"Look, look, boys over there!" Anna stood up in the moving sled with her excitement, pointing to the very obvious new ice pillar over the horizon.
"Ginger sit down!" Flynn called while pulling her hand so she would be forced to sit. Kristoff rolled his eyes but also averted his course, so they were going slightly left of the hill.
Flynn brought himself to Kristoff's side so that they could speak without yelling, "Are you sure we should diverge courses, Mountain Man? If we go to the hill we can talk about it and we won't be too far off anyway."
"Anna is looking for a girl with ice powers, the strength of those powers unknown. A giant ice pillar pops out of nowhere, I think it's safe to say that's they way we'll be going. Besides, do you see how big that ice pillar is? Worse comes to worse and Elsa isn't there, I can use that pillar to support my business for the rest of my life!"
Flynn looked back at Anna, who was staring with gleeful eyes to the point in the horizon with the ice pillar. He saw he lost this battle, and sat down with his arms crossed. Maybe it was because he was the most mature, or the smartest of the group, but riding full speed toward a pillar of ice that appeared like magic in the middle of the mountains where no one will here you scream seemed like a bad idea.
"Flynn? I'm sorry I shouted at you," Anna called over the wind.
"Really Ginger? I would like a formal, royal, apology then," Flynn's sly smirked turned to laughter as Anna straightened her back and lifted her head in a very royal way.
"I, Princess Anna of Arendelle, issue an apology to Flynn of…" she drifted off as Flynn never told her where she was from, and he wasn't planning to now either. He motioned for her to continue on when she looked expectantly at him.
"Flynn of the Find the Lost Princess Expedition Team, for shouting at him. Truly, I regret it," then, in the spirit of true showmanship that Flynn could appreciate, Anna bowed her head into her lap, and stayed that way until Flynn finally accepted the apology.
They were silent for some time until, predictably, Anna broke it.
"Actually Flynn, I am sorry. You didn't deserve that. Kristoff was right, I was just angry at myself because I was afraid I was wrong." Flynn didn't say anything, but he did give Anna his attention, which was enough motivation for her to keep talking.
"We told you, we went to the North Mountain because it's the tallest peak, so we were thinking maybe we would be able to see something strange up there. But when there was nothing to go on except that breeze, I just thought that you and Kristoff were right. She wasn't out there, and I was leading a hopeless mission. And I guess I took it out on you. Sorry."
Flynn didn't do anything for a while, letting the only noise be the wind flying past them. On the inside he was screaming, for multiple reasons. One: this was the type of situation Flynn regularly tried to avoid, as feelings and the like were not his forte. Two: how could Mountain Man have seen the reason Anna was acting so strange before Flynn did? That was just ridiculous.
"Look, Ginger, you were right. I'm not here for the money," Flynn quickly backtracked and said louder, "I'm not just here for money. Money is important, so don't think I'm not sticking around for it. I originally came because I thought someone had to keep you safe, and there was no convincing you out of this."
"Really?" Anna looked up at Flynn.
"Yeah, yeah really. I still think it is a stupid mission, but now I'm here till the end. I'm honor bound," Flynn puffed up his chest proud as Anna looked at him one eyebrow up. Kristoff audibly snorted.
"What?" Flynn asked, looking at his two younger companions.
"Well, when I imagine what you were doing before we 'kidnapped' you, nothing honorable jumps to mind, "Anna said, smirking.
"How dare you?" Flynn said, mouth open with exaggerated disgusted, "And you, Mountain Man? You feel the same?"
"Nothing against you Flynn, but you don't come off as the most honorable guy," Kristoff called over the wind.
"I…I can't believe- after all we've been through you don't think I am an honorable person?" Flynn looked to the eyes of the princess and the ice seller, both watery from the high winds and held back laughter, "I'm hurt."
It wasn't long ago he used this speech on two other companions of his. But this time, Flynn said it with a smile.
At night they had to set up camp, but the ice pillar looked maybe an hour to two hours ride away. As Flynn and Anna started to celebrate Kristoff reminded them that in the mountains it would take about a half a day. Anna sighed and Flynn just reaffirmed his hatred of these rocks.
They made a fire, Kristoff sang a song in which he included Sven, and while Anna laughed and Flynn shuddered, he couldn't help but thank the Eugene in him that forced him to go on this trip. The kids have grown on him.
