Greetings readers, here's a hopefully longer chapter than seven, and a much more enjoyable read. Have a good day!

Frozen characters belong to Disney.


8.

Journey

Anna's POV

"Is that everything?" I asked Kristoff before hopping up onto the sleigh. He tightened a rope and patted Sven's rump, then joined me in the front seat.

"I believe so," Kristoff said, pulling out the note we'd received earlier. He read over it again while my eyes scanned the horizon. The sun was just now peeking up over the trees. My heart hurt. We had to find Elsa.

"Olaf, are you coming?" I shouted a little. The little snowman was nowhere in sight, but at the sound of his name, he came waddling around the stable door. He clambered up into the second seat of the sleigh, giggling adorably.

"Of course I am. We have to find Elsa," he said with an affirmative nod.

"Kristoff, let's go," I ordered, reaching for Sven's reigns.

"You still don't tell him what to do," Kristoff huffed with a smile. He nodded at Sven though, and the reindeer was off. Kristoff was going over every detail of the map in an almost excruciating manner. Olaf had decided to take a nap, so I had no one to talk to.

"Kristoff, are we there yet?" I asked, trying to reach over and get a look at the map. He put his hand on my face and gently pushed me away. I gave him a look.

"Anna, relax. It's going to take us a couple of hours to get there." He didn't look up from the sheet. Whatever was on that thing was puzzling him. "I know this place," he said quietly.

I blinked. "Well, where is it? Is it far? Do you know if that's where they could have Elsa?"

Kristoff remained quiet. He leaned back in his seat, sighed, and folded the map up. "Anna, can I tell you a story?" he asked softly, looking at me.

"Um, sure, I guess," I replied, tilting my head in curiosity.

"Well, I, I haven't told you about what happened when I was little. Before I found Sven and the trolls. You never asked, and I never brought it up, because I didn't think it was important. I didn't think you needed to know. But it's where I came from. And my family, the story of, us, I guess..." His voice trailed off and he scratched his head. I leaned over to kiss his cheek and hold his hand.

"It's okay, Kristoff," I said softly.

"So, here goes, but, I can't promise it's a story you'll enjoy." He gave me a halfhearted grin. "A long time ago, there was a village called Lavvu. It was nestled into the mountains to the east of Arendelle. It had been there for decades. It was home to ice harvesters, hunters, and tradesmen. Many families lived there. It wasn't as big as Arendelle, but, it certainly wasn't small either. One of the ice harvesters there had a family. He had a wife, a son, and a baby daughter. When his son was old enough, he was going to take over the father's position as ice harvester. Everything was looking up for the family. On the son's fifth birthday, they gave him a pet reindeer. It was tradition."

Kristoff took a breath. "One day, though, something changed. When the family woke up, there was a massive earthquake. The mother and father ran out with some of the other adults in the village. Before they could even realize it, an avalanche overtook them. The little boy watched, holding onto his reindeer; the little sister was too young to realize what was happening. The boy stayed by the window. All he could see was snow. He couldn't get the door open, either. He tried. He thought about breaking the windows but realized the snow would poor into the home and make it even colder than it already was. Within the first two days, the daughter passed away in her bed. The little boy tried his hardest to find a way out. With the help of his pet, the pair started tearing up the floorboards of the small cabin. They dug. More days passed. The little boy and his reindeer survived on carrots that had been stored away for the winter."

I was understanding where this was going. It was beginning to make my heart ache. For a brief minute, I forgot we were in the middle of a crisis and I just wanted to hug Kristoff. I refrained though. We were getting deeper into the woods that covered the mountains.

"Eventually, the little boy started getting tired. He would sleep. He couldn't dig as much as he could to begin with. The hole he and the reindeer had been working on was going nowhere. On the last day he dug at all, he hit some rocks. He fell back crying, fingers bleeding. The reindeer tried to headbutt the rocks, but he failed, too." Kristoff's voice was getting lower. I could feel myself start to cry. I leaned against him and he wrapped an arm around me.

Then, suddenly, Kristoff smiled. "Out of nowhere, the boy felt the ground move again. He thought it was another earthquake. He panicked, backing into his reindeer, and before he could climb out of the hole, the rocks moved. They were two young trolls who had fallen asleep. When they moved, they revealed that the rest of the tunnel went on. They took the little boy and the reindeer down the tunnel, to their family. It wasn't long at all until the trolls decided to adopt the boy and his reindeer, when they realized what happened. They took the little boy in. He became their son." He was still smiling as he let go of Sven's reigns and hugged me tightly.

"After a year or so, Cliff and Bulda realized that it wasn't healthy for me to live without exposure to other humans. Sven and I explored on our own a lot, and eventually we bumped into another group of ice harvesters. We'd follow them around, and learn from them. I learned how to do the job while still living with the trolls. When I was old enough, my ice trips grew longer. I'd stay away from home for longer periods of time, but, they were always just, 'home' for me," he finished. He looked at me. I was trying my hardest not to bawl.

"Kristoff, I...I'm sorry," I whispered softly, burying my face back in his chest. He continued to hold me, but the sled stopped. Sven let out a neigh of sorts, and Olaf stirred from the back. I peeked out. We were stopped in the middle of an abandoned village.

Before we got off the sled, Kristoff spoke. "It's okay, Anna. I'm okay. We're okay. It was a long time ago and I'd not change a thing." He smiled, kissing my forehead, then dismounted the sleigh. I took a look around.

"It's so..." I began, but Olaf cut me off.

"Sad-looking...Kristoff, we need to make this place look happier." Olaf waddled off in one direction while Kristoff unhooked Sven's harness.

"Well, the house that used to be mine looks a lot happier than this. Come on, it's over this way," he said, patting Sven's neck. "I come up here sometimes on my ice runs. If I ever stay out late, well," he looked back over his shoulder at me, "I'll rest here. I've fixed up the cabin and tried to fix the other homes as well. When I first made my journey back here, it was still mostly covered in snow." He looked around, as did I. "Never found anything though," he pondered.

We approached one cabin in specific. Kristoff looked at me. "The map led us here, but didn't mark a specific place." He moved to open the door, but stopped himself. It had been barred from the outside; keeping something in.

"Elsa?!" I impulsively cried out. There was no response. Kristoff threw the bar off the door and barreled through it. I couldn't speak out of shock, but as Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, and I looked about the room, we just knew. The bed had been moved and there was a hole in the floor.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Kristoff said, darting towards the hole. "Let's go find your sister!"