...
The sun peaked in through the gaps of the walls. Anna covered her eyes as the sun gleam before reaching out for it. It's been so long since she's been out of her prison. It must have been the last week of November and Anna was starting to feel the cold blasts of the early winter winds morning and night.
Anna's lungs heaved another cough. She clutched her shawl and tightened it round her shoulders as she felt herself freeze. If it was a normal person, they'd be dead by now but for some reason, Anna was just as healthy as ever. If she was lucky, they'd give her some left over bread but other times they forget to feed her. Anna once went two weeks without food but was still fine.
Some how she never felt all that hungry and she never caught diseases even you know she's never bathed in so long. Even the robbers in the camp found it strange. They actually planned a killing for her but Merida forbade it. Anna was to spend the rest of her house in that tiny stone room outside no matter what happens.
Anna breathed on her hands and rubbed them together to heat them up. She was cold but the cold never killed her. Outside of the room, a loud scuffle could be heard. Anna ran over and put her eye to the keyhole to look through it. There she could see the robbers struggling to put someone else into the room next to her. Someone else must have been caught. She couldn't actually see them as they were already in the room but they robbers had trouble closing the door because they were fighting to keep it opened.
"GET IN 'ERE!" They yelled before finally shutting the door closed.
"Sven in?" Merida asked.
"Got 'im in eventually."
"Good."
Merida walked towards Anna's door before shoving a key in through the keyhole. Anna jumped back and ran back to her corner to wrap herself up with the blanket and stare off into space. Merida opened the door wide and stared at the young princess.
"'Ere." Merida threw bread into Anna.
Anna merely looked. Merida sighed. Anna had become cold and distant. Who could blame her? The girl was locked up in prison for nearly a whole month. Merida then walked over and took the bread away from Anna's feet and held it up to her face.
"Eat. It." She ordered. Anna did not. "I said, 'Eat. It.'"
No words were said. Anna didn't look at he bread nor did she look at Merida. Anna refused to look at Merida. How could she after what she did to her? Merida grew more angry with Anna.
"EAT!" she grabbed Anna by the neck and held her up against the wall.
The girl growled like a bear at Anna but the princess was not intimidated. When forced to look at her eyes, Merida could see no life. It was like looking into a dead person's eyes. Was Anna's spirit snapped?
"Come on, Anna! You have to eat or die!" Merida begged. "Eat or I'll kill you!"
"Go for it." Anna challenged.
Merida tightened her grip on Anna's neck. Her eyes burned with a fiery rage. She let out a scream before throwing Anna to the other side of the room. Anna rubbed her neck, confused and looked up at Merida.
"Eat. Don't eat. See if I care." with that, the robber princess walked out of the room. A click locked the door.
As soon as Merida was gone, Anna scurried over to the bread and devoured it in seconds. Merida leaned on the door listening to her old friend eat like a bear eating fish. Merida rubbed her eyes before pinching the bridge of her nose, trying to hold back the tears.
Anna knew she was there. Her shadow could be seen from under the door. The sniffles and heavy breathing could be heard too. Soon she moved leaving Anna on her own.
Anna ran up to the wall and put her ear to it. Scuttles and movement could be heard from the other side. Clearing her throat, Anna called:
"H-Hello?"
The movement stopped.
"A-Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" her voice was cracked and weak from not talking in so long. "I know your name's Sven, mine's Anna!"
There was no reply, but she could hear the movements again. Anna just thought they were shy or too upset to talk. They probably were. Anna herself hadn't spoken in so long, what did she expect of this person? The poor soul must have been walking around, minding their own business when the robbers took grab of them for no reason and put them in here. Or maybe Merida made a new 'friend' who also dared to run away like her.
"Oh Kristoff," Anna whimpered to herself. "Can you hold on just a little while for me?"
...
Kristoff was waiting for her. She needed out. A day had passed and Anna was no where near close to getting out. She never really tried till now. Now, the thought of Kristoff, lost and alone in the world made her fight for her freedom. It was turning to night. The burning orange of the sunset was making its below the door when Anna sighed and lay down. How does she get out of this one?
Anna looked through the gap in the wall to the right. She peaked out of it to catch a last glance up at he sky before the sun disappeared. Then the next time Anna would see the light again would be in the morning when the sun rose. Anna ran her fingers along the outer edges of the gap. Gap?
Anna inspected it. How did a gap appear in the first place? It definitely wasn't there when she first was locked up, so how is it here now? Anna poked her hands out of the gap before griping the top of the wall and giving it a little shake. It wasn't a lot, but you could still feel the stone move. The wall was becoming weak. If Anna could remove a certain amount of stones if not all of them, she'd be able to crawl through and escape.
The princess couldn't help but feel like celebrating. There was a plan! She had a plan for escaping! For the first time in forever (see what I did there?) Anna danced around the room. A chance! Kristoff no longer had to wait any longer.
A bang hit the wall and Anna jumped before falling over from being the usual clutz she was.
