Suri raced at top speed through narrow cliffs and tricky paths, pulling the sled with Krista at the reins and the Prince of Arendelle beside her. The reindeer had got newfound energy from the batch of apples Andy had so generously provided, going so fast Krista figured they'd reach the mountain soon. She was nervous going through a forest that was just all the darker thanks to the tall canopy of the trees.

"Hey, it's okay, you know." The Prince broke the silence.

"...excuse me?" Krista saw him picking at his new magenta cloak out of the corner of her eye.

"That you, uh, talk to yourself?" Andy said shyly. Krista pressed her lips together and focused on the path. Andy quickly added, "It's okay! I do it all the time. It's... comforting. Kinda heard you talking to...Suri in the barn. Yeah."

Krista shook her head and changed the subject, "So what caused the King to go all ice-crazy?"

"Hah! That's the second time!" Andy struggled to sit upright from his previous slouching, and raised an accusing mitten-covered hand at her.

"Second what?"

"Second time you've slipped up, mountain wom- Krista. I didn't tell you who or what had caused the eternal winter. How'd you know it was Elliott? You're hiding something from me, I can tell." Andy said. If her hands had been free Krista would have probably slapped herself. So the Prince was not as airheaded as he looked. "That's okay, though, I'll respect your reasons. I'll figure it out eventually," he smiled cheekily.

"What was my first giveaway?"

"You know me. I don't know how, but you recognized me-"

"Well, you are the prince-"

"No. Like, you knew knew me. I know what I'm saying, okay? Your eyes just... never mind. So let me tell you about my brother's meltdown... it was all my fault."

Krista tried not to give anything else away, but she remembered all those years ago; Andy's unconscious form after his brother had struck him with his powers. Thanks to Grand Pabbie he did not remember anything, but Krista did.

"Okay, go on," she told him.

"I met my soul mate today and we got engaged, and when I told Elliott he just- he freaked out! And then he had the nerve to say he wouldn't bless our marriage! And I-"

"Wait, wait, wait... you got engaged to someone you just met?" Krista said, incredulous. What?

"Yeah. Anyway, I got like real mad because, honestly, I wasn't asking for my weight in gold or anything impossible! So he got mad and wanted to do his classic storming out, that drama queen, and I wasn't about to have any of that! So I grabbed his glove-"

"Hang on! You mean to tell me you were gonna marry some stranger that made goo-goo eyes at you?!" that was probably really disrespectful, but Krista was astonished. What was wrong with royals?!

Andy didn't seem to mind, though. He rolled his eyes. "Yes, keep up. But the thing is... he wore those stupid gloves all the time. So I just figured he had a thing about germs and dirt, yeah? A neat freak, maybe..."

Krista rolled her eyes right back, "Didn't your parents ever warn you about strangers?"

"Yes..." Andy scooted a little away from her, looking her up and down, "Yes they did, mountain woman." He sighed like a love-struck teenage girl, "But Helena is no stranger!"

"Is that so?"

"It is so."

"Do you even know anything about her?" Krista wasn't about to humor him. In this matter, she agreed with King Elliott. An arranged marriage she could maybe understand, but Andy was jumping into things for no apparent reason. Was he doing it to make the King mad?... maybe. Krista didn't know enough to judge much.

"Helena's got lots of amazing qualities!"

"Oh, yeah?" Krista snorted, "Like what?"

"She can ride horses really well."

"Wow. Wife material right there." Krista chuckled, "What else?"

"She has 12 older sisters."

"What? Are her parents half rabbit?"

"Ha-ha. No."

"Seriously. That's a lot of children... she's royal, obviously?"

"Princess Helena, yeah."

"Huh. That's a lot of children to marry off... what's her last name?"

Andy hesitated, "Um. Of-the-Southern-Isles?"

"What's her best friend's name?" Krista was a bit surprised by how much she was enjoying the prince's company. She'd never expected it to feel so... normal. Like Andy didn't feel superior to her.

"Not Krista, rest assured."

"What if you hate the way she sings? What if you hate the way she snores? Have you had a real date yet?" teasing him was actually really fun. Krista added jokingly under her breath, "What if you hate the way she farts?"

"Wait- girls fart?" Andy looked shocked.

Krista scoffed, "Yes."

Talk about inappropriate subjects to discuss with none other than the prince. She felt the tip of her ears get warm.

Andy nodded slowly, "Well that's brand-new information. Thanks for that."

He didn't look revolted, like she'd expect some snooty people of his status would be. She wondered how Princes Helena would react to a conversation about farts. The thought almost made her giggle.

"But it doesn't matter! It's true love, so it's all good." Andy folded his arms in front of his chest, and Krista raised her eyebrows; he actually seemed to believe it.

"Sorry, but that doesn't sound like true love."

"Jeez, you sound like Elliott! You'd get along. You a part-time love expert, part-time ice harvester?"

She shrugged, "Nah. But I have friends who are."

