Elsa clung tighter to Ana as Sven sped up, racing through the snow and woods towards where he'd last seen Kristoff. "Ana! Can't you make him slow down," Elsa said, not liking how bumpy the ride was on top of the large reindeer.
"No, just close your eyes. We need to find Kristoff," her sister said, flicking the reins and causing Sven to only speed up more.
Elsa groaned as she squeezed her eyes shut, a trail of snowflakes following them through the forest as Elsa did her best to control her fear from showing. The two girls rode through the winter wonderland until Sven started to slow down on his own, cautiously walking through the trees before stopping just near a small clearing. "Is it over?" Elsa asked, peeking one eye open to look around.
"Shhh; follow me," Ana whispered while hopping off the animals back and into the snow, Elsa following suit a moment later. They both started silently walking up to the edge of the clearing, Ana peeking out first from behind a tree.
Ana didn't notice the young adult standing across the clearing, her eyes focused on Kristoff kneeling in the snow trying to rebuild Olaf. She ran out from behind the trees over to Kristoff quickly, the blonde haired man looking up in surprise, "Ana! Thank goodness you're here," he said while trying to fix Olaf's misshapen body, "there was a little accident with Olaf… where's Elsa? She could fix him again."
Elsa came running out just after her sister had, plopping down beside her in the snow with a pale hand covering her mouth as she stared at Olaf's remains, "What happened to him! It's the middle of winter, there's no way he should be melting." Quickly she waved her hands in circular motions, recreating Olaf in under a minute.
"There was some guy here…he melted him," Kristoff explained, Sven entering the clearing to check out Olaf's nose.
Both Ana and Elsa looked at him curiously, "what do you mean 'melted him'? It's still the middle of winter!" Ana exclaimed, Elsa nodding in agreement as Olaf pulled both of them into a hug.
Kristoff shrugged and motioned to the snowless ground off to the side, just a patch of green in the field of white. "Melted…I could feel the heat from the trees." Kristoff looked up and nodded towards the trees, Elsa and Ana both seeing the figure standing there partially hidden in the shadows now.
Both the girls watched the figure cautiously for a moment before Elsa stood up and took a few small steps in his direction, watching the figure take half a step away at her advance, "I won't hurt you, just come out and talk" the Queen encouraged, curiosity plaguing all her thoughts. Could someone actually be somewhat like I am?
"I think it would be best if I didn't," he replied, a cautious and slightly worried look showing in his eyes through the trees, "it only ends in trouble."
Elsa's brows furrowed in confusion, trouble? What could that mean? "Well…you must be freezing out here. At least come back to the kingdom until the weather is better?"
Elsa and the others with her heard a low chuckling from behind the trees, "I can assure you I'm not cold."
Ana climbed to her feet and walked to her sisters side, leaning her elbow against one of Elsa's shoulders in a relaxed way; ever since Elsa returned to the kingdom both of them had become quite close. Kristoff sighed as she went over, following behind her in a more protective matter and standing beside her, "Ana don't start anything," he warned quietly.
"I won't! I just want to have a word with whoever melted Olaf is all" the princess responded. Ana looked over at the dark figure in the trees, narrowing her eyes a bit, "you don't seem too tough to me, hiding behind some pieces of wood. Just come out and at least talk face to face."
After a moment of silence they watched as the man emerged from behind the trees and leaned against one with his arms crossed, eyeing Ana for a minute, "alright I'm here, what do you want?"
Both the sisters just stared at him for a moment before Ana leant up and whispered quietly into Elsa's ear, "weird clothes."
Kristoff elbowed Ana lightly in the ribs for her comment as Elsa nodded slightly and looked the dark clothes over before letting her eyes examine his face, finding herself mesmerized by his eyes. She looked away quickly as his eyes flicked in her direction and met her ice blue ones, feeling a weird rush of heat to her cheeks. She let a quick icy chill rush through her body before lifting her head again, her cheeks devoid of the slight blush they'd just had. Elsa watched the strange mans' skin turn a light orange briefly before quickly going back to normal again, deciding to speak up after a minute, "I'm Queen Elsa of Arendelle, what's your name?"
He merely watched the small group before replying in a tense tone, "Ash." It was as simple as that, nothing else.
"…Where do you come from, Ash," Elsa asked after a minute of awkward silence.
"Another kingdom, it's not near here," he replied casually, kicking at the snow under his feet.
Elsa nodded a little, watching him kick at the snow, "can you tell me how you melted my friend?" she pressed, the curiosity almost too much to bear.
"No."
Elsa was taken aback by his abrupt answer, not used to anyone talking to her in that tone, "excuse me?"
"I said no, I can't tell you how I melted that...snowman."
"And why not?" Ana chimed in, the redhead marching through the snow till she was right in front of Ash, "What authority do you have to talk to my sister that way?"
Elsa and Ana both watched as the strange man smirked, "I don't, little red" he replied in a relaxed tone while referring to her hair, Kristoff narrowing his eyes at the comment, "but what I said was true; I can't tell you how I did it, and I still wouldn't even if I could."
Ana glared at him, crossing her arms while Elsa stepped forward and looked at Ash as his eyes turned back to her, "all that matters is that it doesn't happen again" the Queen spoke softly, giving Ash a slightly warning look "to anyone in Arendelle."
Ash gave a curt nod, looking down at the white haired Queen, "I'll do my best, your Highness." A slight smirk played on his lips as he turned and started making his way back into the thick forest, his feet dragging easily through the snow until he was out of the small groups view.
Kristoff scratched his head before looking down at Ana and Elsa, "maybe we should start heading back…" he said when he noticed Ana's slight shivering, Sven making his way over and nudging Kristoff's shoulder.
Elsa nodded absently, tearing her eyes away from the forest where Ash had gone into, Ana already climbing up onto Sven's back again. She couldn't get her mind off of the few things that Ash had said, all these things running through her mind as Kristoff helped her gently up onto Svens' back before he followed suit and the four began running back through the snowy forest back to Arendell.
Hey guys...so I'm SO sorry that this chapter took me so long to finish. I could make excuses (finals, school, life etc) but I try not to. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter and I'll try to get another one up as soon as I can. I'm working on some other things for fictionpress right now though so we'll see how I am at multitasking and fighting procrastination. See you soon! (hopefully)