He tried to push himself as hard as he could; he did not want her to see how tired that he was getting. To help, he started humming a tune that he tended to sing while out ice harvesting with other men. Humming the tune, helped him find his strength, as he matched the tune to the hacking of the ice.

The little tune did not go unnoticed by Anna. “That’s a lovely melody.”

He looked back towards her with an embarrassed grin on his face. “Oh, that? That’s just a little song that we ice harvesters enjoy singing while working.”

“Really? What kind of songs do you men sing?”

Kristoff sighed, not wanting to divulge everything they sung about, out of sensitivity for Anna’s sister, but there, but Anna was going to find out the truth someday. “Well, we sing songs about ice, and sometimes about the legend of the Ice Witch.” Not wanting to see any look of distress or hurt on her face, he quickly explained. “It has nothing to do with your sister, please believe me! The stories and songs of the Ice Witch have been passed down from generation to generation. I’ve learned a few of the songs when I was just a little boy learning how to Ice Harvest. Funny, my family never really cared for the songs all that much. I guess I now know why.”

At first, Anna’s face remained expressionless. He couldn’t tell if she was offended by just the thought the songs of the Ice Witch could be a reference about her sister. He had avoided telling her telling about these songs and stories up to this point, because he feared that possible confusion. Now that they were going to be married, if they survived this, they knew each other well enough to know that he cared for her sister deeply. The queen would be his family, and he loved his family and would do anything to protect them.

After a few seconds of silence, she finally spoke. “Sing one for me.”

“What here? Now?” Kristoff stuttered, followed by a timely cough. “I don’t even have my lute with me.”

“That’s okay,” She smiled. “You were doing pretty well the way you were going with your ax.”

There was no getting out of it. She was not going to let him get away with not singing her one of his ice harvesting songs. “Err—ok, I suppose I can do one for you.” He turned back towards the tunnel and commenced digging through the snow to pick up the beat.

Snow thicker than her blood and ice colder than her stare
Her frosty grip shows no mercy and leaves men in despair
Her heart of ice will chill a man’s soul
Her skin as white, as white as the snow
Fear her reign
Respect her throne
And stay clear of the icy witch

Beautiful as the morning sun, and intense as the midnight moon
Her powers are such that can make the strong man swoon
Her eyes glows with unruly hate
Her smile will lure you as her bait
Fear her reign
Respect her throne
Beware the icy witch

He looked back to see Anna’s reaction. It was probably a very poor song to choose from; it would only remind her of what was happening to her sister. The look on her face clearly showed her being stunned. After an awkward moment of silence, she finally replied. “That was... nice. It was kinda creepy, though.”

He shrugged. “Hey, ice harvesting is a very dangerous occupation, and the men who do it are very strong, rigid, and abrasive. We just don’t sing about fluff.”

Anna grinned. “For someone who doesn’t like to sing about fluff, you’re fluffier than a big bunny rabbit.”

“Wait...what? I resent that!” He replied, slightly miffed. “I’m just as manly as the other ice harvesters.”

She chuckled at how cute he was when he was quickly trying to defend his manliness. The way his nose bulged when he was frustrated was just adorable. “Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to question your manhood.”

“Apology accepted,” he replied with a nod of his head. He turned back around to continue working on his tunnel. He then noticed something sticking out of the snow in front of him. “I found something!”

“You did? What is it?” She asked excitedly, trying to crawl over to him to see for herself. With so little crawling space, it was very difficult, especially when he was tugging at whatever he found with as much strength as he had.

The item broke free from the snow so suddenly, his elbows shot behind him, and nearly clobbered her in the nose. Luckily, she managed to pull away to avoid it. She returned to where she was sitting as Kristoff was crawling back out of the tunnel. When he was out and sat up, he held up a familiar looking black wooden board. It was part of his sled.

Seeing it in his hand, she grimaced in embarrassment. She had once again led them on a trip that cost him his sled, something he valued more than anything. Growing up, the sled was the only thing he owned. As a boy, it was his key into manhood. He loved his little boy’s sled. He got it from his birth parents, and it was the only thing he remembered about them.