Krista wondered if bringing up the trolls was a good idea. Could that trigger the prince's memory somehow? Get him to remember that fateful night?

But what did it matter, anyway? Andy knew his brother's secret. She might as well just tell him. But telling him would involve confessing that she had been there that night, and she wasn't sure about that.

"Your friends are love experts? Ha!" he slapped his thigh and pretended to crack up laughing, "I'd love to meet them!"

She'd been so distracted by the conversation she hadn't noticed Suri slowing down and then just completely stopping. In the middle of the path. The only light came from the lantern hanging to the side of the sled. The reindeer's ears perked up, she started pawing at the ground and making nervous noises.

"Prince Andy, can you be quiet-"

"No, no, no, I wanna know all about the love experts-"

She clamped a hand over his mouth, "Shh! I mean it," she hissed. She grabbed the lantern and squinted at the ominous forest, trying to make out the shapes in the dark. Andy batted her hand away and leaned over, trying to get a look for himself.

"What is it, girl?" Krista muttered at her reindeer, "Wolves?"

From behind a tree, a really large snowball with icicles for teeth appeared, twig arms bent at awkward angles. It blinked at them, and they blinked back.

"What the hell-" the Prince's eyes were wider than she thought humanly possible, as was his open mouth of horror.

"DON'T FEEL," the little monster said in a piercing voice, "CONCEAL IT."

"Suri, go. Go!" Krista swallowed the terror building up in her chest and tugged at the reins, Suri took off, and if she'd been a dog Krista was sure her reindeer's tail would have been between her legs.

"DON'T LET THEM KNOW!" the living snowball screamed after them, the chilly voice freaking out Krista to her core. From her peripheral vision she saw the snow monster dragging itself towards them with its arms.

"Ohmygodohmygoodnessholyshit," Andy had brought up his legs close to his chest, his arms were gripping the dashboard of the sled- trying not to fall off. Suri was going faster than ever before, her heavy panting and the snowman's wailing ringing in Krista's ears.

"Did Elliott create... that?" Krista said, her voice surprisingly calm compared to the distress she felt.

"I...well. I don't know. Probably. His power..." Andy held his fist close to his mouth, he would've probably been biting at his thumbnail if not for the mittens. "He can create life..." For some reason he was holding that ancient book about Arendelle like it was his lifeline. He kept glancing down at it, as if wanting to read it, but with the speeding sled and the dark it would have been impossible.

"What did that thing mean by 'don't feel?' 'don't let them know'?" Krista said nervously, the snowball's screams getting further and further away.

"I don't know! And conceal what? Why would Elliott create such a thing- LOOK OUT!"

Krista turned her head just in time to see a lot more of those snowy little abominations emerging from the forest on either side, all of them glinting eyes and sharp ice teeth. Most of them looked like they'd been trampled and lazily but back together, they were just poorly made.

A nightmarish chorus of screams and cold laughter came from the living snowmen pack. One of them actually managed to jump at them, but Krista knocked it away with a hard kick, making it come apart into a sad pile of snow. The twig arms that were left on the ground were still twitching though.

"Prince, uh- there's a torch on the back. Can you maybe-"

Andy was already on it, he hopped to the back of the sled and grabbed her torch, made it back up front, and lit it with the lantern's already burning fire. He made a wide arc with the flaming torch and the snowmen that were advancing on them hissed at the heat. They retreated a little, but the bolder ones still came close and all Andy had to do was get it near them so they started to melt.

Suddenly the world became a lot brighter. They were out of the dark forest, at last- the trees didn't hide the light anymore. Krista exhaled with relief, the beginning of dawn made things a lot less scary. Suddenly Suri cried out in alarm and Krista's eyes went wide- there was a massive gorge ahead. A huge drop down, and even though the snow at the bottom was fresh, they probably would not survive it if they fell.

Suri could make the jump.

Not with the sled though, Krista thought sadly. She took the torch from Andy, handed him a satchel with supplies, and gestured at Suri, "Get on her back, now."

"No way! I'm not-"

"Not asking," Krista retorted, and with effort and brutish force she picked up the prince and managed to place him onto Suri. She unhooked Suri's harness from the sled, and with her other hand managed to put out the torch by burrowing it on a crazy living snowball that had caught up and launched itself right to her waiting fire.

"Get ready to jump Suri!" she called, and looked over her shoulder, at the small army of snowmen that were sliding through the snow towards them. Without the sled slowing her down, Suri charged ahead.

"A KINGDOM OF ISOLATION!" the garbled speech of one called.

Krista forced herself to look away. Suri easily made the jump, getting the Prince safely across. Good. She grabbed a few last-minute things and- there. At the bottom of the sled.

Arendelle: A History

The gold letters caught her eye. She bit her lip. Andy had seemed to really cherish that old thing. She quickly snatched it up, and just in time the sled left the ground. But it was losing momentum fast.

