Five days. Nearly a week at sea and they still hadn't reached their destination. She had been promised no more than three days on this wretched vessel.

A sigh parted the lips of the agitated girl as she stared down at the murky water of the ocean through her small window. Her many hours spent reading novels of great adventurers and magical sirens had—apparently—been a complete waste. They had lied to her, after all. The sea was not a magnificent shade of deep blue that drew its onlookers towards it, seemingly beckoning them to explore its mysterious depths. No. It was not a new and exciting frontier where adventure waited on the crest of each wave. No. It was—in fact—quite dull and rather unpleasant. It's color was a dark, putrid green that she prayed she would never see again after this voyage. Yes, she had certainly been fool. Yet as she thought of that, she came upon the conclusion that it was no one's fault but her own. She had be the one to place her faith in what she now realized were mere fairytales. There was certainly no one for her to blame but herself; which only served to feed her irritation.

A light pattern of knocks at her cabin door was enough to pull the young woman from her daze. Saying nothing, and making no attempt to move, she looked towards the door expectantly; as if it were to tell her who was on the other side. Moments later, a soft, familiar voice sounded from the hall.

"Elsa?" the voice called gently. A hesitant answer rested on the girl's tongue, but died quickly thereafter. Instead, she slowly stood from the comfort of her small bed and seemingly glided to the door. Her hand hovered hesitantly over the door knob. She rarely opened the door for anyone these days. Did she dare open it now?

When the voice came once more, repeating her name—though this time with a more pitiful, pleading tone—she finally turned the knob and allowed the door to open, a soft creek accompanying the action.

As expected, her younger sister stood on the threshold; her eyes wide and stunned. She certainly hadn't been expecting an answer, much less for the door to open. The older of the two waited for her sister to say something, but it appeared that the younger girl was simply too astonished to speak.

"Yes, Anna?" the blonde prompted her sister. At Elsa's slight encouragement, Anna finally spoke up.

"Oh, sorry, um," She sputtered, attempting to form words. It had possibly been weeks or months since the siblings had exchanged words; words that were more than just passing greetings. "Papa- I mean, uh, Father, wanted me to come get you. Dinner will be ready soon."

Elsa eyed her sister for a few moments, evaluating the situation. Preferably, her supper would have been sent to her room—as it had been the past few days. That was how she preferred most things these days; in her room, away from the eyes of others. Alone. That was how she felt most comfortable. However, if her father had requested her presence, she couldn't very well ignore him. It would be rude and downright awful of her. In addition to this, the look Anna gave her—one of absolute hope and perhaps a bit of desperation—was enough to sway the elder's decision. After a sigh and several deft movements to work a pair of slippers onto her feet, Elsa stepped into the hall with the younger girl, closing the door to her cabin behind her.

The smile the graced her sister's features was enough to tell Elsa that her decision had not been made in vain. For all the sadness and worry she had cost her family, it meant the world to her that she was still able to make them smile on occasion.

As the pair walked towards the main deck, the younger of the two slowly slipped into her natural personality. Soon the halls were filled with Anna's bubbly voice as she attempted to make conversation with her older sister. Anna's spunk had always been amusing to Elsa and it was nice to hear how she had been enjoying their trip so far, even if Elsa didn't quite feel the same. With time, the blonde came to find a small, peaceful smile had come to rest on her thin lips while her sister continued to ramble. Even with her best efforts, Elsa only managed to get a word or two in occasionally before her sister started up again—not that she minded too much, of course. It was a good dynamic, in Elsa's opinion, seeing as it meant she had to do little or even no talking at all.

As they reached the top of a short stairwell, the sisters were greeted by the sun-blazed sky. There were several clouds rolling overhead—Elsa recalled Anna mentioning that she spent a plentiful amount of time watching the fluffy white puffs during the day. Each cloud was reflecting a gradient of magnificent light from the receding sun in the distance. Red, pink, orange, yellow—a stark contrast to the darkening blue of the sky. It was certainly breathtaking; though not so much so as the Northern Lights back home in Arendelle.

