Anna exited the room postured with "sophisticated grace" as Elsa would have put it and silently made her way out of the crowd. Gerda and some others quickly scurried into the room to keep an eye on the queen. Kristoff was waiting a little separated from the group, nervously looking down at the wooden floor. Anna was unusually reserved for what had just occurred. She went over to Kristoff and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up concerned.

"Is everything alright?" He asked. Anna took in a deep breath raising her shoulders and then lowering them.

"Come with me," She led him out of the hallway and into the study. Kristoff was thoroughly confused. She sat him down on one of the couches. "We need to go into the forest," Kristoff looked at her weirdly.

"Why-" Anna looked at him, forcing to keep quiet with her icy glare. A strange similarity between her and Elsa was starting to appear. Kristoff was a little intimidated.

"Let me finish…sorry," Anna forced a faint smile. Then her expression became serious again. "We need to find a rare herb. It's supposed to help Elsa. If we don't get it quickly though, it could be too late. I need your help. You know where every nook and cranny is up in those mountains," Anna paused to smile a little at the thought of his expertise. "But I can't let too many people know where we're going. We can probably only trust Kai and Gerda to let us go. Still, we have to be careful…" Anna's thoughts started to trail off as she got off on a rambling tangent. Kristoff looked at her seriously. He got up and laid a hand on her shoulder to help her realize he understood. He still looked a little uncertain of the situation they were faced with. But if he had traveled such long distances with her before, what could one more journey hurt?

The commotion throughout the hallways was incredible. A servant was running down every aisle of the castle. The staff tried to maintain Elsa's predicament a secret, but word got out, and the town was going half insane. "Where is Queen Elsa? Is she alright? What happened to her?" The questions were running up and down the streets.

Anna was in her bedroom, preparing herself for a long journey. It was a little pathetic of her to feel so worried over getting a tiny leaf, but it was so much more than that. Not only would Elsa be saved, but she would also prove to her how capable she was of getting things done. As if the eternal winter being reversed wasn't enough, Anna was still the "little sister," the one who had "much to learn," and the little "baby," of the castle. Elsa often treated her like a child. An occasional snort from Kristoff when Elsa would say, "You're not old enough yet." It wasn't as if Anna was trying to be rebellious or asking for much. She just wanted some liberty. She was eighteen for crying out loud, not twelve.

She slipped on her boots and hung a worn satchel on her shoulder. It carried a map and a blanket. But it also carried the old folklore book that Olaf was reading. Even though Anna didn't want to believe in myths like evil spirits or sea monsters, she did have to consider the fact that she was journeying with a man who was raised by trolls. It made her a little nervous that she was bringing the book. She didn't want Kristoff to think she was crazy (even though he was right to think so), but she also didn't feel safe without it. Maybe there was some useful information inside of it.

Anna stared at herself in the mirror, almost glaring. Her blue eyes pierced her own reflection into pieces it seems. Her red braids fell in front of her shoulders so slyly. Why was her look so icy? Am I becoming more like Elsa? She thought to herself. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing to become more like her, but, well, she was fine being herself. Her evergreen dress suited her nicely. The heavy satchel hanging across her body made her seem like an adventurer. She liked that.

Suddenly, she was startled by a knock on the door. Her head snapped to the door. Urgency filled her mind. No one can see her leaving.

"Uh, I'm coming!" She said as she ran to her closet to hide the satchel. She made sure there was nothing out on her bed that could give away her plan. Then she lifted her shoulders with a deep breath and opened the door. It was just Kristoff. "Whew! You scared me!" Anna said as she invited him in. Kristoff looked confused.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked looking around disappointedly at the empty room. Anna silently grabbed the satchel again from her closet. She struggled a little with its weight but quickly hung over her and stood dead straight in front of Kristoff.

She smirked at him happily.

"I was born," Anna stated hopefully. They thought it was best to wait until everyone was asleep but they couldn't waste any time. So they sneaked through. They made their way through the halls without being questioned. Anna was scared they wouldn't be able to get Elsa help on time. She hoped that they would, but it just seemed so impossible. They were almost out of the castle and Anna halted.

"What's wrong?" Kristoff asked her confused. Anna stared at him for a second.

"I'll be back," She turned towards the stairs. She looked back at him. "Just don't leave for the mountains without me," she gave off a smile. Kristoff wasn't sure whether she was forcing it or not. Her smile always seemed so genuine. Anna headed back upstairs to Elsa's room. One of the servants almost saw her but she hid behind a wall before they could see her. Then she quickly slipped inside the room. She looked empathetically at her sister. "We're gonna help you, Elsa,"

The day was colder than usual. Anna wondered if it had anything to do with Elsa's sickness. She grabbed a saddle hanging from one of the stable doors and put it on her horse, Chestnut. Kristoff was prepping Sven and looked at Anna with a raised eyebrow.

"You ride horses?" He asked skeptically. Anna turned to see his judging expression and glared at him.

"Yes," She finished tying the saddle. "Is there a problem?" She pulled on the reigns and brought the horse forward, trying to look menacing. Kristoff scoffed lightly as he rolled his eyes. He turned back to his reindeer and took a bite out of the carrot sticking out of Sven's mouth.

"Not at all," Kristoff smirked. "Only, that reindeers are better than horses," Anna smiled and while Kristoff wasn't looking punched him in the back (rather hard without the intention of hurting him). Kristoff let out a small yelp.

