Something was different. Something was definitely different about Arendelle.

Jack let himself be whirled upside down by the wind, his arms swept out from his sides as the cold air streamed across his face. His wooden shepherd's crook in one hand, his knees braced against the invisible current, he spun freely in mid air as he peered across the landscape. Something had changed. He could taste it in the air.

The wind stung his eyes as he strained to see, his body twirling as he toppled down far above the mountainside towards the town. So far he hadn't noticed any obvious signs of change. The trees swayed with the passing air. Animals puffed up their fur, racing for cover. A lone ice salesman sat abreast of a full sled's worth of cargo, his reindeer trudging obediently through the snow... but something was different. Jack knew it.

He pulled his back straight, hurling upwards in defiance of gravity. His staff spun in his hand sending out a sudden gust of snowflakes. Endless forests, vast expanses of grey rock and white snow, trailed across the mountains below, but Jack twisted in mid-air spiralling around his own dancing flakes as he let the wind carry him down towards the town.

Grinning, he tasted the chilling wind as it sent him flying forward. Snowflakes swirled around him in an icy flurry, but he stretched, tucking his chin against his chest and pulling his brown cloak tighter around his torso. Pointing his bare feet behind him, he made his body as straight as possible and dived down out of the sky. He fell like an arrow, hurtling towards the ground at impossible speeds. The earth came closer and closer. Houses and roofs sprang up from seemingly nowhere. Cobblestone streets raced towards him. Then he spread his limbs, catching the up draft in the baggy layers of his clothing. Suddenly his whole body slowed as he rolled gently upright, lazily tumbling along in mid air several feet above the tiled roofs. The snowflakes toppled gently downwards below, lining the dirty slush on the streets with fresh white powder.

When you saw a city from this height it was all smoke. It was everywhere. White wood smoke, grey oil smoke and black coal smoke puffed out of various chimneys nestled in the foot hills by the sea. People were making their way along the streets, winter coats drawn up against the late November chill. A few children were playing in among some of the doors, the breath steaming up around them in great white gasps as they raced around throwing snowballs at each other.

Jack slowly made to rest on a nearby rooftop, one foot on the staggered crenelations, one hand resting on his bent knee as he watched them play. His waist-length brown leather cloak flapped in the breeze; his battered waistcoat hung open over his white shirt; the weathered wood of his old crook rested easily in his loose grip. Short scruffy white hair and untamed dark eyebrows defined his sharp features. His bare toes flexed against the rough brickwork as he lent in further. Sparkling almond-shaped pale eyes took in the playing children and a lop-sided smile drifted over his face, lingering around the colour-less lips and around the square chin.

Something about Arendelle had definitely changed compared to his visit last year. He watched a pair of housewives who were chatting on the pavement. Their shawls were drawn up close to their necks and their faces were red from the cold, but neither of them seemed to mind as they babbled in animated conversation, their baskets of groceries swinging dangerously on their arms with every wool-clad gesture.

He jumped, landing squarely on the frozen cobblestones as the gentle flurry of his own making petered out around him. Ducking, he narrowly avoided a small hard snowball thrown by one of the larger boys. It ricocheted off one of the brightly painted buildings, grazing a pot plant in the process. "Hey!" a little brown pigtailed girl yelled angrily, charging straight through Jack's middle without seeing him, "Don't squash the snow down into ice! That's nasty!" She bobbed up and down, her mittened fists flailing over her many colourful thick skirts.

"You tell him," Frost agreed, tapping the air above his head as he watched her run up the street passed the rows of stone steps, wooden architectural struts and decorated shutters all covered in thick pillows of crystalline white, "No ice balls. Somebody will get hurt that way." Oblivious to his words, several of the girl's young friends were already snatching up great fistfuls from the ground and getting ready to pelt the culprit in indignant retribution. He waved his staff gently at the unwitting children, causing an extra layer of soft fresh snowfall to sneakily build up around them on the pavement, spilling out onto the deep recess of the street itself. Frost crept up on the many-paned sliding windows and coiled around ornate wrought-iron lamp posts and an addition burst of flakes in the air had the youngest and most easily distracted infants squealing in delight.

