The cold wind burned against his cheeks as Kristoff made his way through the mountains forest; his gloved hand holding tightly onto Sven's reins as they slowly worked their way to their favorite ice gathering place. Ever since Elsa's icy powers had been revealed last year the demand for ice had decreased dramatically, and it didn't help that it was the dead of winter. But of course ice still needed to be cleared off the lake to allow water to run to the town normally, and that had become Kristoffs' job- clearing the ice off the frozen lake.
Sven tugged at the reins as Kristoffs pace started slowing down, urging the tall man through the snow. "Come on buddy…lets break for a minute," he said as he pulled a carrot from the brown bag attached to the large reindeer, taking a large bite from it.
Kristoff took another carrot out of the bag and held it out for the eager reindeer, watching him take a large chunk out of said vegetable , "That was good…you treat me so well Kristoff" the man said in a different pitched tone to imitate a possible voice for Sven, "Of course I treat you well Sven, you're my buddy."
After a few more lazy minutes of eating carrots and standing shin deep in the white fluff, Kristoff grabbed the reins again and started trudging through the snow again towards the lake.
About ten more minutes Sven stopped in the middle of the frozen stop, cocking his head and looking off into the distance, his ears leaning in that direction slightly. "What is it pal? Hear something?" Kristoff went quiet and tried to listen for any sounds off in the trees, hearing the fain shouting of a once annoying snowman in the distance.
"Olaf…" the man grumbled, what could he have gotten himself into now? The last time Kristoff found him in the woods he was attempting to hug a porcupine who's only real fascination was the carrot stuck in the snowmans' face. Sighing he began trekking in the direction of Olaf's voice, listening to it get increasingly louder the closer Kristoff got.
"Maybe you just want a warm hug! I love warm hugs, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!" the snowman exclaimed.
"I said I don't want a hug! Just leave me alone!"
Kristoff stopped within the trees, who was that? He didn't recognize the voice he heard, but he could tell from the sound of it that whoever it was had to be a guy. He slowly crept closer until he was hidden behind a large tree, peeking out and into the small clearing to see who could be there.
In the small clearing other that Olaf was, as expected, a boy. He looked to be in either his early twenties or late teens and had jet black hair which matched the clothes he was wearing- just a light black t-shirt with a leather jacket and dark pants and boots. He even had some black leather gloves on, assumingly just for the cold. His most striking feature though was his eyes; they looked like a dark amber color with lighter flecks of yellow.
Kristoff watched him cautiously for a moment, Olaf persisting on the hug. "Just a quick little hug, then we can go find my friends! They'd love to meet you!"
"I said no! Now get away from me!" the boy said angrily, his fists clenched by his sides as he glared daggers at the snowman. "If you don't back away by the count of three, you'll be a puddle."
Kristoff made a face when the strange boy said this, wondering how he intended to make that come true. Anna and Elsa sure wouldn't be pleased if Olaf melted away…
Ignoring the boys warning Olaf walked forward, embracing the mans' leg in a hug, "Doesn't this just make you feel better?"
Kristoff watched in astonishment and then horror as the other man removed a glove from his hand, flexing it for a moment before it along with the rest of his skin started to turn a darker red. Kristoff could practically feel the heat from where he was, still hidden behind a tree and just watching the scene go down.
Olaf slowly began melting along with the snow below where the boy was standing, "Maybe you were right about no hugs…" Olaf murmured, attempting to back away as he began rapidly melting.
The boy smirked and simply held out his hand, not saying anything as it suddenly burst into a yellow flame.
Just as Olaf was about to be reduced to a full on puddle, Kristoff stepped out of the trees…
Meanwhile back at the castle in Arendelle, Queen Elsa and Anna sat in the study, discussing the future wedding plans for Anna and Kristoff. "Anna, it doesn't need to be right this moment, take some time to plan everything out…no need to rush into anything," Elsa said, looking over at her sister as she paced about the room with a pen and paper.
"We can have flowers…yes, flowers of all colors. Won't that be nice? Oh! Do you think you could make something out of ice? Kristoff would love that please Elsa!" Anna practically begged, barely having heard her sisters' comment from before.
Elsa sighed and shook her head, a small smile on her face. Ever since the big freeze last year, whenever Elsa's mind wasn't wrapped around being the Queen it would wander and she would find herself daydreaming about what love must feel like. After all, she saw it almost every day in her sisters' eyes- they practically lit up when Kristoff entered the room. "Alright Anna, I can make you an ice sculpture."
The brown haired girls eyes lit up, "Thank you Elsa!" she squealed happily, giving her sister a quick hug before going back to babbling about the wedding plans.
Elsa's mind began wandering again as she looked out to the cold winters day, this time not a cause of her fear; the natural seasons were just running their course. Sighing she looked at the clock, Kristoff had left over two hours ago and had not yet returned… maybe he went to see his family of trolls she thought to herself, pushing out any thoughts of something gone wrong.
Her thoughts and Anna's talking were interrupted by three sharp knocks at the studies door, "Come on in!" Elsa called.
Through the door walked Elsa's advisor, a short and slightly rounder man who bowed slightly before speaking, "Queen Elsa, I believe Princess Anna's reindeer just arrived back? Kristoff wasn't with him…should I send a stable hand to take care of him?" the small man asked.
Elsa made a curious face, about to speak when Anna interrupted her, "What do you mean Kristoff wasn't with him? Do you know where he went?"
"Princess Anna, I do not know of his whereabouts. All I know is that there is an energetic animal trying to run loose from the current person holding him."
Elsa sighed, "Anna I'm sure Kristoff is fine-" Anna barely heard her as she went marching past the advisor; hurrying down the halls towards where the stables were kept. The Queen rolled her eyes, flashing an apologetic smile at the short man before chasing after Anna, her advisor following suit.
Down at the stables Anna rushed over to the two stable hands trying to contain Sven, who at the time was trying to pull his reins from their gloved hands to run back out into the forest. "Sven, where's Kristoff?" Anna asked the reindeer, the two men standing there giving her an odd look.
Sven stopped and blinked at Anna before looking back out to the forest, slightly nodding in that direction. Elsa arrived just as Anna was climbing onto the animals back, taking the reins in her own hands, "Anna, what are you doing?"
"I have to go find Kristoff, Sven can bring me."
"Anna, you can't go out there alone, Kristoff is probably fine."
Anna tightened her grip on the reins, "Elsa, I have to go make sure he's alright. You can come along if you want to…"
Elsa sighed a bit, looking skeptically at the bare reindeers back. Rolling her eyes she began carefully climbing up to sit behind Anna, holding her sisters shoulders for support; she wasn't about to let her sister run off on her own, especially after Anna had been there for her last year when she needed her most.
"My Queen, I don't think it would be wise to go off alone" the advisor spoke from the ground, looking up at the two sisters.
"Charles, don't worry. I can handle myself, and I have Anna. We'll be back by evening," Elsa spoke down to him, holding Anna's shoulders tighter as Sven got increasingly anxious. "You're in charge of the castle until we get back."
Charles didn't have a chance to respond before Anna flicked the reins and Sven took off full speed towards the woods.