A tall man forced his way through the outlying forests of the town after a very unsuccessful day at the market. A sack of wooden figures he had whittled hung heavy over his shoulder, he had learned that no one needed décor when their basic needs weren't being met. Unfortunately the only offer of payment involved taking a family further into the mountain.
"What do they expect me to do, huh? I'm not some stupid tour guide, I'm an ice harvester." He grunted and pushed his way further into the pines. He needed money, and no one needed ice in the middle of the coldest winter Arendelle had ever faced, so maybe it was time to start looking for a second occupation. But a tour guide? "I don't do people."
The man plopped himself onto the ground and leaned against a boulder. Could he even pretend to like someone for the money? He looked at his boot, running so thin he could feel the cold ghosting his toes. I don't have a choice, he thought. But if he were going to take that family he'd do it on his terms, and without losing his dignity. The mountain man closed his eyes, "I'll do it… No, that's too desperate. If you need it, I can take you up the mountain… I guess. That'll have to-" Underneath him, the ground began to shake.
He turned around quickly and watched as the boulder emanated an eerie green glow. "What is going on!?" A loud crack and the rock split in two and fell to the ground. From where the stone had previously been the surrounding snow flurried into a whirlwind so strong the man covered his eyes and attempted to peak through his gloved hand. From the ground rose a figure that crept up to him and hovered over.
An emaciated woman with sage green skin and a smile that spread from one ear to, well, where the other ear should have been leaned forward and grabbed his shoulder. From her right elbow to wrist she had no skin or muscle, only bone, and the man could see the foliage behind her through her rib cage. She wore a once beautiful green dress that clung to her to her waist then mushroomed out in a gorgeous rosemaling pattern. However, the dress was tattered in spots and covered in dirt. But all the man could look at was her neck: her head swayed precariously on a stack of vertebrae. His mouth fell in a silent scream and he scurried backward dragging his rear through the snow mumbling incoherently.
She lurched forward and her head toppled off and rolled into his lap. She blinked then said, "Oh thank goodness you're going to take me up the mountain!" And with that statement the man lost consciousness.
The man woke in the snow and rubbed his eyes. "God, I need to eat more so I stop having such crazy dreams." He went to stand when he heard the sound of frenzied sobbing. Following the sound with his eyes he saw a twist of red hair wrapped in ribbons from a woman sitting against a rock.
"I killed him, oh no oh no. That's very not good, I mean how am I going to meet Hans up the mountain without some help? I've ruined everything, all over again. I can already hear her now, Good job Anna. If only you'd listen, Anna. Just try to let it go, Anna." The mountain man walked over and leaned against the rock on the other side.
"I need to ask you a really strange question, okay?" He wasn't sure what he was doing, but he had to know what this dream came from.
"You're alive!" He heard her rustle as she stood, then a thud.
"Yes, I am. Are you?" He glanced around the boulder and shuddered to see the lonesome head on the ground and the partially decaying body chasing after it. "I'll take that as a no."
"Oops, we don't really like to stay together…" She whistled and the skeletal arm reached forward and located the sound. Once her neck was (relatively) attached to the head she sat in front of the man.
"So you'll take me up the mountain?"
"What? Why would I do that?" Even though this girl was a corpse, the hurt expression still managed to get to him. "I, I don't do people, okay?"
"But, you said you would!" The red head retorted with ferocity.
"Not you, there's a family, they were going to pay me. I can't just take a day trip up the mountain and not get anything from it."
"Think about it this way. My sister is Queen of the Dead. Walking away from this will be payment enough." She looked unsure about this, but really, a corpse was threatening him, could he take any chances?
"Fine, we leave when the sun rises." He grunted. The man attempted to sleep, however the girl kept pushing questions.
"What's your name?" She prodded his shoulder.
"Kristoff."
"I'm Anna, it's spelled like Aaanna, but pronounced Onna. I always had issues getting people to say it correctly before. Elsa says it's an old family name. Oh! Elsa is my sister I was telling you about. Do you have any siblings?"