In defiance of his normal nature though Jack didn't stop to play himself this time. His bare feet hit the cold slushy cobblestone without an ounce of discomfort, his trousers bound tight around his calves to keep them out of his way. Striding fearlessly down the middle of the street he made his way down towards the dock at an easy pace, crook slung over his shoulder, casually throwing out polite greetings to people who would never hear him. Still he regarded them with a fond smile as he noticed the way a white-aproned shopkeeper cheerily pulled his empty crates back into the shop for the night and a father with a thick black moustache carried armfuls of cut logs into the house, proudly shepherding his young son and daughter who were trying to manage a big basket of kindling. A housewife hummed happily as she swept fresh snow off her steps and a grandfather sat by an open window, chewing contentedly on the rind of a pastry as he watched the world pass by.

It was definitely different. People seemed more open and much less focused on their work compared to before. Life had slowed a little and there was an air of enjoyment around. It was like some of these people's worries had magically washed away over the summer. They were happier. It was weird, a very good weird, but weird none the less.

The smell of salt in the air grew gradually stronger and then, all of a sudden, the houses just stopped. They fell away to the wide expanse of the docks. White sea foam smashed against the grey stone defences and ships pulled gently on their mooring with the swell of each wave. Heavily trodden slush roads sliced their way down to the wharf, great heaps of snow and ice piled against each wall structure to allow space for the sea cargo to be shipped and loaded. Ice was a continual danger with cold wet conditions like this, so it didn't come as a surprise to Jack to feel sharp pieces of grit digging into his bare soles for the safety of people who weren't him.

He leaped with the grace on an acrobat, landing on the iron chain-link fencing separating the edge of the road from the drop to the wharf. His feet and hands gripped the freezing metal tightly without any sign of discomfort. Toes curling as he balanced with expert ease, he thrust out his arms, holding his crook like a counterweight and slowly pulled himself to his full height, raising his head and... He stood stock still, his eyes wide, staring out at the castle that stood alone far out in the inlet where the fjord met the sea.

That was definitely different too. Arendelle had always had a beautiful palace, generations of peace having turned the structure into something more like architectural art than a seaside fortress. Now however as his eyes followed the stone jetties out across the water, the whole building glinted in the last of the evening sunlight. Ice covered the outer surfaces, rising up over the roofs in a wall of delicately patterned glittering blue, until it reached the tallest tower where a giant snowflake rose straight through the tall spindle roof.

"Elsa," he whispered in disbelief. It had to be. Nobody on Earth could cause ice to form as precisely as that except the two of them... and he knew he hadn't done it.

"Elsa," he repeated breathlessly, mesmerised the sight, "Elsa, Elsa – yes – Elsa!" He whooped loudly, pumping his fists as he kicked off from the ground, letting the air carry him up over the fjord towards the royal residence. His entire face was split into a stupidly wide grin. "Elsa," he breathed, spinning slowly in mid-air as his grip on his staff slacked at his side, "Oh, Elsa. You did it. All by yourself. Oh Elsa. This is fantastic!"

The wind carried him gently towards the looming walls. His feet almost absently bumped into the frozen tiles of the outer roof. Caught a little off-guard by the cold slippery slate in his distraction, he brought his crook down beside him with an unnecessary thump as he fought for his balance. Peering into the courtyard he found the rosemåling-patterned stones completely deserted, save for the waspish housekeeper in her stiff green uniform and tight high-set bun heading into the chapel with a bucket full of dusters.

Jack's fingers itched around the crook. Gripping it tighter, the corner of his mouth twitched and he almost raised the staff up from were it was jammed into the icy tiles. Then he stopped himself, looking away with a sigh. While the woman certainly looked like she could use an errant snowball or an impromptu ice slide to wipe that sullen expression from her face, he did not exactly have time to spare for her at the minute. At any rate past experience had taught him to be a little more careful in this building. He supposed he would just have to let her get on with her cleaning, for much joy as it may bring her... which was none as far he was concerned, in case the mental sarcasm wasn't obvious enough.

Still pouting slightly, he kicked the ground slightly, ducking low over the wide roofs of the outer walls. With careful balance, he scurried across to the keep like a white-crowned squirrel with a walking aid. The wind caught his tiny cloak, swelling in the leather capelet, lifting him with gentle force until he was almost skating across the bumpy tiles for the last part of the journey. It increased in force, allowing him to leap higher as the building mounted upon itself, filling out into the bulk of the main keep. He bounded across the lower outlying roofs with inhuman ease until he reached a familiar large window halfway up the main face. His bare toes ground against the stonework with painful abrasive tension, his left hand clutched at the thin wooden frame and his right jammed the shepherd's crook on the roof above, pushing down against the overhanging tiles, and creating just enough counterbalance to leave him perilously suspended as he strained to steal a glimpse through the small triangular skylight above the main window.

