So a quick note. I screwed up yesterday and briefly posted this chapter as Chapter 5 instead of Chapter 6. It was only up for about a half an hour but, if you read it in that time and are confused as to why it's today's update as well, that's the reason. If you haven't already, make sure you go back and read the real Chapter 5 now, since I swapped them out yesterday after I realized my mistake. Alright then, now that that's cleared up, enjoy!
Anna rose bright and early, awakened by the unusual chill in the air around her. For a moment she was confused as to where she was, before she blinked her eyes open and was met with the sight of the burned out ashes of last night's campfire and Kristoff sleeping beside her. The events of the previous day came back in an instant.
Anna stretched, feeling extremely cramped from having fallen asleep in a sitting position. As she raised her arms above her head, Kristoff's blanket slid off of her shoulders. She twisted herself around to retrieve it. In the morning light she could see that it was handmade, and obviously very old. She wondered if Kristoff had made it himself. She ran her fingers over the rough wool for a moment more, before folding the blanket up neatly and placing it beside her. She wondered if she would have been able to survive the night if she hadn't run into Kristoff. She hadn't been prepared for the extreme cold of the mountain. She didn't even know how to start a fire.
She stood and stretched again, grateful for the feel of the early morning sun on her skin. It was still very cold, but at a much more tolerable level. She glanced over at Sven, who was awake and watching her with sleepy eyes. She approached slowly, in case he was a bit grumpy in the morning, but when he showed no annoyance she moved closed and patted him on the head. "Good morning, Sven," she said, giggling as he grunted in reply.
Anna now turned her attention to Kristoff, who was sleeping so soundly she'd have thought him dead if she didn't know better. She glanced around, suddenly eager to get moving again. She wasn't keen on the idea of waiting for Kristoff to wake on his own.
First she tried tapping her foot. When that didn't do the trick, she cleared her throat loudly, but still he didn't stir. With a grunt of frustration she dropped to her knees, placed a hand on each of Kristoff's shoulders, and began to shake. "Come on, get up!" she said enthusiastically.
Kristoff snorted and then startled awake. He sat up so quickly that his forehead collided with Anna's, and they both reeled back, rubbing their quickly-forming bruises. Sven appeared to be laughing at them from his vantage point a few feet away.
"Ow, that is not the kind of wake up call I prefer in the morning," said Kristoff, the aggravation in his voice plainly obvious. He glanced up at the sun to check its position and then said, "Why are you up so early anyway? We can at least get another couple of hours."
Kristoff rolled over, as though to go back to sleep, but Anna shook him again, ignoring his grunt of frustration. "No come on, the sun's awake, so I'm awake!" she said, laughing. The words felt familiar on her tongue, though she was fairly certain she'd never spoken them before. Kristoff finally gave up, rubbing his eyes as he grudgingly pulled himself up into a sitting position.
"Great you're awake!" Anna chirped, getting back to her feet, "Then let's get going!" She bounded toward the sled before Kristoff could protest.
Kristoff watched her through bleary eyes. After a moment, he turned to Sven and said, "I hate morning people."
A few minutes later found the three of them back on the road, munching some breakfast as the sun rose higher in the sky. The Snow Queen's castle was in view in the distance now. Kristoff had been quiet since they'd set off, though whether this was due to nerves or exhaustion Anna could only guess. She was beginning to feel a bit apprehensive herself, but there was no way she was going to turn back until she'd learned the truth about the existence of the Snow Queen.
As they drew closer and closer and the castle came into clearer view on the horizon, Anna found herself marveling at it. Kristoff's eyes seemed to have gone wide with appreciation as well. Looking at the detail and the vast intricacy of the structure, there could be no doubt that any force but magic had created it. Anna felt the fear inside of her lessen slightly. How evil could the Snow Queen be if she could create such a thing of beauty? Beside her, Kristoff seemed to have relaxed a bit as well.
They were very close now. As Anna began running different courses of action through her mind, she noticed that they'd veered off and were headed somewhere to the left of the castle. She gave Kristoff a questioning look, to which he responded, "What? Do you want to just waltz up the front steps and knock on the door? Don't you think we should be careful and see what we're dealing with instead of charging in blind?"
Anna nodded at this. She supposed Kristoff had a point. She couldn't imagine climbing up the long, frozen staircase to the front door, exposed and vulnerable and not sure what lay on the other side.
As they were continuing their ascent up the side of the mountain, a strange sound suddenly made its way to Anna's ears. She could swear the ground had just rumbled slightly beneath them. She tugged at Kristoff's arm, "Did you hear that?" she asked, glancing around them in all directions.
"No, what're you-" Kristoff began, but he stopped short as the rumbling came again, slightly louder this time. He and Anna sat up straight and looked at each other, suddenly on high alert. Sven slowed his pace and then skidded to a halt.
The rumbling was growing louder now, as though something were drawing closer to them. Anna was glancing around in all directions in search of the source when, suddenly, she spotted it. It was lumbering towards them at a speed that seemed slightly unnatural for its size. At first, Anna didn't know what she was looking at, but as it drew closer she realized it was some sort of monster that appeared to be made entirely of snow and ice.