As it dawned on Elsa that perhaps she should spend a bit more time outside, a gentle tap on her shoulder shattered her stupor. She flinched and pulled away, her head snapping to the right to look at the person who had dared to touch her when everyone was quite aware how much she hated it.

Anna. Of course. Just her sister. Elsa quickly schooled her features back into an unreadable mask, void of emotion and looked at her sister expectantly.

"Over here," was all the younger said before turning and leading the way to a large table set out in the middle of the deck.

Their parents were already seated; their father at the head of the table and their mother to his right, engaged in some sort of conversation with each other. As they approached the table, their parents features seemed to relax a bit; surely because they too were worried that Elsa would stay in her room. Each of the girls took their seats at the table as their parents resumed their conversation.

Dinner was rather dull, as Elsa expected. Servants bustled around, keeping glasses and plates full until each was satisfied. While Elsa sat contently quiet, focusing on her manners as well as her parent's discussion, Anna was busy practically stuffing her face. Typical. And—as usual—their parents made no comment on it. On top of that, the princess looked as though she were going to burst at the seams if not included in the discussion soon.

"Papa," Anna finally spoke up, interrupting her parent's conversation and receiving a stern look from her older sister. "How much longer until we arrive in Corona?" she asked, looking to their father.

Despite her disapproval of Anna's interruption, Elsa, too, was curious as to when she would finally be off this horrid vessel, and so she looked to their father as well.

"We'll be making port any day now, darling." He responded, a kind smile directed towards his youngest.

Suppressing a twinge of jealousy, Elsa returned to her meal; allowing herself to be content with the knowledge that they would be landing soon enough.

After everyone had finished their meals, Elsa had waited for an appropriate lull in the conversation to ask if she could be excused to retire for bed. Seeming a bit reluctant, her parents had excused her.

She walked down the hall of the large ship, having wished her family a good night's rest, and hoped to herself that they would be home soon. The trip to Corona was intended to be eight days at sea and five on land, where they would be guests at her cousin's wedding. The extra day there meant they would likely only be staying in Corona for four days now, seeing as her parents really did need to be back in Arendelle as soon as possible. That meant a possible eight or more days away from home, away from her studies and her room.

A sigh parted the blonde's lips as she reached the door of her cabin and pushed it open. It dawned on her that she had begun to sigh a lot these days. Sighing was for those who had experienced great grief and sadness in their lives. But then, in her own way, she supposed she had dealt with those things.

It didn't take her long to change into her night clothes; a simple, blue, cotton nightgown that tied in a ribbon at her chest. The sleeves hung loosely down to her wrists and the hem went to her ankles. It certainly wasn't her most flattering outfit, but it served its purpose while keeping her skin covered and her body warm enough. Besides, it wasn't like she had anyone to impress.

Elsa's hands paused as they pulled the ribbon, sealing the bow, and thought about that for a moment. No one to impress. She was eighteen years old. The heir to the throne of Arendelle. Not once had she ever taken to any suitor. Not even for a short while. Many princes had attempted to court her, but they learned quickly that she had no interest in that at all. There were murmurings among the aristocrats that the princess may have developed a preference for females instead. There were murmurings that perhaps she would never marry and that her sister's children might one day ascend to the throne. There were all sorts of whispers and rumors about the princess, but she simply couldn't bring herself to care as she knew that she should. She rarely had ever thought about romance, due to her condition. It would certainly make courting difficult, if possible at all.

Her head turned and she glanced towards the mirror on the wall. She supposed she was pretty enough, people had always told her so; she had never considered herself a great judge of beauty though. Things she thought to be beautiful tended to seem strange to others. Perhaps she simply had exotic tastes.

