Burn Chapter 7

"Anna's gone!"

Elsa's eyes widened and her heart ached as she took in the young man standing outside her bedroom door. Kristoff's hair was askew, from sleep or frustrated pulls she wasn't sure, his breath was coming in sharp gasps and his eyes were what she could only describe as wild and she knew that he was about to hyperventilate. Ignoring her own panic, she placed her hand on Kristoff's shoulder.

"Calm down Kristoff. We'll find her."

She was slightly surprised that her words had no effect on him and instead of calming down, he held out his clenched hand, a paper scrunched up inside. Slowly she took her hand from his shoulder and held it out. As his stiff fingers let loose, she winced as his knuckles popped, and she had the vague feeling that she already knew what the note said. Her suspicions were confirmed as she read the short note and her head snapped up to look at Kristoff.

"Go get Sven and the horses ready. I'll go get Rapunzel and Flynn."

Without waiting for a response she ran passed him and headed down the hallway. Ignoring the fact that she was indecently dressed for a queen, she ran by the staring staff members and quickly reached the door to her cousin's room. She knocked briefly before entering and quickly covered her eyes. The couple was sprawled out on the bed completely naked albeit snuggled close together. The two quickly jerked awake no doubt due to her loud burst into the room and quickly covered themselves with the sheet.

"What the hell Elsa?!" Flynn yelled as he attempted to save his wife's decency.

"Anna ran away! We have to find her!"

The two immediately shot out of bed and began rummaging for clothes and Elsa hadn't even gotten the door shut to give them privacy before the door was once again jerked open and after accepting the cloak from Rapunzel and covering the three bolted down the hall toward the stables to meet up with Kristoff. However, when they got there they noticed that although the horses were there and saddled, the young man and his reindeer were nowhere to be seen. Instead they found Kai holding a sobbing Gerda.

"What in the world happened?!" Elsa said and placed a hand upon Gerda's back as a form of comfort.

Gerda sniffled and pulled away from her husband slightly before facing the queen.

"We were in the kitchens when we heard Kristoff tearing through the halls. We followed him out here and he told us that Anna ran away. When we saw how distraught he was w-we decided… w-we d-decided to…" Gerda's throat closed up and she gave another sob before shoving her face back into her husband's neck.

"Kai?" Elsa prompted softly.

"We probably should have told you this as well…"

With that, the man told the tale of Anna's powers as a baby and the couple that was lost in the fire that the young princess caused, all the while watching as the listener's faces became more and more grim.

"After we told him, Kristoff just ran off. I don't know where he went."

Elsa gave a huff and began rubbing her eyes, feeling a headache beginning to form.

"Great… now we have two missing people and their both emotionally unstable. You should have told us…"

The couple lowered their heads in shame and Elsa automatically felt her anger slide. They had their reasons for what they did and that was good enough for her.

"So… should we split up and try searching for them?" Rapunzel asked looking between the other members of the group.

"You do what you want." Elsa said. "If Kristoff wants to run away from his problems, then that's up to him… well technically Anna did that too… these two are going to drive me to drink. Anyway, I'm going after Anna."

Without another word, Elsa swung up on her horse and urged her horse into a canter.

Flynn and Rapunzel looked at each other silently trying to decide what to do.

"I think Kristoff needs someone right now. He must be really upset." Flynn finally said. "But I don't know if we should let Elsa go alone."

Rapunzel nodded in agreement but they both were unable to come up with a possible solution to their problem.

"Gerda and I can go look for Elsa and Anna…" Kai put in hesitantly.

Flynn automatically shook his head.

"No we need someone here to watch after things."

Flynn began pacing, obviously thinking about the possible solutions and seeming to be getting nowhere before his wife chimed in.

"I think we should hurry and find Kristoff and then try to catch up with Elsa."

He stopped his pacing and looked at his wife. She was fidgeting from nerves but staring at him with a determination that he learned meant her mind was set. Knowing she wouldn't budge and unwilling to leave her, he finally sighed and nodded before reaching for the two remaining horses.

"Which way did he go?"

Elsa

As she urged her horse through the streets of Arendalle toward the edge of town, the various people began to wake and emerge from their homes. They began staring at her in confusion as well as being slightly appalled as they took in her appearance. Her wild hair and blue nightgown was the last thing that they expected their queen to be in. However she couldn't bring herself to care as her thoughts continued to wander to her sister.

Without any warning, a figure jumped out in front of her and threw his arms out. With a startled gasp she pulled back on her horse, making the black stud rear up in protest and nearly topple backwards. When the horse safely landed back on the ground she saw Kenneth and irritation instantly ran through her.

"What the hell Kenneth?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" As the horse continued to prance around nervously, Kenneth grabbed the bit and rein and Elsa lovingly stroked the horse's withers.

"I didnae peg you as being one for running around in yer nightdress. Wha' I the world is goin on lass?"

She watched as Kenneth began stroking the horse's muzzle as an extra attempt to calm him down and she noticed his appearance for the first time. Black pants and boots, white shirt and a nasty black and blue bruise on his lip accompanied by a cut on his lip.

"What in the world happened to you?"

"One of the lads wanted a fight. Don't change the subject! Something big must have happened for you to be running around showing that much skin."

Elsa looked down at herself and blushed. Her neck and shoulders were revealed, the slit in her nightgown showed off her calf and part of her thigh, and her slippers did little to cover her ankles. Quickly she pulled her cloak to cover herself and glared down at the man.