No one knew what happened to his parents, and if Kristoff knew anything, he refused to talk about it. All Anna knew, from the stories he told her, that he found the Ice Harvesters as a young lad. They seemed to tolerate his and Sven’s presence. He then found the trolls, who took him in and raised him. Even at that time, he still hung around the ice harvesters because he grew up loving the work. When he was old enough, he worked hard to be able to afford his first sled. He was so proud of what he accomplished and to own his first personal possession, he cherished it to no end. He was so fond of it, that he was early on each and every payment he had to make on it.

Sadly, he had just made the last payment on it when he met Anna, and on their journey, the sled fell off a cliff and exploded. As a result, Anna and her sister replaced that sled with this new and latest modal of ice sleds. He cherished that sled just much, if not more, because it came from her. Now, he had lost another sled helping her out. “I’m so sorry about your sled.”

He looked calm and collected as he stared at the board. He showed no emotions at all, which greatly surprised her. “It’s okay... it’s just a sled.” He stared at it for a few more seconds, before his emotions finally showed themselves. He let out a sigh and a heavy moan. “But I loved that sled.”

Anna couldn’t help it; she covered her mouth to try to hide the chuckling that broke forth from her. Once she managed to control it, she lowered her hands, to display a giant grin on her face. “BIG... fluffy... bunny.”

He looked at her dryly with a raised eyebrow. It was his way of saying that he was feeling insulted, but instead, it nearly caused Anna to burst out laughing. She was managing to keep it to merely snickering, but it took every ounce of her not to explode in a laughing fit. The look on his face was priceless! In a slight huff, he tossed the wood aside and crawled back through the tunnel to continue, hopefully, working towards freedom.

 

Wow, I wasn't expecting Elsa to tear off on a quest too! But the Anna/Kristoff scene -- big, fluffy rabbit indeed. 50 plus years from now she'll probably still tease him with that. She's the only one who is permitted.

 

I found someone who was more than excited to do a pencil sketch of a scene from this story, and they say it should be done tomorrow. The scene is off Chapter 2, at the pre wedding ball, when Anna is coming down stairs and in her ball gown and Kristoff is stunned by how beautiful is. When it's done, I'll see if there is a way I can show you all the picture, which will be in my Tumblr blog, where I am also posting the story.

 

This is not the image I promised, but I made this quick funny spoof image, and if you've seen the movie, you'll get it.

http://ncalpaca.tumblr.com/image/73280465883

 

Sorry it took awhile to get this chapter up. Been fighting the flu this week.


Chapter 11

Elsa rode Cyphus with great urgency. When she rode out of the stables, she could hardly believe how much snow had accumulated so quickly. It was a repeat of two years ago, something she never thought would happen again. She had learned to control her powers so something like this would never happen again, but it appeared that she had never gained control of the curse, itself.

It was rough, at first, getting Cyphus to ride through the thick snow, but as soon as they were away from the kingdom, the snow levels diminished, and the intensity of the storm dwindled to a gentle snow fall. Once they made it that far, he stopped resisting the journey. As it turned out; the horse was not too fond of the snow.

Keeping up a fast pace, she wanted to get to the final destination as soon as possible. She had no idea what she would find, once there. Would she find another family of trolls there or something else entirely? Something told her that whatever it was, she would know she found it when she saw it.

She figured that she could save time by taking a more direct rout, through the forest. She could avoid some of the most treacherous parts of the journey by doing so, including the path where the avalanche had taken Anna’s life. She refused to follow that rout, out of fear of what she might stumble upon. Besides, it was a lot easier to cut through the forest with a horse than it was for a sled. There was no doubt in Elsa’s mind that Kristoff told Anna that when she probably insisted on taking a more direct rout. The forest was just too thick for sleds.

After awhile galloping through the forest, Elsa knew she had to give Cyphus a break. The realization of just how hard she’d been pushing him came as the weather started taking a turn for the worse. The wind picked up again and the falling snow became as thick as a white blanket. She pulled on the reigns and Cyphus was more than happy to take a breather.

