Life had a miraculous way of being unfair.
Kristoff knew that already and he was only 8 years old. He had no where to go so he walked. He just kept walking. Home wasn't home anymore.
His father had been an ice miner on the North Mountain, but an avalanche two years ago had left several families fatherless, including he and his mother unfortunately. His mother on the other hand, worked hard knitting sweaters and scarfs, whatever she could, for the people in the small Scandinavian village they lived in, just north of the Kingdom of Arendelle. But in a poor village like theirs, medicine is harder to come by, and when his mother fell ill they both knew it was only a matter of time.
Kristoff tried to shut away his sadness but a few tears still escaped his eyes as he rubbed his arms, desperate to keep warm while a sharp chilly wind blew against his face. He pulled a small, rather pathetic looking sleigh behind him.
He pulled the hat his mother had knitted him out of his jacket and plopped it onto his head. "You'll grow into it, poika" she'd smiled at him. Just the thought of her smile warmed him up a little – although the hat helped tremendously.
He sat down against a large rock and decided he'd better wait for the wind to stop blowing so much before he continued to walk. It was just too cold.
He closed his eyes and curled into a ball, leaning his arms and his head against his knees which he had pulled close to his chest.
Suddenly, the next thing he knew a little wet snout tapped against his head.
Kristoff gasped and looked up.
Standing before him was a reindeer fawn. He had a fuzzy excited little face, but he was all alone.
"Are… are you all alone too?" Kristoff asked the reindeer.
The reindeer's head drooped a bit.
Kristoff frowned, "It's okay… I am too," he reached out and petted the reindeer gently on the head, "Maybe we could help each other out," he smiled.
The reindeer's eyes lit up and he made a little gruffy noise in excitement. He leaned forward and cuddled his warm fur up against Kristoff who let out a laugh.
"Awh, thanks little guy," he smiled at his new friend, "We're friends now… I'm going to call you…" he thought a moment and looked over his new reindeer friend, "Sven," he smiled brightly.
Sven returned the bright smile.
"I'm going up the North Mountain," Kristoff told Sven, "I'm gonna go work with the ice miners up there," he explained, "That's what my father used to do,"
Sven made a worried face.
"Now I know what you're thinking," Kristoff said, "But Kristoff, the North Mountain is a dangerous place! And you're so young!" Kristoff gave his best rendition of what he thought a reindeer voice would sound like.
"Well I'm not that young or that little," Kristoff replied, "I'm going to be a big strong ice miner!" he declared proudly, "You can come with me if you want," he smiled, "All the big ice miners have their own horses who pull the sleighs full of ice back to the villages, and, well, you're kinda like a horse," he spoke, "But more fun," he excailmed brightly as he tied his Sven up to his sleigh.
Sven liked this idea and planted a sloppy reindeer kiss on Kristoff's face.
Kristoff laughed in response. He looked around, seeing that the wind had finally died down, "Well, come on Sven!" he exclaimed as the two of them began to move up the mountain.
The closer to the top of the mountain they got, the easier it became to see the stars and the Northern Lights. It was like nothing Kristoff had ever seen before. Then he heard it, just beyond in the distance, the shouts and yells of ice miners.
"Come on, Sven!" Kristoff yelled excitedly and the two of them raced over toward the tall men hauling ice blocks.
"Hey now," one of them called out in a booming voice, halting Sven and Kristoff in their tracks, "Where do you think you're going, kid?"
Kristoff gulped, "To mine the ice," he explained.
"This is a dangerous sort of place for a child like you," the man scolded him, "Go home to your parents," he spoke before walking off.
Kristoff frowned but then his frown turned into a scowl. He didn't need anyone's permission to be out here, if he wanted to mine ice and sell it himself, he could!
So that's just what he did!
Erm… tried to do.
He looked around him as the other men effortlessly cut and hauled the ice blocks as if they weighed nothing. Kristoff mimicked their actions, but lacked that strength they all had obtained from moving ice all day.