Without thinking she leapt off, using the dashboard as a launching pad. She flapped her arms, desperately trying to reach the other side. She almost didn't make it. Almost.

Andy's firm grip caught her arm, kneeling by the snowy cliff. He smiled, "Hello."

"Pull me up!" she shrieked, clawing at his arm and kicking her dangling legs.

Grunting, the Prince pulled them both to safety. Krista collapsed face down in the snow, breathing heavily. Behind her several angry snowmen cried out in outrage:

"THE COLD IS PART OF ME."

"LET IT GO. COULDN'T KEEP IT IN."

A group of them started to chant:

"YOUR FUTURE IS BLEAK!

YOUR KINGDOM WILL SPLINTER!

YOUR LAND SHALL BE CURSED WITH UNENDING WINTER!"

"BEWARE THE FROZEN HEART."

Krista sat up immediately, recognizing the last part. That was part of the ice harvester's song, what they sang in the mountains. How did those little buggers know the lyrics?

She twisted herself around to see the mob of snowmen at the other side, and noticed there were less and less. And then she saw why. Several of them plummeted to their deaths trying to jump the huge gap. They were scary as hell, but not very smart.

She carefully crawled to the edge and saw, with a wince, the splintered mess of wood that had once been her beautiful hickory sled. She felt an unpleasant warmth behind her eyes. She'd just paid that off!

"I am so sorry," Andy said, suddenly also peering down right next to her. "I'll replace your sled, I promise! And everything in it- oh," he patted his chest, and then his pant pockets, "Where is it?!"

"This wouldn't fit there," Krista sighed, exhausted, and held up the book she'd rescued from the doomed sled.

"Thank you!" Andy took it from her hands, his face lit up with excitement. He hugged it close to his chest and grinned at her, with those green eyes that looked even better in the light of day. "Krista I-" he caught himself and pursed his lips. "I'm sorry. I didn't know about those-" he pointed with his chin at the last suicidal snowman that jumped off and joined the others at the bottom of the ravine.

Krista mentally thanked every deity she knew for those things finally shutting up.

"It's- It's fine." She managed, and then Suri was beside her, licking the side of her face happily. "A little adventure never hurt nobody."

• • •

They sat like that for a while, probably just glad they were alive, a calmness over them that didn't fit with what had just happened. Andy propped himself up on his elbows, the precious book he'd almost lost on his lap. He had half a mind to just read it, but there were other things occupying his attention right then.

Elliott, his darling brother, had created a bunch of homicidal snowmen. On accident, on purpose? Let them loose so Andy didn't find him? And what was up with all the random statements? He tried not to let it bother him, but everything those snowmen had said bothered him. Especially that last group that had said in unison:

YOUR FUTURE IS BLEAK!

YOUR KINGDOM WILL SPLINTER!

YOUR LAND SHALL BE CURSED WITH UNENDING WINTER

He chewed his lip and looked at Krista, who had been quiet, one hand scratching the back of Suri's head. At first he'd thought she seemed a little mean and kinda rude, back at Olga's T.T and the barn, but she'd proved him otherwise. Maybe they could actually be friends, she seemed like the type he'd like to be friends with, maybe. He didn't really have a lot of friends.

She'd lost her hat along the way, and he remembered the blonde hair whipping behind her as they sped through the forest- wait, what? He shook his head. He'd stared at Krista to last a lifetime, probably. But there was just something, like, she was so tiny but she'd still easily scooped him up and placed him on Suri's back and she harvested ice for a living and her best friend was a reindeer and she was so young to be on her own... His age maybe?

He let out a puff of air, his face flushed. His thoughts were all over the place. Stop. Instead he focused on how much his body ached, how hungry he was, what was Helena doing? And the rest of Arendelle. Yes, them too.

He hoped with every fiber of his being other snowmen- if there were any more- had not made it to the village. He grimaced, imagining the panic and chaos that would follow.

"Apple?" Krista offered him the red fruit, the satchel she threw with him open. Suri was finishing an apple of her own, munching happily.

"That the last?" he asked.

She shrugged, and held it up to his face.

"No- you eat it. I'm fine." His growling stomach called him out on the lie. He glared down at it.

"I insist, Lord Anders," She said, a small smile on her lips.

"You'd think a near-death experience would get some trust going. Andy is fine." He took the apple from her. "I've always hated formalities, ugh."

"Okay, my Prince," Krista smirked. Andy scowled and stuck out his tongue, and then concentrated on splitting the apple in half. After a few tense seconds he finally managed it, a pleased smile on his face.

"Here," he didn't wait for her reply and placed the other half on her lap. He took a bite of his own, "We should get going."

"We should." She agreed.

But neither of them moved.


++ i meant to double check it but in the end i just kinda posted it how it was so sorry about mistakes! also used a bit from the 'prophecy' they didn't use in the final frozen film cos of reasons

+ thank you so much for all the reviews/follows/faves!

& thank u for reading :)!