She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the wind and the snow that it threw in her face. She had no idea if this storm was a result of her emotions or if it was a natural storm, but either way... it was impeding on her most urgent mission. Taking a deep breath, she fought with the emotions raging inside of her. She closed her eyes to keep out all visuals from distracting. With her heart so broken, it took A LOT of concentration to be able to control her powers. “Come on, girl. Conceal it... don’t feel it... don’t let it show.”

When her eyes opened, she temporarily had the spark of confidence in her eyes. She managed to hold it long enough to raise her right hand and swirl it around two full rotations. The wind immediately obeyed her and dwindled down to a gentle breeze, and the snow fall became nothing more than a flurry. The storm clouds thinned out just a bit, but it remained steadfast and unmoving. It was not a complete success, but it was enough where she could see where she was going and could continue her journey.

Cyphus became frantic, and nearly bucked her off his back. She pulled in the reigns to try to steady him. “Whoa, boy! What’s wrong?”

Her answer was quickly answered when the horse turned sideways, as to show her what had him on edge. Five white and grey wolves were standing there growling, preparing for an attack. And THAT was probably the downside to taking the shortcut through the forest. Their fangs were dripping with their drool, a clear sign that they were starving, which did not bode well for them.
Not in the mood for this delay, she simply snapped her fingers. The snow behind her instantly began to rise and morph into shape, which quickly drew the attention of the wolves. The snow began to take shape of a familiar snow beast, claws and fangs made of icicles. It was the same snow beast she made two years ago to try to get Anna out of her ice castle. For some strange reason, she had given him the name of Marshmallow.

The snow beast walked forward and put himself in between them and the wolves. He looked down at the five wolves who were stunned by the sudden turn of events. He took a deep breath and unleashed an ear piercing, nerve shattering roar down at the pack of predators, which quickly turned and ran for the lives amongst sounds of whimpers and cries. With the danger now extinct, Marshmallow was more than content to disintegrate back into the snowy ground. With everything calm once again, Elsa and Cyphus was able to commence on their journey.

* * * *

“Anna, wake up!”

Anna’s eyes fluttered open from being shaken. Her eyes opened to a frantic Kristoff standing over her. She let out a groggy moan, wondering why he was so panicked. “What? I’m just resting my eyes a little.”

“No! Stay with me, Anna! Don’t fall asleep on me, do you hear me?” he said, shaking her again until her eyes opened again.

“Why? We’ve been down here for hours! What’s wrong with a small nap? Just one small...”

“You must stay awake!” he shook her again as she was again starting to succumb to urge to sleep. “If you fall asleep, you may not wake up again!”

They both were suffering from oxygen deprivation, but Anna seemed ready to surrender to it faster. She had no idea the danger that they were now facing with a lack of fresh air to breath. If they fell asleep down there, buried under the snow, then they would end up dying in their sleep. In a situation like this, sleep was the enemy.

Anna sighed as she forced herself to sit up. She wasn’t totally sure why it was important to stay awake, and she definitely wasn’t sure how long she had the strength to do so. If it concerned him that greatly, then she was willing to try her best to fight against the fatigue that was starting to weigh heavy on her.

“Don’t be such a grouch!”

Both Anna and Kristoff were taken back by a new voice joining them in their little snow caved. They peered over to Anna’s right to see Olaf lying comfortably on his back, with his wooden hands serving as a pillow for the back of his oddly shaped snowball head. “Olaf!” Their shocked expressions came simultaneously.

“Man, you two were hard to find,” the snowman said as he sat up. “Remind me never to play hide and seek with you two. I just love this cozy little cave you made! For some reason it feels like home. Let’s stay the night!”

“How did you get in here?” Kristoff asked.

“Hello, I’m made of snow... and we’re completely surrounded by it. Getting through snow is not a problem for someone like me,” he responded, pointing to a tunnel that went around the left side of giant boulder. Olaf had to have started from near the base of the mountain. The tunnel was about the size of Olaf’s waist, which was the biggest snow ball of the little snowman. Down at the end, of the tunnel was Sven’s snout, sticking down from a hole that appeared to have been dug out by his antlers.