It took him a good portion of the day, but he managed to cut and haul a block of his own; It was only one but it was a start, right?
He lugged it onto his little sleigh and climbed on Sven's back, "Alright! Come on Sven," he patted his new friend's little head and the two of them began making their way back down the mountain.
Night had fallen and the stars and constellations were bright as ever. The northern lights danced colors in the sky that Kristoff thought could only exist in dreams.
"I'll take my ice down to the village, sell it, and I'll be a real life ice miner!" he declared excitedly to Sven.
Just then the sound of a horse was coming toward them and without warning a horse zipped past them, laying down a layer of snow on the grass as it passed him.
"Ice…?" he spoke curiously. He looked in the direction it had come from and back up in the direction the horse had gone off in. Curiosity overcame the young boy, "Come on, Sven," he smiled and they changed course, following the horse till they eventually rode into a clearing.
"Hmm?" Kristoff hummed curiously.
There was a great stone clearing and nothing around it but rocks covered in moss. He unhitched Sven from the sled and the two of them crept quietly down closer to get a good look.
There was a man and a woman, dressed very regally. There were little girls with them. Kristoff leaned in to get a good listen.
"Please!" the man called out, "my daughter, she needs help,"
The man was holding a little girl in his arms, she looked maybe a bit younger than Kristoff. Her hair was strawberry blonde and she was covered in freckles, she also looked in terrible sorts. She shivered in her father's arms.
The other little girl, buried her face shamefully in the skirt of her mothers dress, clutching her hands together in tight fists. She had pale ivory skin and bright white hair. Kristoff had never seen someone with white hair before.
Suddenly the rock he and Sven had been leaning on trembled. Kristoff gasped. The rock seemed to unfold into a little troll, "Shhh," she hushed him, pulling him and Sven in closely to listen. She looked at the two of them, "Cuties," she grinned, pinching their cheeks, "I'm gonna keep you," she smiled brightly, "You can just call me Mamma troll, that's what everyone else calls me,"
The other rocks all around them rolled and unfolded into trolls also. The big rock in the center turned into a troll with a long beard and glasses.
"That there is Grandpabi," Mamma troll explained.
Grandpabi examined the young girl in her father's arms and then his eyes drifted toward the other young girl, "Born with the powers, or cursed?" he asked.
"Born," her father spoke, "Is there anything you can do?"
"You are lucky is wasn't her heart," Grandpabi explained, "The heart is not so easily mended," he warned warily, "The head… can be persuaded,"
He placed his hands on the little girl's head, "I suggest we remove all memory of magic,"
"So… she won't remember I have powers?" the older girl asked.
Grandpabi smiled, "Don't worry… I leave the fun,"
He placed his hands on the younger girls head once more, before turning to the other girl, "You must learn to control your powers…" he warned her.
Kristoff couldn't believe it – magic!
He'd heard fairy tales of magic up on the North Mountain but this proved it.
He watched as the family got back on their horse and left.
Kristoff and Sven stood up and watched them leave. When they turned around, they saw a hundred pairs of little eyes staring at them.
Kristoff shrunk a little, "Uhm… hi,"
They were all silent until one of them spoke out, "He's so cute!"
They all crowded around Kristoff and Sven, engulfing them in the largest group hug they'd every experienced.
"So what's your name, dear?" Mamma troll asked.
"I'm Kristoff… Bjorgman," Kristoff replied, "and this is Sven,"
Mamma troll smiled brightly, "Well young children such as yourself has no means wandering the North Mountain alone, so you are more than welcome to stay with us!"
A smile grew on Kristoff's face, "R-really?"
"Just think of us as your troll family," Mamma troll wrapped her arms around Kristoff.
Kristoff smiled, "Family?" he spoke softly.
And so it was for years, Kristoff and Sven would go to the North Mountain, mine and haul their ice down the mountain to Arendelle, then trek back up the mountain to the trolls. It wasn't long before Kristoff and Sven both grew into big, strong, adults.
But that's just the beginning of their adventure.