Suppressing another sigh, the princess looked away from the mirror and moved to sit on her bed. She could see through the window that the sun had set completely. Her sister and parents would be heading to bed soon. She unceremoniously fell down into her small pile of pillows and stared up at the dark ceiling of her cabin. Perhaps, at the wedding, a nice boy might ask her to dance. And perhaps, this time, she might say yes.

With that hope in her mind, the princess rolled onto her side and pulled her blankets around her small form; allowing the soft moonlight that spilled in from the window and the gentle rocking of the boat lull her into a dreamless sleep.

Thud.

…

Thud. Thud.

…

With a flutter of lashes, Elsa's eyes opened.

Thud.

An irritated sigh left her lips. The staff on this ship needed to learn how to walk more quietly. Rolling over, she was about to bring her pillow up to cover her ears when several, far more interesting sounds caught her attention.

First, it was what sounded like many footsteps, all running towards the main deck. Then muffled shouting that sounded like the voiced of guards and staff. And finally, a loud cry of several voices all in unison. Something of a battle cry if she had to guess. It was all enough to strike fear into her heart. Without thinking, Elsa lept to her feet and ran. Her family. She had to find her parents, her sister. The dull thump of her feet against wood was the only sound she heard now though, somewhere in her mind, she was still aware of shouting coming from the upper decks.

Run, She thought. Run faster dammit! Just down the hall, to the left—no. The door to Anna's room was wide open, and she, herself, was gone; the heaps of blankets on her bed the only sign that there had been any disturbance at all. Spinning on her heel, Elsa ran back the way she had come, passing her own room and flying down the hall towards the staircase that would take her up to where she would certainly find Anna.

Elsa doubted she had ever run so fast or breathed so hard in her entire life—perks of royal living she supposed—and at the moment, she was wishing she had. Perhaps then she would be faster. As she scaled the stairs, almost all rational thought left her mind. All she could think about was her family—was Anna. She had to be okay, she had to be—

She emerged at on the deck, where her family had had a peaceful dinner only hours ago, to a scene of complete and utter chaos. All around were guards fighting what appeared to be boys and young men. No, Elsa realized. They weren't boys and young men. They were pirates. Many of them were holding off the guards- quite impressively; though the advantage was theirs given that the guards seemed hesitant to attack what appeared to be children. However, a good number of them were also grabbing things—crates, barrels, bags of food—and tossing them or carrying them to another ship that was pulled up right beside theirs. Elsa watched in horror and shock as the scene raged on but couldn't help but realize that these boys weren't really attacking anyone. Stealing—yes. But all of the fighting on their part looked to be defensive, if anything else.

In her distraction, Elsa hadn't noticed the presence behind her until it was practically on her. She looked over her shoulder to see one of the older boys, just before he pounced. A scream ripped from her throat as she attempted to avoid him. Her smaller form and lithe build allowed her the agility to move out of the way just in time for the boy's arms to miss her and send him stumbling forward to fall flat on his face. Frozen in fear, Elsa could only watched as he got up and advanced towards her once more, obviously angered and embarrassed by what had just happened and determined to take it out on her. With another scream, she turned and ran—or rather, tried to. The boy grabbed her arm in a strong grip that caused Elsa to flinch and shout again. She began to thrash in his hold, attempting to scratch and kick him. She managed to land a nice cut on his cheek with her nails, causing him to shout in pain. Seemingly had enough of the annoyance she was creating; the boy grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder, causing her to shout once more. His hand rested firmly on her lower back, holding her in place no matter how much she kicked and screamed.

This can't be it. She thought. Carried away—abducted by pirates. This can't be how I end.

Determined to get away from him, Elsa screamed and kicked harder, pounding her fists on his broad back. Unfortunately, he was fairly massive compared to her small form and three times as muscular. Due to this, her efforts were all but for nothing. Still, she continued to fight and scream as she felt him climb onto the a ledge.