“Sven! He’s alive!” Kristoff said excitedly. He had feared the worst for his reindeer. He was so glad to see that he was able to run to safety after being set free from the sled.

“Anna, crawl through the hole towards Sven. Grab his antlers, and he should be able to pull you out.”

Anna nodded and rolled over onto her hands and knees. Before commencing her crawl, she couldn’t help but notice how narrow the tunnel was. She watched as Olaf was already sliding through the tunnel almost like a penguin. He had no problems traveling through this tunnel he made. She knew she was petite enough to make it through, but Kristoff...”

She looked back at him with a look of concern clearly depicting her doubt. He knew what was concerning her. “Don’t worry about me, I’m going to ax my way through,” he replied, holding up his pickax.

Feeling better, she went ahead and crawled through the narrow tunnel. She could not even come close to the speed Olaf moved through it. It was less than half way through the tunnel when she discovered something about herself: she wasn’t too fond of tight spaces. She nearly hated it almost as much as closed doors. “You can do it Anna. Just keep moving. Just keep moving. Just keep moving.”

She kept her eyes towards Sven’s snout; she was afraid if she stopped, the anxiety that she was feeling would explode out of her. There were times where it felt like the tunnel was get longer instead of shorter. Finally she made it to the end, and having smelt her arriving, the reindeer titled his head and stuck his right antler into the snow.

She reluctantly grabbed hold of the antler, not quite sure how to grab it in ordered to be pulled out of the snow. She was also concerned about holding it wrong, and hurting him. The reindeer pulled her up with such force, it felt like she was launched out of the hole. It was as if she weighed no more than a single goose feather.

Now out from her captivity, her fatigue was slowly washing away. The chill in the air was a surprising welcome; the weather had died down to a steady flurry. The fresh air was so intoxicating, that she just stood there for a moment to take it in.

Kristoff, relieved to see her free, he went to work hacking at the snow in an attempt to enlarge the tunnel. With a newfound determination and confidence that he was going to survive this ordeal, he pressed on has hard as he could. The fatigue from a lack of oxygen was still threatening to overtake him; however the new tunnel that led to a hole in the snow did bring with it a little relief. That gave him the additional strength he needed to keep moving forward.

Perhaps he became too overly excited, and that, in turn, caused him to be reckless. As his ax chipped away at the snow walls, the snow over him began to shift. “Oh no.” The snow tunnel collapsed on top of him, burying him in an untold amount of snow.

“Kristoff!” Anna shouted, as she watched the snow collapse from on top. The hole, his only means of escape, was now gone.

Sven shared the same urgency as she did. He knew full well what had just happened, and what it could mean for his best human friend. He franticly started using his antlers to dig through the snow. Olaf quickly joined in the dig. Anna had fallen into shock, and could only watch them dig franticly. In one moment, everything looked like it would be alright, and in the next... she was overcome with grief that she might have just seen the man, whom she loved, perish. It all happened so fast, she was having troubles processing it.

Sven and Olaf were digging as fast as they could through the now loosened snow. His large antlers pierced deeply into the snow and when he pulled up on his neck, a large amount of snow was flung up into the sky and disintegrated as it fell back to the ground. He refused to give up, as determination to save his friend fueled each and every dig.

Anna had almost all but given up on seeing him alive, after a minute going by without any luck of finding him. Sven continued to keep up his strenuous pace until on one dig, he kept his antler in the snow. The expression on the reindeer’s face quickly grabbed Anna’s attention, and once again, hope was allowed to renter.

The reindeer struggled to resurface his antler from the snow for a brief time, and that only served to motivate him to pull harder. After a few hard tugs, finally Kristoff’s arms and head reemerged from the snow. He let out a deep breath, to allow the oxygen to reenter his lungs. Sven pulled again, and this time, it was enough to get him only waist deep. It was more than enough for him to be able to climb out himself.