"Ow! What was that for?" Kristoff said turning around irritated. Anna's smile faded slightly, although not fully, she was still quite amused.

"I guess my hand just slipped," She stood there awkwardly. "…Did it really hurt?" She hesitated as she asked this, with a look of pride on her face.

"No!" He stood up straight trying to act tough. Presumably, it wouldn't be necessary for a mountain man to "act tough," but when it was Kristoff, there was always room to act tougher than he was. They laughed at each other's reactions. Then out of nowhere Olaf popped up from a bail of hay (as per usual), and started a conversation full of Kristoff mumbling insults.

"Where are you guys going?" Olaf asked waddling over to Sven. Kristoff rolled his eyes.

"We have to find an herb-" Kristoff put his hand over her mouth. Anna mumbled trying to continue speaking. Then Kristoff quickly took his hand away from her mouth.

"Did you just lick me?!" Kristoff stepped a few paces away, quickly rubbing off any saliva Anna had left on his hand.

"Well you wouldn't uncover my mouth!" Anna smiled and continued explaining to Olaf what they were doing. "So, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," she glanced at Kristoff with a smile. "We have to find an herb for Elsa. She's sick and that plant is the only thing that can help her. But we have to hurry!" Anna became more serious at the thought of their circumstance.

"Can I come?" Olaf asked hopefully, then both at the same time Anna and Kristoff said different responses.

"Yes!"

"No!" Kristoff sighed exasperated for the long journey ahead. Anna smirked at him. He gave off a gentle smile.

Olaf rode behind Anna on Chestnut. The day was getting darker, quicker. The landscape became different shades of neutrality. A black sky filled the air, and the trees that were once beautiful red with sunlight shining through them, were now menacing towers cowering over them.

"The sky's asleep tonight," Olaf said disappointed. Anna looked up near the silhouettes and frowned a little to see that the Northern Lights were not there. Chestnut started getting tired and slowed down to a pace that could lull Anna to sleep. She dozed off every once in a while, touching against Chestnut's mane, returning to looking ahead with a straightened spine. Once again, she dozed off and would wake up when she hit the horse's mane. Her light snore humored Sven. Kristoff looked at him disapprovingly. He leaned closer to Anna's horse and gently tapped her on the shoulder. Anna jumped up to her stance on her horse and cleared her throat.

"You wanna rest a while?" Kristoff asked chuckling. Anna had dark circles under her eyes, she looked at him without really understanding what he said.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Anna wasn't paying attention.

"You seem tired," He said. Sven snorted in agreement.

"Pfft…no! I'm totally fine! I'm not a baby. I can stay up," Anna said defensively. It was ironic how big of a blatant liar she was. She was so obvious. About everything. Whether it was denying the fact that she would steal food in the middle of the night, or admitting that she had not been listening for the past ten minutes when Elsa was giving her a lecture, everyone saw right through her.

"Ok, suit yourself, Princess. But you could be using Sven's antlers as an arm rest, is all," Kristoff taunted. Anna observed how comfy Sven's antlers really looked. Maybe Kristoff was just bluffing. Maybe it was worth trying. Anna hesitated, but then swiftly asked.

"Uh…can I try?" Kristoff smirked at her and chuckled. They stopped near a tree to exchange horses-well reindeers, you know what I mean.

"Just make sure to ride Chestnut carefully. He can be a little anxious with new people," Anna warned him.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I've ridden a horse bef-" Kristoff stopped himself. He'd never ridden a horse before. He couldn't possibly imagine that a horse could be so different from a reindeer. Although it was Sven, that we were talking about. Not just a regular reindeer.

Anna yawned as she waited for Kristoff to help her onto Sven. He lifted her up and she propped her shoulders gently on Sven's antlers.

"Sven, you're such a good boy. You get a carrot," Kristoff threw the carrot into Sven's mouth. Anna snickered. Slowly she dosed off. It was rather quick considering Kristoff hadn't even gotten on Chestnut yet. He was very cautious. "Ok, boy…I'm just gonna…try and..." Kristoff hesitated getting on the horse. He didn't want anything going wrong. Although he was the ambitious type as a child, he became more and more afraid of his actions. Sven had started moving again, a snoring Anna leaning against him. Olaf was making his usual commentary.

"You're not doing a good job of riding that horse, Kristoff," Olaf said bluntly.

"Just…gimme a sec…I'll get the hang of it," He said, as he inspected the horse. Just as he seemed to have gotten the hang of it, he scared Chestnut. "Chestnut!" He tripped over. Anna woke up with the sound of Chestnut prancing off. She jumped startled by the commotion.

"I don't think that was good," Olaf added. Kristoff stood still in shock form what happened. Anna jumped off of Sven as she watched her horse ride off into the distance.

"There he goes again…" Anna said glumly.

"Anna…I'm so sorry…" Kristoff said looking down at the ground.

"Oh don't worry. He'll probably come back to the castle soon enough. I lost like that before. Such a scaredy cat-or horse. You know what I mean…" Anna caught herself mid-ramble and stopped herself. She yawned and peered through the dark forest. Kristoff was still slightly shocked at Anna's understated reaction. "Guess we better head off," Anna patted Sven gently with a smile. Kristoff set up everything so all were comfortable and Sven wasn't being pulled down by all the weight. That is, all except Olaf, who would almost always fall off Sven due to the lack of room.