"Oof," escaped her lips.
Slowly, she headed towards the walls.
"Sven?" she called out. "Sven! Guess what! I've got a plan to get out! Don't worry, when I get out, I'll take you with me! I promise!"
...
The next night, Anna made her move. With her bare hands, she began to shake the stone loose before pulling out and setting it carefully beside her. With a wooden spoon that was left in with an empty bowl, Anna began to scrape off the hard mud that kept the stones together. It was stiff and harder to take away than it would have been if it was summer as the sun would have probably melted the mud and softened it a bit. Or maybe it would have made it harder? After all, it wasn't like the dirt was water. Anna wasn't the brightest, she'll admit.
Finally getting rid of the mud, Anna began to shake the next one loose before pulling that out too. A smile curled up at the corners of Anna's mouth.
Clumping footsteps approached round the corner. Quickly, Anna placed the stones back in place and hid in her corner, waiting for the footsteps to pass. When safe and alone, Anna went back to work. This could take a while. Not only did she have to take the ones down off each other but she had to worked her way across too till she could get out.
...
Anna's hands became stiff and sore to move. At night, she worked on getting as many stones as she could out of the wall but by the time morning came, she placed them all back into the gap.
Sven never talked. Never. Never did Anna get a reply for any of her questions she asked. Something awful must have happened to them. Anna promised to get them out of there and she was going to do that. Even if they never made an attempt to talk, Anna always talked.
"Are you a boy or girl? Sven sounds like a boys name but there was once I thought someone was a boy because of their name but they turned out to be a girl. That was an awkward moment for the both of us." No answer so Anna sighed. "I'll assume you're a boy until proven otherwise."
Stil nothing. That's what Anna had to live through.
December was coming fast, bringing winter with it. Anna wanted to be gone before winter came otherwise she probably couldn't handle getting rid of the stones in snow.
Picking up the pace, Anna was removing more and more stones each and every single night. Before she knew it, it was the last day of November the next day. In two days, December would be here.
Biting her lip in concentration, Anna scraped off more mud with stone.
"Yes..." she muttered.
Once off, she put her hand on it and began to shake it. It wouldn't budge. Little a growl escape her lips with frustration, Anna used her spoon again to clear off more of the mud. For the last time, Anna put her hands on the stone and shook it.
"Come on..."
Pulling a little harder, the stone suddenly popped up sending Anna flying across the room.
"Yes!" Anna celebrated.
Anna had now created a hole perfect for her to crawl through. She skipped to the other wall and gave three thuds. Anna always did this to Sven to make sure he was paying attention, a wake and for him to know it was Anna talking to him.
"Sven! I did it! We're going h-"
Before she could finish her sentence, robber footsteps were approaching. Without a moment to think, Anna ran over to the wall and put the stones back it. It was harder because only certain shaped rocks fitted in the gap. They stopped and unlocked the door of Sven..
"'Ere!" they yelled throwing what would have been food into him.
Anna could've cried at this point. They closed the door and unlocked Sven's door. Anna put another stone into the wall. They walked a few steps to the door. The stone Anna placed in next didn't fit. The robber put a key into the door. The next stone fit into the gap. The key twisted in the lock. Anna held her breath before placing another stone in. She still had a stone in her hand. The door opened. Anna turned round and covered the gap with her back and the stone behind her back.
Anna looked down miserably. The robbers looked at her and rolled their eyes.
"'Ere." They said, throwing in bread at where Anna's bread was.
Anna looked at it before looking away, saying no words.
"Tch, what a weirdo."
They closed the door and locked. Anna let go of her breath she didn't know she held. Turning her attention back on the wall, she placed the final stone in it. They were ready to guard now so it didn't look like it was tonight Anna would escape but the next night before winter.
With nothing else to do escape wait patiently, Anna lay back down on her bed and tightened the blankets round her before ripping apart the bread and feeding herself.
...
The day could not have gone any slower for Anna. She prayed so much for the night to come. To leave. The four old walls around her seemed to move closer to her, suffocating her. Anna curled into a ball and placed her head in her knees.
"Make it stop..."
A high pitch buzzing noise pierced the silence and attacked Anna's ears. She put her hands over her ears Why was this happening to her? The walls got closer and closer. Only a inch away from Anna.
Tears formed and spilled from her clear blue eyes.
"No..."
They moved again. They pressed onto Anna, squeezing her. They still got closer, breaking what felt like every bone in her body. The pain couldn't be described. Being crushed to death was the last thing Anna thought would happen to her. The sound didn't disappear either. If anything, it got louder. Anna felt her ears start to bleed. The walls closed in more. A crunch could be heard in through the high piercing noise.
Anna let out a loud scream and threw her head up. She could feel something grab her and shaking her. Anna let out more screams and tears.
"ANNA!" a voiced yelled over the noise.