As soon as he was back on his feet, Anna was on with such force, that she almost knocked him off his feet. “Kristoff! I thought... I thought...” Her mind failed to formulate the completion of that thought as she embraced him so tightly, that her voice was muffled into his shoulder.

“Anna... can’t... breathe!” he gasped.

Anna quickly realized that she was doing more than just embracing him. Her arms were a little too close to his neck and were slowly suffocating him. She was just so happy to see him alive, that she never gave him the time to breath in the fresh air. She backed away to give him that time the he needed. “Sorry.”

He took a minute to breath in the fresh air. The smell of the crisp, clean fresh hair entered his lungs and slowly started restoring his strength. He looked up at Sven who was starting to nudge him, with his snout, to check up on him. “Good boy, Sven!” he said as he stroked his hand through Sven’s hair on his scalp.

“I helped too!” Olaf reminded, wanting his share of recognition.

“Yes, you did. Thank you,” Anna said as she knelt down in front of the little snowman. She leaned forward and planet a soft, warm peck on his snowy cheek.

The expression of his face almost caused her to break out laughing. If Olaf hadn’t been made of snow, he would probably be blushing at that moment. He let out an ‘oh shucks’ form of chuckle before turning his large eyes towards Kristoff.

He looked down, dryly at the snowman. He knew that the snowman was looking for a similar praise from him. “I am NOT going to kiss you.” His reply matched the expression on his face. The slight look of hurt that came across Olaf’s face quickly told him that he couldn’t just drop the subject. He could also feel Anna’s eyes bearing into him, wanting him to do something to show some short of appreciation. There was no way he was going to kiss the silly little snowman. Instead, he would have to settle with a nod of approval. “But yes, you did good, too.”

That compliment seemed to suffice for the little snowman. Now that the awkward moment was past, they could address the more pressing issue at hand. Anna, was thinking on the same line as he was, when she asked the very question that needed answering. “So now what? Where do we go from here?”

“Well,” Kristoff stood up straight and regained his composure. “Our priority now should be to find shelter and keep warm. Seeing that we’re much closer to our destination than we are to Arendelle, I say we continue forward and hope we find a source of warmth.”

“But I lost the map in the avalanche!” Anna said, embarrassed that she had managed to lose their most important tool. She had no idea how they would ever find their way home, even if they were successful finding the mysterious destination that they were looking for.

“One problem at a time,” he responded. “Besides, you’d be amazed to know just how intelligent reindeer actually are.”

 

Anna and Kristoff are too sweet!

Yay for Olaf and Sven LOL Whew!!!!!! Elsa seems able to manipulate her talents and not have them run full-bore in destructiveness. Perhaps that more than anything is the solution.

 

Chapter 12

Elsa had made good time, and was now nearing the location on the map that was marked with a giant red ‘X’. Now that she was near the area, she slowed her horse down to a relaxing trot to allow her the time to keep an eye out. She had no idea what she was looking for. She didn’t even know WHO she was looking for. Her greatest fear, at that point, was to learn that there was nothing there at all, and that she had made this journey for nothing. That was something she could not handle.

As they slowly made their way forward, the familiar smell of burning, pine wood caught her attention. It was a smell that she had always loved, but more importantly, it was a sign of life. The smell only grew stronger as they went on, and at last, she could see white smoke rising in the sky. It was a control burn from a fire place; the color and the amount of the smoke all confirmed it. There was no way a wild forest fire could take place here where all the trees were covered in snow.

She urged Cyphus to head towards the smoke. At the very least, she knew she had at least found shelter for the night. Yes, the cold may not bother her, but that didn’t mean that she did not enjoy the comforts of a nice warm bed. If this wasn’t the place she was looking for, perhaps whoever she was about to meet would know what she was looking for.

Following the smoke, she found a single wooden cabin in the middle of nowhere. At first, she could hardly believe that someone actually lived in these mountains. However, seeing the cabin not completely submerged by the snow, made her believe that the weather wasn’t all treacherous on this part of the mountain. Someone obviously made their home here in the mountains, which meant they had a steady access of food and water.