The fire in the library was lit, but to his disappointment despite the early hour there was no sign of the queen. Instead he was surprised to recognise the figure of the young princess sprawled on the rug. That was new too. At least it was since the death of her parents. Usually she would be running around somewhere outside or playing in the portrait gallery. Her long auburn pigtails were swept over her shoulders and a book lay open on her heavy magenta-patterned skirts. She looked like she was reading to a burly looking blonde man in furs who was perched on the very edge of the pink sofa, so obviously uncomfortable in his fancy surroundings that it made Jack itch to mess with him... and...reclining against the side table with an expression of enraptured delight... Was that a snowman... indoors of all places?

Jack didn't have time to think much about it. A cold blast hit his side, knocking him from the roof. Winded, he felt the unnatural foreign chill seize his side. He gasped for breath. His body tumbled uncontrollably though the air, toppling head first down the wall. His slender fingers snatched at nothing, trying to grab the crook falling just beside him. He ran out of time.

Before he could catch himself, the hard cobblestone slammed into his back, his head cracking upon its impact. His body bounced like child's toy, ricochetting several times before it finally came to rest under one of the fountains. Every bone in his body felt bruised and sore. He groaned softly. His skull still rang. Trying to pull himself together, he tried shakily to sit up, but his world went blurry. A painful wave of nausea forced him back down on the ground.

"Who are you?" a voice demanded through the foggy pounding pain, "What do you want here?" He turned his head limply in the direction of the sound, squinting upwards. It was... well, he thought it might be Elsa, but the figure climbing out of one of the high windows looked much too bright to be the girl he remembered peering at through closed dark bedroom panes.

It was like an angel was climbing down out of the sky. She was practically shining in the late evening light. Her blonde hair was iridescent with the dying sun behind it, her body sparkled with some kind of close cut fabric, a glinting glittering mass swelled beneath the tiny delicate feet as if the air itself was conspiring to carry this shimmering goddess towards the unworthy earth.

He focused on the round features of the face, looking for large eyes and a delicate chin. His breath caught painfully in his chest. He wasn't even aware of when he had sat up. All he could do was stare, helplessly entranced as the shining figure slowly made its way towards him. He squinted, his abused vision trying hard to make out more details from a messy sea of blurs. It took several long minutes before he was focused enough to be sure.

It was definitely Elsa, but Elsa as he had never seen Elsa before. Instead of the heavy back mourning grab he remembered she was dressed in a sheer delicate fabric of sparkling blue. Her hair was woven into a single long plait that fell down her back. The fair freckled face was flushed, the expression on it tense and angry, but he found he didn't care, drinking in the sight of her large almond eyes as they slowly became clearer.

Almost automatically, he fumbled for his staff with uncharacteristic slowness. His surprise at the sight slowly marching down from the light overriding even the soreness in his body. "Wow..." he mumbled horsely, leaning forward, his breath still halting, "You look... amazing. I love... well, everything. The dress, the hair. Just wow."

She gasped. Violation and shock evident across her pretty face. One hand snatched at the fabric covering her shoulder pulling it down and across her chest as her eyes narrowed. "I said, what do you want?" she growled, advancing downwards. The platform was actual ice, he realised. Ice that was beautifully and artistically formed into patterns and swirls as it slowly extended itself beneath her feet into a staircase under each move of her sparkling pointed shoes. Freckled and round-featured, there was nothing cute about the expression on her fair visage. She moved with predatory intend, her outrage obvious.

He breathed deeply, staring up at her with wide eyes, still feeling a little dizzy. "Is that... that can't be ice too, right? The dress? I mean, you're not actually wearing..."

"What do you want?!" Giant icicles smashed into the ground around him, making him jump. Broken shards flew across the courtyard and Jack staggered to his feet, pulling his staff close with sudden weariness.

The castle doors flung open. "Elsa?"A gasping, panting pig-tailed princess clung to the ornate handle, hanging off it with exhaustion as if she had just sprinted the entire way from the library upstairs. Her thick skirt billowed slightly with left-over momentum and her body swayed loosely against the ornately inlaid oak. She wiped the sweat from her brow with her free hand as she tottered back onto her feet, looking distractedly out passed the rose marble pillars of the grand porch into the dark spaces around the shadowy walls.

