Title: Of the Sea

Summary: AU Princess Anna, sole heir to the throne of Arendelle, has been kidnapped during the ball celebrating her eighteenth birthday. Coincidentally, it is also the same day that a round of suitors has arrived in Arendelle to play for her hand in marriage.

Rating: PG

Characters/Pairings: [Elsa/Anna]; Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, Hans, King and Queen of Arendelle

Warnings: None for this chapter

Links: none yet

Notes: I'm had a massive brainfart trying to come up with a title for this thing… so the title may change if I come up with something different that I happen to like more.

And, as the summary suggests, Anna and Elsa won't be related in this story (as of right now), if it changes then, of course, you'll know. But the way this story is set up, Elsa and Anna have never met before the beginning of this fic, and are not sisters. That's one aspect of the 'AU' tag… another AU aspect is what Elsa's role is in this story… so you'll find that out once Elsa makes her appearance. Don't worry, she's still the Ice-mancer we all know and love. =D


Chapter Two

-x-

The remainder of her evening had been quite dull. After the mysterious 'Lord Elliot' had deposited her back beside her mother, he had not shown his face again. And just when I was beginning to think this evening wouldn't be terribly boring… "Your majesty?" Perking up at the sound of another male voice, the redhead turned her no-longer glazed over eyes to the man who stood before her with hopeful eyes. "I thought I might ask for this dance… but it seems that you are otherwise distracted." The man had a smirk on his face, not one meant to be demeaning, but out of genuine amusement meant to be shared.

He was dressed impeccably, and much more masculine than the young Elliot had been. Broad shoulders, and a defined jawline along with his auburn hair and sideburns, he is the picture of masculine royalty. Not overly muscled, but a presence demanding to be acknowledged in a room full of royalty. He smiled up at her with a slight quirk of his lips, and Anna couldn't help but to smile back. "Of course, my lord." She answered and took his proffered hand. He led her delicately down the three steps that separated her mother's and father's throne from the dance floor, before moving her expertly into yet another waltz.

Still in three, this one may have been slightly faster than some of the others she'd danced that night. And she was happy for it. It gave room for them to talk without breaking the spell that a slow waltz would cast over its dancers. They both spoke and even joked a little. Anna felt that she held a connection with this nice young man—all handsome and less hands-y than the other men she'd danced with. He seemed to respect her, while he also had somewhat the same personality. It seemed like a perfect match to the princess. As they finished the current dance, Anna asked him his name:

"Prince Hans, your majesty… of the Southern Isles." And with that they moved into the next dance wholeheartedly; Anna giggled and they both talked for hours, even after they had stopped dancing. The King and Queen watched on in happiness at seeing the connection their only daughter had made with one of the suitors that had come to the kingdom.

-Meanwhile Elsewhere in the Castle-

The hallway is dark. With all of the patrons in the ballroom on the other side of the Castle, the servants hadn't bothered to light the unused hallways. So it was quite easy for the two figures that were stepping from shadow to shadow, to enter the castle and roam without any fear of being caught. One figure was dressed in slim clothing to fit their slim frame, while the other was bulkier—very broad shouldered and muscled—and dressed to fit his body. Both wore trousers and cotton shirts, but whereas the first figure's was slim fitting and nearly melded to the shape of their body; the seconds was large and hung off his shoulders, tucked into his trousers with a cloth looking belt around his waist. The first figure's steps were light, while the other's were slightly more uncoordinated (he didn't do sneaky so well).

"I can't believe you did that." He whispered out, knowing his partner could hear him just fine. He kept watch that he wouldn't step on the delicate cloak that the other person wore. "Dancing with the princess, Els… are you out of your mind?!" It was a whisper yell to the other one this time, and the figure stopped. His crystal blue eyes peered up at his taller blonde counterpart, while his lips were set in an agitated frown beneath the blue cloth he wore around his face. When he crossed his arms over his chest, the tall blonde knew that he was in for a lecture.

"Don't worry about whether or not I'm out of my mind. The rest of the crew already thinks I'm crazy for trying a heist while so many royals are within the same castle walls that we're robbing." The blonde nodded. "Now, I know the crystal is in the bed chambers of the king and queen… we're almost there… try to be quiet Kristoff… I don't need the entire Royal Guard find us." The blonde rolled his eyes as the boy turned back in the direction they were headed. The door they were headed for was at the end of the hallway, only a few yards more. And it didn't look like there were any guards making rounds any time soon. The boy breathed out in relief.