She dismounted her horse and tied the reigns around the trunk of a thin tree. When she was confident that he wasn’t going anywhere, she made her way to the front door. She passed a window on her way to the front door. She could see lit candle lights throughout the room. That was further proof that someone was home.

As she stood at the front door, she fought with her nerves. Was this person the one who could remove this curse from her? She had caused more suffering to her people, and to herself, than she cared to believe. For the sake of her people, she needed this all to be true. She needed this curse out of her life once and for all. She needed to be normal.

After an internal battle, which felt like an eternity to fight, she found the courage and knocked on the door. She didn’t have to wait long before the door opened with an eerie creek emanating from its rusted hinges. A woman was standing on the other side. She was dressed in a simple and modest black dress which complemented her salt and pepper hair. She looked like she was old enough to just be starting her grandmother years, if she was married and had any children. Her posture suggested that she was probably quite literate and probably even well educated. Yet, her eyes seemed lively and ready to burst forth with friendliness. At the same time, there was something vaguely familiar about them.


The woman seemed to immediately recognize her; the moment she realized who was standing at her front door, she quickly bowed. “Queen Elsa! Your Majesty.”

“May I come in and keep warm for awhile?”

“Please, Your Majesty, make yourself at home!” she stepped aside to allow the queen to enter her home.

Elsa kindly accepted the invitation and walked into this cute little cabin in the woods. She found herself in a cozy wooden room. She had never seen so much wood in all her life. Everything, including the few pieces of furniture, was made of wood. Immediately to her left was the fire place. It was the only part of the house not made of wood. The fire was lively and bright as a small black cauldron on top. Whatever was boiling from the pot smelt pretty good.

On the other side of the fireplace, at the far end of the room, was a doorway into a divided segment. She couldn’t see enough to know what the other room was; she just assumed it was the dining room or something of that nature. Following that wall, that separated the two rooms, was a beautiful crafted set of stairs leading up to the next floor. The carpentry work on those steps alone showed that a lot of care went into building this quaint little place. There were a few hand crafted wooded furniture in the room, and something that looked like a hand crafted stand up mirror that was completely covered by a velvet bed sheet.

“You have a lovely little place here.”

“Thank you, dear,” she said humbly, closing the door behind her. “Please excuse my appearance. I have long suspected and hoped that you would find your way here. I just had no idea that today would be the day. Care for some soup?” She asked as she pointed to the boiling caldron.

“No thanks.” She couldn’t think about eating now, after that last comment the women made. It seemed just like a simple comment wrapped in a shroud of mystery. “Excuse me, but I don’t understand. You knew I was coming?”

Seeing that the queen was not in the mood to eat, she stepped away from the fire place. “If I may, let me just lay it all on the line. I have nothing to be ashamed of; I am a witch.”

“I see,” Elsa said, not quite sure what to make of this news, nor quite sure if coming here was a mistake or not. It appeared that this woman wanted to get something off her chest. Elsa decided that she should hear her out before making any decisions on anything.

“I knew both of your parents quite well when they were younger,” the witch explained. “When I heard that another witch tried to curse your mother, but instead the curse was laid upon you, I suspected that they would come to me to find a cure. It appears that they decided to go to the stone trolls first.”

“Wait, I was three when my powers first manifested. I wasn’t taken to the trolls until I was eight.”

“Ah, and that confirms my suspicion as to why your parents never spoke to me again,” she replied sorrowfully. “I was so afraid that they blamed me. Actually, the first time your parents took you to them was when you powers started manifested. The elder troll erased yours and your parent’s memories.”

“But why?” Elsa asked. “Why would they?”

“Oh, deary, please don’t get me wrong. The stone trolls maybe a little neurotic, but they are good bunch of little fellows. Your powers are the result from the curse of a devil’s mirror. It feeds upon negative emotions and self hatred. If you had known that what you were cursed, the negative emotions would have overtaken you a lot sooner. They took your memories so you could believe that these powers were something you were born with. Actually, it was a brilliant idea of theirs; I would have never dreamt of an idea like that.”