"Shut it or I'll drop you!" He growled. Elsa didn't need to open her eyes to understand—though she did anyways; which was a grave mistake—she could hear and now see the open water rushing beneath them, between the two ships, along with the plank of wood they were currently walking across. Well, he was walking. She was still being rather uncomfortably carried; his shoulder digging into her stomach. His touch was unnerving and unsettling enough for her already without the view so she simply did as he said and stayed quiet, a soft whimper of fear being the only sound that left her. If either of them fell they were sure to be crushed by the ships or drowned by the waves.

With a thud of finality, the boy's boots hit the deck of the ship he had come from and set Elsa down, though he kept a strong grip on her arm. The moment she was on her feet, she began to fight again. Still, it was rather in effective and only resulted in him grabbing her so that both her hands were behind her back and she was facing away from him. She was about to shout—especially because now he was actually touching her. Just her hands, but it was enough to practically send her into a panic. She was beginning to hyper ventilate, her eyes becoming wet with tears as she forced herself to hold it together. She couldn't cry. Couldn't show weakness. She needed to survive. She had to.

Elsa's eyes snapped open and she looked to her left when another chorus of battle cries rang out. But—to her surprise—everyone was returning. All the boys that had been on her parent's ship started retreating, returning to the pirate ship she was currently aboard. Many of them were carrying what she assumed to be spoils; though not the kind she had imagined them to steal. Most were carrying bags of food, crates and barrels of supplies if they were strong enough, some had jewels and other valuables and some were carrying bags that Elsa couldn't even imagine what had been tossed into.

"Elsa!" A familiar voice rang out above the clamor and Elsa looked to her right in horror and astonishment. No. No they could—she couldn't possibly be here of all places.

But she was.

Anna came bounding up towards Elsa, giving a sideways glance to the guy restraining her before looking at her older sister excitedly.

"I can't believe you're coming to! This will be so much—"

"Anna, what are you doing here?" Elsa interrupted her sister, giving her a stern look. The younger girl's excitement gave her the feeling that her sister had come far more willingly than she had.

Anna opened her mouth to speak, when something caught her eye and pulled her attention away. Elsa followed her sister's gaze upward and noticed the silhouette of a figure, seemingly flying above the ship. She watched as the figure seemed to swing and glide- holding on to what she could now see was a long rope connected to one of the sails, she assumed. In the next few moments, the shadow came into view and released the rope, depositing him in the center of the crowd. He landed in a sort of kneeling position; his hands on either side of the floor while he steadied himself. Elsa could only wonder how many times he had practiced that landing.

As the figure stood, Elsa watched him approach her and her sister and instinctively moved to try and protect Anna. Of course, the attempt was futile as she was still being restrained, rather uncomfortably. He stopped before the group, glancing at the boy before looking over Anna and then Elsa, who met his eyes with nothing short of a lethal glare. If looks could kill, he would have certainly dropped dead in that moment. Instead, he grinned.

His attention then returned once more to the boy behind her.

"I should be asking you the same thing, Kristoff. What are they doing on my ship? You know my rules; no girls on board."

Wait, his ship? Surely this… boy was not the captain of this vessel. Elsa raised a brow in disbelief and looked him over. He was certainly too young to be a captain of any sort. If she had to guess, she'd say they were the same age, give or take a year or two. There was simply no way. Though, she supposed he looked the part in his clothing at least. The boy was dressed in what one would typically expect of a pirate—a plain white shirt, brown trousers; that were perhaps a bit too tight to be appropriate, and black boots. In addition to that, however, he was also wearing a large red coat that resembled that of a naval officer and hung around his shoulders, emphasizing his lithe frame. A gold medallion featuring a sapphire gemstone rested just below his collarbone and certainly looked as though it would fetch a hefty price anywhere. What Elsa found particularly striking about him, however, was not his youth or his clothing. It was his head of messy hair whose color resembled that of freshly fallen snow and his azure eyes that seemed as though they could only be challenged in their beauty by the hues of her own eyes. All in all, he looked… strange to her. The way he moved and spoke- and that irritating smirk he was giving her; it all radiated confidence. But the set of his jaw and look in his eyes –

It was then Elsa realized that she had been—rather shamelessly—staring at him, which he had obviously noticed, as he was simply smirking at her now, waiting for her to come back to reality it seemed.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Elsa's glare returned and her face flushed a shade of pink that she prayed no one could see in the dim light.