They'd made it to the door and opened it. Quietly they both slipped inside, with Kristoff closing the door silently behind them. He was more used to the loud pillaging and robbery, so it was a relief to Els that his taller partner in crime was taking this somewhat more serious, and a lot more delicately than their usual heists.

With the door closed, Els motioned for Kristoff to keep an ear out for any activity outside the door. Quickly and quietly, the boy went to the queen's vanity table and began to go through drawers—nothing. Sighing, he moved on to a wardrobe and repeated the process—still nothing. "Els… there's a locked box over here…" Turning his head towards the voice, he saw that Kristoff had removed a painting of the Princess as a child from the wall and there was indeed a safe-like box embedded in the wall behind it.

"Nice catch." He called back softly as he moved towards the safe. There was a lock on it, which he didn't bother with bringing any tools to break. Who needs tools anyway? He smirked to himself beneath his mask and took off the blue glove from his right hand. Flexing his hand slightly, he pressed a feminine finger to the lock. Els only felt bad for a second at having to destroy such an exquisite looking lock; but it was separating him from his prize. The lock took on an almost blue look with frost coating the outside; once he was satisfied with the frozen status of the lock, Els pulled on the body of the mechanism and the metal that held the box closed shattered. With a 'victory'-smile, he replaced his glove and pulled on the lever that would open the box.

Inside, he noticed various papers—no doubt birth certificates and other books about their family history—and a moderately sized, flat mahogany box that had a small latch on the front. Taking the box from the safe, he quickly opened it and was glad to see a solid gold necklace with a pendant; three crystals were embedded in the pendant with the coat of arms for the royal family of Arendelle, it was worth a fortune. "We're going to be so rich after this Kristoff." He said out to his partner as the taller blonde closed the safe and replaced the portrait before bending over to pick up the lock. Never leave any evidence if you can help it. The captain had always told him that, and he'd be damned if he went against the captain now.

"Els…" He'd heard movement outside. Before the hallways began to fill with yelling of what they guessed was the Royal Guard. "They couldn't have found out…"

"What did you do, Kristoff?!" Came the hurried whispered-yell of Els as he moved to the door.

"Nothing! We were quiet the whole time, I didn't leave any trace of us walking down the hallway—"

"The princess is gone!" They heard through the door. The guards had been searching the hallways and the rooms, there were still doors being slammed in the hallways. "Princess Anna! We cannot find her!" They were talking to someone. Els and Kristoff looked at each other as they listened.

"Search the grounds! The city! The docks! I want every ship in the fjord search from stem to stern! We must find my daughter!" The King. Shit. Kristoff pointed to the window then as the doorknob began to move. They were about to be caught.

"Els!" Kristoff hissed when he noticed that his partner-in-crime wasn't following him. "Els!" He said louder. The boy turned to face him then, ripping the mask from the bottom of her face. "C'mon Elsa! We have to go."

"Kristoff! What if she's in real trouble?" The door had begun to opened, the ruckus in the hallway dulling their movements and conversation to the outside world.

"We don't have time, Elsa!" He told her as he pulled her roughly to the now open window, and they both escaped outside; closing the window as they exited. But Elsa still did not leave. Instead, she knelt just under the sill of the window and watched the man—theKing—from her spot outside. He seemed furious. He was quick to move to his wife's vanity table and he began to throw things—break things—trying to get his anger out. Elsa watched on in sadness at the display. "Elsa! We have to get to the ship! Arendelle arrests pirate they find in the fjord!" He yelled out. The yell got the attention of the angry king, and he quickly turned to the window—Elsa ducked, hopefully in time. And she quickly began the descent down the roofing of the castle, making sure that there was snow to aid in their descent, and to cushion their fall. Once free of the castle grounds, they hurried to the docks, Elsa was quick to create a chunk of ice in the water for them to run on, constantly freezing the water as they ran, and thawing the ice that they no longer needed.

Princess Anna… please be okay…


Author's Note: Well there's chapter two. And Elsa's 'first' appearance in the story. =D Tell me whatcha think.

Chezi Out