“So you never heard from my parents again since then?”

“No. For a long time, I thought they were angry at me for some reason. I started hearing these rumors shortly before your parents died. I never had a chance to make amends with them. I could only hoped that one day, that I would get to meet you and your sister.”

“I see,” Elsa said, as the mention of Anna brought back the stabbing pain to her heart.

“How rude of me! Please, Your Majesty, make yourself comfortable,” the woman said, leading her towards one of the hand carved chairs. She followed her directions, but her mind was still overloaded with all this information and all the emotions of she was feeling. As she sat down, the witch could see the troubled look on her face. “I didn’t mean to overload you with information all at once.”

“Oh, no, I’m okay,” She said, waking herself out of her thoughts. When her mind returned to the present, her attention was caught by a very noticeable scar across her right palm.

“Wow, that’s a nasty scar on your hand.”

She quickly recoiled her hand to hide the scar. “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just old wound from my reckless childhood.”

* * * *

After running as far as he could, Sven had to slow down to a simple walk for a bit. Since speed was currently not an issue, Olaf was just as happy hobbling through the snow on his own two snowball feet. Anna and Kristoff rode Sven, and when Anna started shivering, they switched positions so that she sat in the front. This allowed him to be able to embrace her and allow his body heat to warm her.

“H—H—How much l—l—longer do y—y—you think i—i—it is?” Anna asked.

He had no idea how far they were from the destination. With the map lost, there was no telling where they were. Besides, he never got a good look at the map to be able to guess. He wasn’t fond of telling fibs, even the smallest white lies, but in the years he had known Anna, he had come to learn when she wanted the truth and went she just needed to be listened to and comforted. This was one of those times. Two years of knowing her, and that had been the toughest thing to learn about women in general. “I’m sure we’re getting close.”

No sooner did those words leave his mouth when he smelled a welcoming fragrance of burning lumber. There was a fire somewhere nearby, and when there’s fire, that usually mean there was someone who was trying to keep warm. “Do you smell that? There’s a fire burning!”

“A f—f—fire?”

“Yes! A Fire! Sven, follow that smell!”

* * * *

Elsa listened to more of her story. The woman’s name was Birgitta. As she continued on with her story, Elsa could not help but feel sorry for her; because of the actions of one of another witch, like herself, she had lost her friendship with her parents. She seemed like a nice enough lady, who was only glad to get meet one of the daughters of her late friends. The kind witch had no idea about what had just happened to Anna. That was one reunion part of her parents that she would never be able to meet.

As Birgitta continued to talk, her thoughts drifted towards her sister. Somehow, as she told her story, the topic of her sister kept on coming up. Each and every time, her heart sank deeper and deeper, as it was like continuously being reminded that her sister had just died. Her wall of emotions was taking a barrage of poundings and the wall was already fragile as it was. She had no idea how much more she could take.

The witch noticed something was going on inside of her, and quickly ended her story. “Are you alright, dear?”

“Who—wha—me? Oh, yes, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

She nodded to Elsa’s chair. Looking down at the arms of her chair where her hands were, and the wood was frozen over. Her powers were already seeping through. “I’m so sorry.”

Birgitta studied her for a few seconds. “Your curse is out of control, isn’t it? You’re hair is white, and your skin is losing its pale tone. You’re nearly as white as an albino reindeer. Something has happened.”

Elsa chocked back her emotions. There was no need to answer that question; it was pretty obvious that was why she was here in the first place. “I feel an uncontrollable rage burning inside of me, and it’s getting harder to control. It’s turning me into someone who I don’t want to be.”

Birgitta gave her a sympathetic smile. “That’s what the curse was meant to do to your mother. Why this curse infected you, as the first born child... I can’t be certain. The curse is designed to turn someone into a heartless, vengeful ice witch.”

“Can you cure me?”

Birgitta sat in her chair and simply stared at her for a moment. Elsa couldn’t tell if she was still studying her situation or she was actually hesitant to tell her. Elsa was in desperate need of a cure; she had to convince her to help her, if she had the ability. Finally, after letting out a heavy sigh, she responded. “Can I cure your curse? Yes. The question is... do you want to be cured?”