"Right, then." He said, grinning at her before turning a back to the boy behind her- Kristoff, she recalled. "You were saying?"

"I was saying," Kristoff repeated himself, for probably the second or third time now. "That one asked to come." He said motioning with a nod towards Anna.

Elsa looked absolutely floored and turned to her sister. She had almost forgotten about her between her panic and shameless ogling. Anna returned Elsa's furious eyes with an innocent shrug.

"And this one," He looked down at Elsa. "Was the only other actual kid on board; though admittedly I regret bringing her now. Whiny brat almost made me fall in-"

Fed up with him, Elsa raised her foot and slammed her heel down on his toes, causing the pirate to yelp and release her. She stumbled forward a few steps then turned and glared at him.

"That's for abducting me," She said, a bit proud of herself. "and for calling me a brat." Pushing a few strands of her out of her face, she turned back to the boy she was still assuming was the captain.

"I want off this ship. Now. And my sister is coming—"

"No!" Anna suddenly shouted. She'd been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time, but was finally speaking up.

"No." she repeated. "I'm staying. One of them" she motioned to the group of pirates that were watching the scene, "Told me that I could come if I wanted. I went through the trouble to get here and I'm staying!"

Elsa's eyebrows raised in astonishment. Anna had never yelled at her before—not really. She could hardly think of a response she was so shocked. As Anna calmed down, the boy before them spoke up.

"Very well." He said, earning confused looks from both girls. "If you're so bent on staying, then you're welcome on my ship." He said with a smile towards Anna. Her face immediately brightened and she smiled.

"Really? I can?" She was practically jumping up and down.

"So long as you pull your weight, it's fine with me." He replied. "But it might help if I knew your name."

"Oh, sorry." She replied with a light laugh. "Princess Anna of Arendelle—"

"Anna." Elsa hissed, looking at her sister again. "Don't you remember what Mother and Father said about trusting strangers with personal information?"

"And this," Anna smiled and motioned to her older sister. "Is my sister, Elsa."

"ANNA." Elsa hissed again, more urgently.

"Princesses, hm?" The boy looked them over again, though differently this time- as if he were evaluating their worth. It was enough to earn him yet another glare from Elsa as she moved in front of Anna.

"Well, my word stands." He said, looking to Anna again. "You may stay so long as you get along with the crew and help around the ship. I am the captain, by the way, but call me Jack."He said with a smiled. After a moment he turned his attention to Elsa once more, his gaze suddenly less friendly. "As for you, I'm not quite sure what to do."

"I say we keelhaul 'er." Kristoff offered from where he was standing to the side, his arms crossed and his eyes fixed in a glare at Elsa. Jack chuckled and shook his head.

"Now, now Kristoff, she's a lady; a princess. We certainly can't just throw her overboard. If she didn't drown, the barnacles on the ship would certainly injure her too much—that is to say if something didn't come along and eat her before we could pull her back up." He threw a glance at Elsa, grinning when he noticed her mildly horrified expression. "A girl as delicate as her would never survive it." That line earned him a glare. He wasn't sure why, but getting under her skin was proving to be far more amusement than he had experienced in quite a while.

"No," he continued. We certainly won't do anything of that nature. We aren't savages, after all."

"Are you sure about that?" Elsa muttered, glancing at him. He blinked and looked at her, as if he hadn't been expecting her to say something like that. His surprise was quickly replaced by another amused grin.

"Are you certain you should be speaking that way El-"

"Princess." She corrected him before he could get her name out, causing his grin to widen that much more. "And I will speak however I wish."