Kristoff had seen it too by now. In a shaky voice he said, "Oh my-," but then, switching gears from bewildered to urgent, shouted, "Sven! Go!"
The reindeer didn't have to be told twice. Spinning around in the opposite direction, Sven began pulling with all his might. The sled swung around, teetering dangerously to one side before righting itself with a thump that caused a few logs to go rolling off the back. Anna nearly went flying off as well, but Kristoff grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back down into her seat.
They were practically flying now, the combined strength of Sven and the downhill slope of the mountain propelling them, yet they still seemed unable to shake the snow monster from their tail. Then, without warning, one of the sled's runners collided with a large rock or a piece of ice. At their current speed, the effect was enormous. The entire sled lifted up to the right and then flipped over onto its side. It skidded down the slope past Sven, pulling him off of his feet and dragging him along until the snow piled up in front enough to slow it to a halt. Anna and Kristoff went rolling off into the snow, along with the sled's entire contents, and lay dazed for a moment from the impact.
Anna shook her head, trying to right herself after the unexpected tumble. It only took her a moment to realize that the rumbling had grown louder than ever. She looked up to find that the snow monster was closing in on them rapidly, there was only a few yards' distance left between them.
Anna grabbed at Kristoff's arm in a panic, trying to drag him back to his feet. "Kristoff, we have to go!" she shouted, unable to take her eyes off the snow monster barreling towards them. She finally succeeded in pulling Kristoff up out of the snow and began to run down the mountain with him in tow, but she was dragged backwards as he stopped short behind her.
"Sven!" Kristoff shouted. Looking back, Anna could see that the reindeer was still tangled in the reigns beside the sled, trying desperately to free himself. Kristoff ran towards his friend and Anna followed, unwilling to leave either of them behind. They began pulling at the reigns, but the panic that had set in over them made their movements clumsy, and the reigns were too tangled to be set right with nothing more than a bit of frantic tugging.
The snow monster was nearly on top of them now. There was no way for the three of them to get out of the way in time. The monster raised a fist high in the air, as though it were about crush them. Anna raised her hands in front of her face in a futile effort to protect herself, and in her panic she registered that Kristoff had moved in front of her. Time seemed to freeze for what seemed like forever as the snow monster began to bring it's enormous fist down in their direction.
And then, suddenly, it was gone. With almost no warning, the snow monster exploded into a thousand tiny snowflakes, which drifted down to settle on Kristoff, Anna and Sven like a light frost. They stayed frozen in their defensive positions for a few moments more, before Anna lowered her hands and tried to take in what had just happened.
As the snow began to settle, a figure came into view from behind where the snow monster had stood only moments before. She seemed to be a few years older than Anna, with pale skin and platinum blond hair. One of her arms was outstretched, as though she were reaching for something, and her eyes were wide and fearful. It took Anna a few moments to process who this woman was, or where she had come from, before it hit her like a ton of bricks.
The Snow Queen.
Suddenly alert again, Anna jumped from the place where she'd been kneeling in the snow. Looking around for a weapon, she reached down to grab one of the pieces of lumber that had fallen from the capsized sled. She staggered a bit from the unexpected weight at first, but finally managed to lift and wield it in front of her like a sword.
"Stay back!" she shouted. The snow monster had clearly been this woman's creation, and it had attacked and almost killed Anna and her friends. Anna was breathing heavily, unsure what she intended to do with a block of wood against a snow witch, when she took note of the look on the Snow Queen's face.
The woman didn't seem malicious. In truth she seemed more afraid than Anna did. The Snow Queen lowered her outstretched hand and began to back away. "I-I'm sorry," she said, clearly shaken, "I didn't mean- I didn't know-." She couldn't seem to find the words to express what she wanted to say.
Anna lowered the block of wood slightly, the tension going out of her. She looked at the Snow Queen again and a realization dawned on her.
"It was you." she said, letting the block of wood drop back into the snow at her feet, "With the wolves. Yesterday in the forest."
The Snow Queen stopped backing up for a moment and looked back at Anna as though seeing her for the first time. She clearly hadn't recognized her at first either. Anna decided to take advantage of this moment of silence. This woman didn't seem dangerous, and Anna still needed her help.
"Please, I was hoping you could help me," she said, taking a tentative step forward. Even this single step seemed to set the Snow Queen on alert again. She took another step back herself, but did not respond. Anna decided to keep speaking, "My name is Princess Anna of Arendelle, and I was hoping..." Anna trailed off at the look on the Snow Queen's face. She looked as though she'd seen a ghost. Her eyes were wide and her breath was coming far too quickly. If she'd seemed frightened before, now she seemed absolutely terrified. Before Anna could say anything more, the Snow Queen turned tail and ran.
"Hey! Wait!" Anna shouted, stretching out her hand and running a few steps, but it was no use. There was a swirl of snow and wind, and the Snow Queen had vanished.
So I really enjoyed writing this chapter, particularly the last bit, and I hope you liked it too. Thanks again for your continued reviews and support, they're very much appreciated, as always. See you soon with the next one.