"No."
"Must have been lonely growing up. I mean, I was also pretty lonely because Elsa was bedridden and then she died when I was fifteen and then I died and now we're reunited. I'm not really sure how she got all this power in the Land of the Dead. Apparently that's why she was so sick, because she was never meant for the Land of the Living. She has these really cool powers down there though, like really cool. Hah," she laughed, "Oh you don't get the joke. Well she has ice powers, so get it, cool!" When Kristoff didn't respond, Anna continued. "You're very grumpy. Do you have friends up here? Or a pet? Or do you always talk to yourself like you were when I found you?"
"I have friends!" Kristoff buried his face in his hands. "I used to have a reindeer but he was more of a companion than a pet." Why, why was he talking to her? She was threatening him with death, (albeit a very tentative threat) and he was just sharing with her.
"Right right, sure you do." Kristoff could practically feel her eyes rolling. "What happened to the reindeer? Oh! Was he soft? I bet he was. Though actually, I've never pet a reindeer before, are they soft? Hey, where are you going?" The mountain man was walking away into the trees.
"We leave now." Anna ran after him, holding her head with both hands to keep it from finding the ground again.
"But the sun?"
"Clearly I'm not getting any sleep and the faster this nightmare is over the faster I can get on with my life." Kristoff spoke more to himself than to the jogging body beside him. "It's gonna be a long and difficult trip, but if we don't stop at all we'll make it before the sun sets."
"And if we ride?" Anna's foot stuck in the snow and she fell face forward. Kristoff bent down and grabbed her by the waist to pluck her up and put her on her feet. He shuddered as his hand slid between two ribs.
"Oh, gross." He pulled but, oh no, it was stuck. His hand was stuck in an animated dead body. "This is definitely the worst day of my entire life…" Kristoff kept tugging and Anna rattled around his wrist giggling.
"It tickles!" She explained at his exasperation. "Just calm down and it'll be easier. Ready, there you go!" Kristoff shook his free hand like he had touched a fresh pile of droppings. "But really, can we ride?"
"Yeah but we have no ride, Anna. You can't just pull it out of thin air." Kristoff was still staring down at his hand in absolute disgust.
"But I can pull it out of the lake! There's one over here right?" Anna walked to the left then the right, chewing on her lip in indecisiveness.
"Come on, this way." He led the way with a brisk walk, watching to make sure she didn't fall and he could avoid the terrifying moment again. They continued on in silence until Kristoff turned around to look at her hopping like a rabbit in his large foot steps. He couldn't help but laugh, if she weren't so goulish, it'd be pretty damn cute.
"Do you mind if I ask why you want to get to the top of the North Mountain?"
"Not at all, you see there's this guy, and we're going to run away together! He told me to meet him at the top of the North Mountain and then we're getting married-"
"What makes you think he'll still want to marry you? No offense, of course."
"Right no offense." Anna huffed. "We love each other. And I've only been gone a month…or so. Hans can't have moved on right?"
"So when you find this Hans, assuming he's just been living on top of a mountain for a few months, what's your plan? Does he die or do you live?"
"I, ugh, hadn't thought about that. But true love always wins out! So it'll work out, I mean we chose to get married by the end of the week, he wouldn't turn me down for some superficial reason, right?"
"The end of the week? Hold up, when did you meet?"
"That week? Why?"
"You can't marry someone you just met, Anna that's ridiculous."
"You can when it's true love." Anna crossed her arms but the squabble was ended by their destination.
In the center of a clearing a small frozen lake glistened in the night light. Anna knelt down and brushed the snow of an area and began to write with her fingernail.
"What are you doing?" Kristoff stood a few steps behind her.
"I'm sending a message to my sister." Anna waited and when there was no response scratched the message harder.
Kristoff sat a few feet from her and looked into the ice. The reflection of a blueskinned woman caught his eye and he leaned forward so his palms braced the frozen water. Two blue hands reached up and suddenly Kristoff was submerged through the ice.