Anna woke up groggily, instinctively trying to slide off her bed. But when her hand hit grass and leaves instead, she instantly bolt up, confused, unaware where she was.

Then she remembers. Oh yeah, training.

The forest, the night. Now she remembers.

She stood up and yawned, squinting her blurry eyes to see her surroundings. The forest was the same, abate brightly lit with the sun shining straight down on her. Her small camp was a mess of twigs and dry leaves. The fire was out and it appeared that it did not burn down anything thing important.

Wait. Something had changed. Next to her on a dried tree stump, was a small bundle tightly wrapped in leaves and bound with twine. Intrigued, Anna went over and unwrapped it carefully.

And it was rice. Something that Anna had tasted once in her life, dunked in sauce with chicken and mushrooms. And when the smell hit her, Anna's stomach grumbled like crazy. With a jolt, she realized that she had not eaten dinner.

Anna looked down at the food, and without a second thought, she began to wolf the rice. The sauce was salty and delicious, matching perfectly with the rice, chicken and mushroom. And the best thing is that the rice was still warm!

In seconds, the rice was gone.

Anna looked down sadly at the empty leaves in her hand, and noticed there are tiny scribbling on the leaves. Pulling the leaves close, she read:


This would be the last course that I would cook for you. There is a pack of equipment hidden in the tree stump. Further instructions could be found in the bag. I would be watching.


The man can cook? And how on earth did he get a pack in the tree trunk? And if he does, how was he sure that she would happen to rest next to it?

And the creepiest thing?

He was watchingggg!

Looking around uncomfortably, Anna can see no trace of the man. Not on the trees, not in the bushes, not anywhere that she could see. But yet she can feel his presence, his eyes observing...

Anna unconsciously shivered, but otherwise she went on with her given task.

She went to the stump, and started groping about it, and it proved quite fruitless. The surface was smooth and shining, evidentially the tree was chopped down instead of naturally snapping.

Come on! Use your brain! Anna stepped back and squinted at the trunk, running the words in her mind.

There is a pack of equipment hidden in the tree stump.

In the tree stump... literally? Well, it must be. A pack... Well, it could be camouflaged!

And Anna started to grope at the stump again for a few minutes.

And once again it proved incredibly fruitless.

Seriously, what was in this damn stump? For a moment, Anna considered whacking at it with a piece of sharp rock or something.

WAIT A MOMENT!

That 'tree stump' wasn't here yesterday... or was it?

Gingerly, Anna knocked on the wood, receiving a hollow knocking sound.

Seriously? Anna face palmed herself.

The tree stump is a lie?

All that trouble just to get her brain running?

With barely hidden contempt, she roughly flipped the 'tree trunk' over.

Sure enough, it was hollow. And inside, was a bag.

After pulling the bag out and giving the 'tree stump' a good hearty kick for good measure, she noticed a note pinned to the bag.


If you took one minute to solve this puzzle, then you are normal. Any more than that then you are stupid. Now, your next task is to catch your lunch. You have two options: go spear some fishes in the river nearby or set up traps to catch some wildlife. Or both. The instructions and equipment for making and using the snares and spears are in the bag.

Once again, I'm watching you.


...

So now what? Is she classified as 'STUPID' now? How dare he insult her like that! So he is 'watching'?

With that, she let out a stream of swears and curses that she had ever heard in her life.

Kristoff-

He checked his map again, frowning. Some while ago he was pretty sure he went passed the Throne of Kings, as according to the map. But now, he saw another boulder that resembles the Throne of Kings.

So which is which?

Well, it doesn't matter much, because the village he was supposed to visit was like at the end of the road he was on. So what ever.

Kristoff folded up his map and sighed. He looked up and at the sky, the sun that seemed to be literally soaring across and the endless trek that he was on.

Beneath him, Sven sighed too. Together, they are a rather strange figure. A man cladded in winter clothes, with a big back pack and pick axe strapped to his belt. And to sum it up he was riding a reindeer that seemed to be bored.

Well duh!

The trip was indeed boring as hell. On either side of the beaten path, were endless arrays of assorted trees, stones, occasional signposts, thousand-year old ruins and crypts. Not to mention the road itself was clear of any other living beings.

Time passed by, as Kristoff and his trusty reindeer friend slowly made their way to the village, only occasionally stopping to relieve themselves of their bulging bladder, until the sun finally sets and they were forced to make camp on the side of the road, somewhere secluded beyond.

Elsa-

Elsa's under-used muscle was aching, yet she was feeling more content than she ever felt before. Oh well, she hadn't actually done any physical exercises since she was locked away in her room ( save running all the way to North Mountain, on foot ).

She had discovered that she might have a talent for sword play. Her strikes and parries were accurate enough, at least for a beginner. When she complained that the ice sword was heavy ( it was heavy. Heavier than you might expect of a sword that size ), Robert had said, "Remember, the sword was made of ice. What was your power?"

"Over ice?" Elsa said, frowning.

"Exactly. Now since you have power over it, why can't you... hover it?"

"You are saying that I can somewhat guide the sword with my will?"

"Yes. Precisely. Go on. Give it a try."

And there goes the rest of the day, with Elsa being a lot happier.

At dinner, they had their discussions again. Robert suggested, "I had a idea. An outing, if you are willing."

"Go on, tell me."

"I noticed that you are naturally adept at casting and using magic, but the speed, the rapidness is not enough. You can not keep track of multiple instance of magic at work. I think that we should do something about that."

"Your suggestion...?"

"We, could go over to the garden, where you will control multiple ice shards flying through the air, hitting precise targets and such."

"Sure, why not? It will do well for me to learn."

"And also along with the swordplay practice, sigils making and such."

"So tomorrow would be a big day then."

"Tomorrow is Saturday, is it not? Is it possible for you to be away from your queenly duties for longer? It was because I felt that these sessions were a tad too short, and you seemed to enjoy it..."

"Well yes, I do. I will see if I can talk to Kai about it. Just maybe, no promises. But even so, tomorrow must be at normal time. Royal arrangements can not be changed so easily."

"I look forward to that day then. And also..."

"Yes?"

"All those moves I showed you, try to see if you can... freeze them with magic into your mind. Can't believe that I hadn't asked you to test that out yet."

"'Freezing'?"

"Like using magic to code the memories inside your mind. See you can do it later with your sword, for generally it seemed to only when you are actually performing the move. Some people can do it some can not. My magic was somewhat... physical," Robert said, not please with the word he finally came up with, "Well, what I mean is that my magic was based on the human body strengthening and regenerating. So luckily, the 'freezing' part was also counted in."

"Okay... I will make sure to do that when I got the chance."

"Good." Robert stood up from the table, and folded his used cloth on the table, "In that case, I guess we would know tomorrow, wouldn't I?"

"Yes, we would." Elsa said quietly, as she watched him excusing himself and leaving through the double doors.

Anna-

Anna fumed silently as she set next to her fire, slowly roasting her roughly plucked and cleaned wild chicken, as darkness slowly overtook the forest. Her arms and legs were bruised, and everywhere is aching.

During this day, she had reached several embarrassing and frankly awkward moments. Which was listed below:

1. take a dump.

2. clothes ripping.

3. everything soaked.

4. nearly got sprayed by a skunk.

But then, what can she do?

She glanced at her newest sheet of note again, and the instructions on it. Climb the tree, it plainly said. And just so far it was still an unreachable goal.

Don't think to much. As Kristoff always said: Just do as you were told and you would be fine!

Probably.