"Anna ran away. I need to go find her."

Kenneth's face automatically turned to one of concern, the image of the strange girl from last night popping in his brain, and before she could do anything he grabbed her ankle and removed it from the stirrup. Momentarily shocked at his action, she tried to get her pounding heart under control as he hoisted himself up on the saddle and settled himself behind her. After getting herself under control, she peered over her shoulder at him.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm goin wi' you lass."

He reached around her and gently took the reins from her. At the feel of his chest against her back, she bit her lip and grasped the saddle horn with both hands.

"I'm not gunna let you go alone. It could be dangerous."

Without another word he gently nudged her other foot out of the stirrup and replaced it with his own and then they were off. The two knocked against each other as the horse ran and soon Kenneth removed one of his hands from the reins and placed it against her stomach, pulling her against him and causing them to ride in sync.

Once they were on the outskirts of town, Kenneth slowed the horse to a walk and began to look around.

"Any idea where she would go?"

"I'm not sure…"

"Well, I saw a strange lass while I was at the pub last night and she headed in this direction. I dinnae know if it was her or no' but at least we have somethin' tae go on."

With that the two left Arendalle and headed toward the mountains.

Kristoff

Emotions ran through him like a hurricane. They jumbled together until he couldn't determine what was what. Sven trailed behind him as they walked through the woods, afraid to disturb the emotionally distraught boy.

She killed them… she killed my parents…

The fear that fueled his this morning gave way to shock, then anger, and finally just an all-consuming confusion. He suddenly stopped walking causing the reindeer to nearly knock into him, and he plopped down on the ground. Tears began to fall from his cheeks and he wrapped his arms around his knees as he tried to sort out his feelings.

Images of when he was a boy filled his mind. His parents telling him about the fire taking place at the palace, the feel of his mother's arms wrapped around him as she told him goodbye, and the image of his father standing by the door watching his family.

"We'll be back later tonight Kristoff. Stay inside and watch over Sven."

The last words his mother ever said to him rang through his mind and the tears increased. He remembered getting the news of his parent's death and deciding to stay with the other ice harvesters. Not that he actually ever settled with one family. He was always bounced from place to place and mostly taken care of himself. It wasn't until he found the trolls that he found a place where he truly felt happy and welcome.

All of those lonely days alone were because of Anna…

Anna's image found itself behind his eyes and his breath caught. She was looking at him with those big blue eyes and a smile on her lips. Different flashes of the girl danced before him; their meeting at the trading post, when he caught her in his arms at Elsa's castle, when his family of trolls tried to set them up, their first kiss, their heated moment in the stables, and her frightened face when she set the ball room on fire. His heart both broke and quickened as the memories invaded his mind and when he forced himself to calm down he finally was able to work through his emotions.

He hated her.

But he still loved her.

He gave a sigh and rubbed the few remaining tears from his eyes. He pulled the note Anna left from his pocket and reread it. With fear and anger coursing through him he finally stood, pocketed the note, faced Sven and climbed on his back.

"Ok Sven, we need to find Anna… and I think I know where she's going."

Anna

Blood pounded in her ears as she ran through the woods, the slight incline of the ground causing her legs to burn and her speed to decline. She heard the pounding feet and panting breath behind her and she forced herself to go faster, although she knew that it was probably a futile effort. The howling echoed throughout the trees and she knew it was only a matter of time before one of them caught her.

Her eyes darted around frantically trying to come up with a possible solution, however before any useful ideas could come to her she felt the wolf on her heels. She felt the massive hound lunge and with a fearful cry the two crashed to the ground. She frantically struggled as she felt his claws tear at her clothing and somehow managed to get onto her back. Her breath caught as she and the wolf made eye contact and somehow she knew exactly what he was thinking.

I am going to kill you now… You're dead!

Suddenly the wolf gave a low growl before lunging for her throat with his razor sharp teeth. With a choked cry she threw out her hand against the wolf's chest in a desperate attempt to throw off the creature. When the creature's excruciating weight suddenly left her body and painful yelps filled the air, she quickly sat up and scrambled away from the sight before her. The wolf was withering on the ground in pain as flames engulfed it. The animal's fur melted away and soon the skin joined it. Suddenly she wished that it was night so the image wouldn't be quite as seeable. As the other wolves whined and ran away, Anna quickly decided to follow suit and once again sprinted up the mountain, trying to block out the slowly fading cries of the animal behind her.

Once she felt that she was safe she stopped and leaned against a tree, gasping for breath. She leaned her head back against the rough bark and looked up at the sky. The sky was clear and birds were chirping happily, confirmation that she was now safe, but making her angry because they were happy and she wasn't. She dropped her head as her breath finally caught up with her, her hair falling around her face and down to her waist in soft waves. Slightly annoyed with it, she reached up to tuck it back when she noticed her hands. They were glowing red clear up to her wrists and seemed to be slowly moving up her arms. She jumped away from the tree in shock before carefully touching one finger to the bark. She was surprised when the tree didn't even begin to smoke. She touched a piece of her clothing as well, but once again found no reaction.

Figures, when I don't try to use my powers they appear, and when I try to use them they won't work…

With a frustrated sigh she tucked her glowing hands away and trudged on. After a short time, she looked up and gave a small sigh of relief when her goal came into view. The North Mountain, and Elsa's shining castle sitting right on top.