Elsa’s eyes lit up upon hearing a ‘yes’ coming from her mouth. She had been so afraid, and nearly expected, to be disappointed on this journey, that it never crossed her mind that she might be successful. “I need this cure. For the sake of my people, I can’t let them suffer any more because of me.”

Birgitta smiled gently. “You’re making this decision for the sake of your people, but what about for your own sake. This decision cannot be taken lightly.” She pointed to the hand-crafted stand up mirror behind the sheet. “I designed this mirror, similar to the devil’s mirror that cursed you through your mother. I created it just in case you ever came to me to be cured. There is one distinct difference, between this mirror and the other one, though. This mirror will only take this curse from you if you allow it. If there is any part of you that hesitates, your curse will only return with a vengeance and overtake you. Again, I have to ask... are you SURE that this is what you want?”

The deal didn’t sound bad at all. There was no part of her that was interested in having these powers any longer. The town would be spared from any further harm, and she could have her time of solitude to mourn for Anna’s lost. As far as she could see... there was no downside.

Before she could say anything, there came a knock on the door. “Strange, who else would be in these mountains? It’s too early for Oaken to come by with his monthly deliveries.”

She stood up and made her way to the door. Whoever was at the door knocked again, stressing great urgency for someone to open up. It didn’t do anything to hurry Birgitta up. She kept her calm pace until she reached the door. She carefully opened it up. “Hello?”

“Pardon the intrusion, but we’ve just been through an avalanche, and we’re wet and cold. Would you mind if we came in and warm ourselves by the fire for awhile?” Kristoff asked, embracing the shivering Anna in front of him to shield her from as much as the cold as he could.

Anna’s eyes strayed beyond her and into her log cabin, only to see the last person she ever expected to find in these mountains. She was so excited; she broke free from his arms and inadvertently pushed Birgitta out of the way to step inside. “Elsa?”

Elsa was on her feet, in utter shock. It took her a second just to remember how to breathe again. “Anna? You’re alive?” she gasped, cupping her mouth in her hands.

Anna ran towards her and straight into her arms. Elsa embraced her tightly as she could not fight the tears from coming out to streak down her cheeks. The realization that this was really happening came the moment she was able to hold her sister in her arms. Her emotions overtook her and she found herself crying in her baby sister’s neck. “I thought I’d lost you!”

“I—I—I th—th—thought so to.” Anna stuttered.

Elsa was so happy to hug her sister again; she nearly failed to feel just how cold she was. It was Anna’s stuttering that quickly drew her attention to it. “Anna! you’re freezing!”

Kristoff stood frozen at the doorway, still in shock over the situation. When he realized that he was standing there and letting all the heat out of the house, he commenced to take a step into the house until a sudden blizzard blast of wind and snow hit him across the chest and sent him flying back out of the cabin, colliding with Olaf. A massively thick sheet of ice rose directly in front of the doorway from the ground until it reached all the way to the ceiling.

Anna and Elsa broke of their embrace to turn to see what had happened, but another gust of wind and snow threw the two women apart. Elsa ended up tripping and falling back into the wooden chair she had just been sitting in, while Anna hit the wall, right besides the front window. The impact knocked the wind out of her, and sent her down onto her knees on the ground.

Both women were stunned by how this was happening. Elsa first looked towards Birgitta, but she was standing out of the way. Instead, a new woman stood there, having entered the room from the next room over. Her right arm was still stretched out and her fingers pointing forward. Snowflakes twirled around her hand until she formed a fist. The flakes, mixed with magical, and wintery sparkles evaporated instantly.

Elsa’s eyes could not open any wider, as she almost had to pinch herself. Seeing this stranger from the side, she was almost recognizable with her brunette hair. However, that did not make it any less shocking when she turned to look at Elsa straight on with her new glowing eyes and a devilish smile on her face. “Hello, Your Highness!”

“V—Versa?”