Elsa turned her head slightly. "Anna?" Her shoulders tensed and she broke almost into a run, ice jumping into existence in swirling flashes as she hurried closer to the courtyard, both hand thrust out before her, surging with power. "Go inside," she hissed through gritted teeth, shooting her sister a sidelong glance just a couple of metres from the worn stones, "I'll deal with this."

Anna blinked. Concern was etched all over the freckled features as she hesitantly stumbled forward onto the wide marble entry steps. "Elsa, what's wrong?"

Jack shifted his crook from hand to hand, bracing his shoulders and hips as he got ready for another attack. "You know, you might wanna..."

"Quiet!" A burst of ice hit the fountain, narrowly missing his head as he dived under and passed it. Elsa raised her hand, immediately hurling a second blast at his feet. He fell on his back, kicking upwards into an aborted half-backflip just in time to avoid being caught. Rolling on the ground, he dove into a crouch, sprinting backwards as Elsa sent volley after volley at his zigzagging form.

"What are you..." Anna yelped, her hands up palms outwards in front of her chest, hesitating as she took a step forward, as the sound of heavy running footsteps echoed down the hall behind her. "Elsa?" she began again, moistening her lips, as the burly blonde burst through the doorway, barrelling to halt behind her, his hand protectively on her shoulder, "What are you doing?"

"Apprehending this intruder," her sister snarled, her voice low as she finally made the last of the decent towards the earth with a jump. Jack flinched, bolting behind the cover of the ice-covered colonnade around outer walls. The sparkly blue of Elsa's decorations somehow made the shadows here even blacker and this was exactly what he needed as he crouched low, his capelet slipping over his shoulders as he tried to hide in the bare passageway.

"What intruder?" Anna demanded. Gently tapping the hand the blonde held on her shoulder as she moved out of his reach, she strode towards her sister with sudden determination, "Elsa?"

"What?" the queen snapped, turning her head distractedly. Loose strands of blonde hair tumbled across her snarling features.

"What intruder?" Anna repeated, coming to stand at her sister's side. Her head tilted from side to side, turning as she scoured the courtyard to see what had Elsa so worked up. One cheek rose along with her eyebrows as she gave her verdict, "There isn't anyone here."

Elsa stared at her, suddenly looking a little lost. Jack winced, bracing himself in the shadows of the courtyard wall. "That's what I've been trying to tell you," he called, his deep voice breaking slightly, "She can't..."

"He's right there," the queen interrupted, another bolt of ice leaping from her fingers as she jabbed her hand in the direction of the intruder. It smashed against the stone in the exact place Jack had been mere seconds before. "The same pervert who keeps staring through the windows."

Jack's eyes widened, his back flush against a wooden column. "Whoa... pervert?" He suddenly sounded awfully high-pitched. "That's a little harsh," he retorted, his face red as he peered out of his hiding place, "It's not like I watch you undress or anything... Well, there was that one time I nearly... but I swear that was an accident."

"Urgh!" Another blot of ice hit him hard across the face, backhanding him against the floor and swelling up over his shoulders and neck.

"Okay," he grunted, semi-incoherant as the ice pressed into his cheek, "I admit deserved that."

The blonde man shook his head, raising his hands as he joined the red-headed princess. "Please your majesty," he winced, seeing the queen raise her eyebrows at the term, and hurriedly corrected himself, "Elsa I mean... there isn't anyone there." Anna nodded vigorously, anxiously embracing her sister and pulling at her until they were face to face.

"Elsa..." the princess' hands rested on her sister's shoulders, her gentle features as round and freckled as the queen's but twisted with confusion. Under the sympathetic survey of the silent blonde friend, the large blue eyes of the younger woman were locked with her older sibling's, pleading for some understanding. Elsa's gaze flickered back towards the prone form on the distant courtyard floor.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Jack mumbled with a heavy disgruntled snort. He rolled his eyes even as he lay frozen to the ground, "They can't see me. You're the only one who can and even you can't always..." His grip on his staff tightened and Elsa watched wide-eyed as her own ice disobeyed her, splaying outwards and letting the captive man slide gently down to ground.

Gasping in shock, she stumbled backwards, almost pulling out of her sister's hold, but Anna's arms instinctively tightened around her shoulders, becoming almost vice-like. Elsa tried to raise her hands, tried to send more ice around her former captive, but it turned into a very sluggish display that the winter intruder easily avoided as the half-formed mound of ice writhed limply on the floor.