Anna stopped screaming and opened her eyes. It was Merida looking at her worriedly. The walls were back in their usual position. There was no high pitch sound either. Anna patted every part of her body searching for a broken bone. None. She then put a finger to her ears to see the blood. None.
"Anna! Anna! Are ye okay? Anna!" Merida continued to shake her.
"M-Merida?" Anna questioned. What just happened?
"Oh thank God!" Merida hugged Anna. HUGGED! "I was so worried. You were just screamin'! I didny know what to do! What's wrong? You okay?"
"M-Merida, please! Let me out! I need out of here." Anna begged. "I'm going insane."
"I'm sorry, Anna." Merida looked down at her feet. "I canny do that."
"Oh please! Please! I beg you!"
Merida simply shook her head and Anna's tears increased and grew thicker.
"No, no. Hey...come on now. Sssshhhh." Merida softly hushed Anna and drew her into a hug.
Slowly, Merida turned the two around so it was Merida sitting up again the wall. Carefully, Anna lay her head down on Merida's lap.
The day passed on. Merida hadn't moved nor had Anna. Merida had Anna's hair hanging loose and was running her fingers in through her hair and playfully creating small braids. It was quiet between them, but it was comforting to Anna. She was happy Merida was there with her caring for her. Anna slowly drifted off into a deep sleep.
It was night when Anna woke up. Merida was gone and she was once again alone in the room. However, she was warmer. It seemed Merida had placed a warmer blanket over Anna. Beside her was lots of bread and even a few cooked but cold chopped up meat. Anna was grateful and stuck into her feast. That's when she remembered the wall. It was time to go.
"Sven, get ready! I'm getting us out now!"
Anna got up and took out the bricks and placed them on the floor beside her. She made a pile with them and stepped up on top of them, giving her height. Anna then jumped up into the hole in the wall. Her hips swivelled around as she tried to move her way in through. Suddenly, the wall below her gave way. Anna was thrown and the wall came crashing down.
Anna stood up with no injuries. She let out a cough before brushing herself down.
"Whoops."
...
Merida who was asleep threw herself off the bed hearing a loud crashing sound.
...
"I hope no one heard that." Anna muttered.
She then ran round to the front of the rooms and headed to Sven's door. Giving it a tug and a push, the door wouldn't budge.
"Step back Sven! I'm going to try and kick the door in."
Holding her breath, Anna began to kick over and over again. The door did not budge. Anna's kicks were too weak. Growling, Anna ran back before sprinting at the door. The fell out of its hinges and both the door and Anna headed towards the ground.
"Ow!"
Anna looked up expecting a person. What she found was something she never expected.
"A...reindeer?"
Sven licked Anna and happily jumped out the door, dancing free.
"Well...I did promise to free you I guess..."
Sven then ran over to Anna and scooped her up with his antlers.
"Ah! Okay...um...will you let me ride you?"
Sven dropped Anna down. She laughed, picking herself up from the ground and swinging herself up onto Sven.
"All right Sven?" Anna laughed before looking up at the highest room on the highest tree in the robber's 'village' "I'm sorry...Merida."
"Then why don't you tell me that yourself?"
Anna turned her head round to find Merida with an arrow pointed at her. Merida stood a few metres in front of Sven. Anna gasped.
"Merida...please. I need to go."
"NO! NO YOU DON'T!"
"YES I DO!" Anna screamed back at Merida, shocking the two of them. "I need to find Kristoff. He's somewhere out there. I know he is!"
"And if he's not?" Merida tested.
"Well I'll never know unless I at least try to find him."
"What makes Kristoff so special? Am I worthless t'ye huh? Do ye not care f'me at all?"
"No! It's not like that-"
"Then what is it like, Anna?"
"I LOVE HIM!"
Anna found herself admitting for the first time in her life. Anna blushed and threw a hand to her gaping mouth. A blush crept its way across her nose and cheeks.
"Love 'im? Ye haven't seen 'im since ye were a child!"
"I know but...I love him. You'll understand when you fall in love."
"No. No I won't."
"Of cour-"
"No! I'm forced t'marry a man out of three. None o' them do I love. So I'm sorry, but I'll never understand!"
"I'm...I'm so sorry Merida but...I need to find him. I just have to. I beg you, let me go."
Merida pulled back her arrow more, tightening her form and aiming straight at Anna.
"MERIDA! PLEASE!"
Merida let go of the arrow. It missed Anna and hit the tree behind her. Anna stared at the bow before looking back at Merida who cried. Her arms hugged herself and she looked at the ground.
"Go." she whispered.
"Merida..." Anna held out her hand to touch Merida.
"GO!"
With that, Sven jumped into action and ran for the distance leaving the crying Merida. Anna looked back with guilt but she couldn't return back there. Kristoff was waiting. Sven rode to the mountains where the snow covered the tops.
Winter is coming.
Here ya go guys xD That's the end of that part of the story. I'll update in two weeks time the next chapter. Byes.
~ChibiNagisaSakura