Sigh… So I had to get this out of my system. The story will be taking place as if it was involved the most recent Kingdom Hearts game, "Dream Drop Distance." I'll be trying to keep this as close to the game's storyline as possible, while throwing around some fun and adventure here and there. Don't like it, well…can't help you.

((()))

Riku's trip didn't go as well as the other "Dives" have. Instead of ending up on the sidewalk of some town square, he ended up in the middle of the woods.

Forty feet in the air.

In what must have been the dead of night.

Riku hit a tree that had been bent over like a waiting trap. In response, the tree flung Riku as he shouted in surprise across the air into the side of a small hill.

He face-planted into a bed of soft snow, but that didn't exactly make him feel any better. He slowly got up, groaning about his pain. He looked around and looked down at his snow-silhouette.

"Snow," he observed, his mind trying to catch up to his eyes, "All the trees are bent. A blizzard, maybe?"

He looked up at the sky, there wasn't a cloud to be seen.

He felt the answer shivering up his back. And he could smell darkness somewhere nearby.

"Magic," he said, "Some 'one' did this, not some 'thing'."

He turned to see a trail of smoke rising above the trees in the moonlight.

"Maybe whoever started up that fire could tell me what's going on."

(One transition fighting scene later)

Riku walked up to the wooden shed and looked up at the sign that seemed covered in snow. He tapped the sign to knock the snow off.

"Wandering Oaken's Trading Post," he read aloud. He wondered if they had any potions here.

A little more snow fell off of an extra part of the sign.

"And...Sauna," Riku read, slightly confused. He decided not to put too much thought into it and stepped inside.

"Yoo-hoo."

Riku looked over above the shelves and saw the man across the counter. He must have been the merchant, though his clothes, voice, and manner were strange to him. Not that it bothered Riku that much, he'd seen stranger, after all.

"Big summer blow-out," the merchant, Oaken, Riku had guessed, further stated.

"Oh," Riku said, "This is supposed to be summer?"

Oaken's bright and hopeful face saddened. "I'm afraid so. This blizzard came out of nowhere the other day. I'm not sure what's going on."

Riku grunted. So the snow was unnatural, could this have been the work of some dark witch? It seemed like the caliber of Maleficent and others. Though there doesn't seem to be any reasoning for it yet.

"Do you have any elixirs, by chance?" Riku asked.

Oaken smiled and pulled a couple of bottles of the healing magic on the counter.

Before Riku could pull out his money, the door opened up again, and he turned to look.

A young woman waddled in in what looked like a frozen dress, muttering the word "cold" over and over again.

When she entered, Oaken gave the same greeting.

"Yoo-hoo, big summer blow-out! We've got half off of swimming suits, clogs, and a sun balm of my own invention, yah?"

The woman looked perplexed but put on a polite smile.

"Oh, great," she said, "For now, uh, how about some boots, winter boots, a-and dresses?"

"That would be in our vwinter department," Oaken smiled happily, indicating a corner with almost nothing in it aside from what the woman needed.

The woman grabbed her supplies and tried to talk casually.

"So I was wondering," she asked, "Has a young woman, I don't know, the Queen, perhaps, huh, come through here recently?"

She looked between Riku and the older man. Riku shook his head.

"Only one crazy enough to be out in the snow now is you, dear. And this fellow here."

The door opened again, ringing the bell. A man covered head-to-toe in snow and ice stomped on the mat and looked to the three of them.

"You two and this fellow," Oaken corrected, "Yoo-hoo! Big summer blow-out!"

The man walked towards them and loomed over the woman. Riku tensed up. If he was here to cause trouble...

"Carrots," the mountain man said. "Behind you."

The lady looked behind her, and moved out of the way.

"Oh," she said, nervously, "Sorry."

While the mountain man talked to the merchant, Riku pulled out some money and counted it, making sure he had enough. He then placed it on the counter for the elixirs.

"Wait," the woman said, "The north mountain?"

Riku looked to see what the new commotion was about, the woman was now drilling the man with questions.

"...did it seem magical?" The woman asked.

The man pulled his scarf down so Riku could see his face for the first time.

"Yes!" He answered, "Now back up, while I deal with this crook here."

What happened next scared Riku a little more than it should have, considering all he had previously been through. Oaken rose from his seated position, and Riku began to question which one was the mountain man in this scenario.

The short of it was that the ice man got thrown out of the store. Riku observed the woman for her remaining time in the store. There was a certain kind of...warmth about her. It was like she was a shining light in the darkness. Almost like when he met the Princesses of Heart. Though there was darkness there, when you looked for it, it seemed she tried especially hard to hide it, or banish it. He followed her to the barn where they both heard music.

"Excuse me," Riku said.

The woman jumped, and turned around. "I didn't do-!"

She stopped when she saw him. "Oh, it's just you."

Riku smiled a little bit. "Sorry about that," he said, "I'm Riku."

The woman smiled back a little. "I'm Princess Anna, of Arendelle. Did you need something?"

"You're planning on going to the North Mountain, aren't you?" Riku accused.

Anna straightened up and stood her ground.

"Yeah, so?"

"Lot of heartl-...monsters running around."

"Well..."

"I would like to help you, if I can. Monsters are familiar territory with me."

"Really?" Anna said, surprised. "Do you know how to get up the north mountain then?"

Riku looked away and folded his arms.

"Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a guide," Riku resolved after a minute.

Anna laughed and put her hand up.

"Wait here," she said.

She went over to the barn with the bag slung over her shoulder. A minute or so later, she came back and breathed a sigh of relief. Then she noticed Riku and straightened up.

"A Princess always has a plan."

Riku chuckled. She reminded him of Sora in a way.