The stranger rolled sharply on the ground, until he was sitting up, straight-backed, watching the sisters' embrace with a wry smile over his raised brown-clad knees. He held his shepherd's crook in a vague horizontally tilt over his resting feet more out of habit than any desire to use his own magic. A half smile twitched over his cheek as he noticed the young queen watching him, but he didn't move instead fixing her with a stare of his own. She swallowed hard. Inching a few steps closer to her younger sister, she pushed her arm protectively through her embrace, grabbing her middle back and pulling her close as she stared at the stranger.

Much too late, several guards arrived on the scene, practically toppling over each other in an effort to be useful as they came in from the gate. "Your majesty, is everything okay?"

"It's fine," the large blonde man stepped forward, standing in front of the sisters and waving in large dramatic gestures as he tried to give the women give some privacy, "Elsa was just surprised by... something, but it turns out there was nothing to worry about."

Elsa growled, suddenly yanking herself free of her sibling as she rounded on the man. "I wasn't 'just surprised'," she hissed. He backed away in alarm, his eyes wide and his shoulders hunched at her sudden ire. The guards stared at them in alarm, reaching for their concealed weapons.

"Elsa," Anna grabbed her sister's wrist, pulling her backwards as the blonde man tottered away from them in alarm.

The queen's free fist shook in mid air. She barely even glanced at the younger girl. "There's..."

"I know," her sister hissed urgently. She reached around her sister's shaking frame, rising on tiptoes to whisper in her ear. "But what are you going to tell them?" she indicated the guards with a jerk of her head, "Go hunt down an invisible man?" The colour drained out of Elsa's face. She stiffened, falling silent. Jack snorted quietly, standing up.

The most senior guard present – a captain – stepped forward, seeming to sense he and his men were being spoken about. "Your majesty?" He semi-saluted, clearly waiting for orders.

Pushing her younger sister gently aside, the queen paused, her breathing hard and uncomfortable as her gaze went from her sibling to the white-haired intruder trying to sneak away unnoticed, his back turned on the entire party. "Can you see anyone... there?"

She whipped around, sending a sudden burst of ice flying across the courtyard. The blonde man successfully dived out of the way, but before Jack could dodge, it had already seized his feet, solidifying and fixing them to the floor. He staggered, swaying with the sudden break in his momentum, but then he twisted around, raising an eyebrow and spreading his arms in mock-defeat.

"Errr..." the guard paused, following the queen's motion with knitted brows, "No... ma'am?" Jack's expression visibly darkened, as he sighed and turned away. The bottom of the crook hit the ground with an angry thump and he slouched forward, leaning on it as he appeared to await the queen's neck move.

Elsa on the other hand looked almost ill. She pulled her arms close to her chest in a nervous manner that was more typical of her before her coronation than the person she had become. "I see," she whispered quietly. Drawing herself up with a stiff smile, she faced the guards with what was left of her dignity, "Kristoff's right. It was nothing. Probably just a... bat or a bird or something. I must have been working too hard. I'm tired, seeing things..."

The guard nodded sympathetically. "Right you are, ma'am," the captain offered, signalling for his men to disperse behind him, "I hope you feel better soon."

"Me too," she sighed, her eyes fixed on Jack's back. His grip on his crook noticeably tightened.

Just at that moment the castle door seemed to explode outwards, banging loudly against the wall as the great heavy weights slammed back on their full axis. As the noise resounded through the air, as people turned in shock, a brightly smiling snowman and his devotedly drifting snow cloud rushed out into the courtyard.

"Hello, I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs!" the little pointed body proclaimed loudly, practically jumping with excitement. Looking around at a sea of only familiar faces, he shrugged and carried on unperturbed, "Does anybody want a hug? No? Ooh! What's all the ice for? Are we making sculptures? I want to make a reindeer! Oh and a snowman. A little mini-me. Wouldn't that be sweet?" He bounced up and down excitedly, coming to a halt as as he caught sight of the expression on Elsa's face. "What's wrong?"

She was staring at the shattered ice on the ground, which had held the mysterious intruder – until she turned her back for a second in surprise at the snowman's entrance. Now the stranger was gone. Her eyes darted from the ice to the open gates and her expression visibly darkened even further. "Nothing," she muttered, approaching the ice and kicking it with one of her shoes, "I'm fine."

Hiding in mid-air behind one of the towers, Jack breathed a slow sigh of relief, rubbing his forehead. That had been almost too close for comfort.