Elsa could practically see the shock on her sister's face. Elsa never spoke out. She had always been quiet and obedient and perfect in every way that a princess was supposed to be. To see her like this, yelling at people and demanding things, it was certainly a bit shocking.

"I see." Jack looked her up and down once more, a quick flick of the eyes before he met her stubborn gaze. For a moment they stared each other down, and when she didn't flinch, he simply turned towards his crew, who had all been watching.

"Listen up!" He called, as if they hadn't been eavesdropping already. "Anna is now a member of our crew. Treat her as you would each other. Understood?"

A chorus of "aye" went through the crowd.

"As for Princess Elsa, she is, as of this moment, my prisoner." He announced.

Elsa's eyes went a bit wide in shock.

"I repeat; she is my prisoner. No one else—with the exception of her sister—is to talk to her. No one else will feed her or give her water or clothing or any other such help. If I hear of any of you disregarding this, the punishment will be severe. Are we understood?"

Another, more hesitant chorus of "aye" came, seeming to satisfy him.

"Good. You're all dismissed. Take the loot to the Quartermaster's office and return to your regular shifts."

Obediently, the crew began to withdraw from the deck, leaving only Elsa, and the small group that surrounded her.

"Kristoff." Jack turned back to the larger boy. "Show Anna around. Get her acquainted with the crew and find her a room to sleep in."

After a wary look towards the younger girl, Kristoff gave a short nod and walked off, Anna trailing behind him.

"And then there were two." Jack looked towards Elsa once more, who was regarding him suspiciously. "Come, I'll show you to your cell."

He turned, walking towards a door, only to stop after a moment when he realized she hadn't moved. He turned back to look at her, unamused.

"Your defiance is really quite adorable, but if you don't come by choice I will carry you." He said matter-of-factly.

After a few more moments of hesitation, Elsa sighed and followed him.

He led her down a flight of stairs, down a hallway and down another small flight of stairs until they reached a long hall filled with cells on either side. As she passed them, she noticed they were all rather dirty- but empty. Finally, they reached one that appeared as though it had never been used. It was cleaner and a bit larger than the others, but a cell all the same. Jack stopped and pulled the bars aside, waiting for Elsa. She glanced at him, really not wanting to give him the satisfaction, but stepped inside anyways.

"I don't suppose you want anything to eat or drink before I leave, do you?" He seemed genuine in his offer, but that didn't matter to her.

"Not from you." She muttered, sitting down on the plank that extended from the wall in the corner of the room—which she assumed was meant to be her bed.

"Very well." He replied. "Sweet dreams, Princess."

"Bite me."

With a smirk, he pulled the bars shut and walked away. Despite her best effort, she couldn't help but notice that he had deliberately left the door at the end of the hall open and the light in that hallway lit. Be it mercy or pity, she didn't want it; but she was too tired to be any angrier. After a short prayer that this torture would end soon, she made herself as comfortable as she could, and closed her eyes.

A/N: Alright so this is the NEW and IMPROVED chapter 1. Much better from the first. I'm still working on rewriting the other chapters, sorry its taking so long! I'm really trying to put out the best quality. Once I have the later chapters finished, they will be reposted as well. for now I'm going to take them down so as not to confuse anyone but no worries! They'll be back up and better than ever in a short while! I'm on summer break now so I'm free to write until band camp starts (:

sorry again for the wait. Please let me know if you like the additions and such! Not much is changing plot-wise yet but I feel as though my writing has gotten better and, even though the change is small, I like this interaction with the characters much better! I've also been doing more research into pirates, ships, etc, so hopefully it will be a bit more accurate to. (that's why the first line was changed from 7 to five. I looked up how fast it would generally take to get from Norway to Germany and it was about 5 days with perfect whether, and they're supposed to be close to the coast anyways. )

Anyways Yeah I'm rambling now. So I hope you guys like the changes. I'm going to attempt to make chapters about this size from now on! Thanks for being so patient with me (: See ya soon snowflakes~