Night had fallen and Elsa still hadn't come out of the bedroom. Rapunzel was afraid that she locked herself in with the ice pillar, since Elsa didn't know how to melt her own handy work yet. But upon closer inspection Rapunzel saw that despite being a magnificent barrier, it did only go straight up. She could easily side step it and get into the room. Still though, she didn't. There was more power to the barrier then just an ice blockade, and Rapunzel found she wasn't strong enough to get around it. It was either the fear or anger in Elsa's eyes.
The one perk about the situation was Rapunzel was able to open the windows and soak up the sun to reheat herself without Elsa panicking again. And Rapunzel kept the window open, so she could watch the sunset, and then when the sunset she grabbed a fur blanket and stayed by the windowsill, watching the stars. This was a rare thing for her to do, as either Mother would be too cold and demand the window shut, or Elsa would (normally politely) ask that the windows be shut, as she feared for Rapunzel's health. Both of them knew that it was ridiculous to fear for Rapunzel's health, but she would comply.
However, today Rapunzel felt she would be sleeping on the sofa, maybe even lighting a fire despite the summer air. It probably wouldn't be necessary with all the furs available to her, not to mention her hair, but she felt like a fire. Maybe it was something in the air.
It hit Rapunzel that the mountain air smelled exactly like fire, actually. She looked out into the fading twilight and just managed to see a thin stream of smoke coming from the hills. Not enough smoke to be a wild fire, it was most certainly that of a controlled fire. Rapunzel leaned out the window and breathed in the smoky scent, Pascal on her shoulder chirping and pointing.
"I know Pascal I know. We should tell Elsa-" Rapunzel looked over her shoulder at the ice pillar.
"Actually, let's not," Rapunzel looked at her chameleon friend, who nodded his approval. Rapunzel wasn't sure how high in the air that ice pillar went, but it was certainly enough to be seen from some distance. And these people were close, close enough for her to smell their camp.
Though Gothel could make it through the night, she knew she would have to rest again in the morning. As she knew, the energy boost from the mountain herbs did not do well for her health, and while she had only been gone for a week at this point, she looked like she had gone without a song for a month.
The stress of the situation wasn't helping either. Earlier, the only thing that Gothel counted on was that she knew a direct route the house. She wouldn't be wandering the mountains aimlessly skimming and following cool winds in hopes of finding something. But Elsa had lost control, anyone standing on the top of the North Mountain would be able to locate their home.
So Gothel went back to her original hope, what she has been banking on for 18 years now. She had to believe the girls were scared enough to not want to leave now. Gothel told herself over and over as she drifted into a much-needed sleep that Elsa was far too afraid to ever trust strangers again. Elsa was too weak to control herself when she was afraid, and would end up freezing the princess and company. And Rapunzel would never leave without her little sister's company.
Despite her mantra, Gothel's dreams were filled with empty ice palaces and bones so old they turned to dust.
Rapunzel woke earlier than normal the next day, before the sky even started to think of turning light. It was a mixture of excitement, nervousness, potential, regret, and sleeping on the sofa rather than in her bed that kept her from rising with the sun like normal.
"I'm doing the right thing, right Pascal? It will be good for us if they come, right?" She went about her normal morning chores in the icehouse, starting the fire, boiling water, getting pots and pans ready for breakfast. Her actions were accompanied by the rampant questions she was throwing at Pascal, rather than her normal morning song.
"I mean, I can't even guarantee they are coming, right Pascal?" Rapunzel asked while she tried to sweep up small ice shards that had fallen from the cracked ceiling.
"What if Mother was right? What if they are here to take us away and be cruel to us?" She started biting her nails while getting a clay mug out of the cupboard.
"Well, that's alright. I'll be prepared for them, I can take care of them if they are really bad, right Pascal?" Rapunzel reached up for a frying pan and some herbs her mother had picked for them. The herbs were for tea, the frying pan for protection.
"Should I have told Elsa? I should have, I should have warned her. It's not to late…" Rapunzel glanced over at the ice pillar again and shook her head. Pascal continued to snore on, unaware of his friend's nerves.
"Mother should still be gone for a few days at least, a week at most. If I can talk to these people, convince them just to give us a tour of the hill side…Pascal, what should I do?" But her question wasn't answered, as Pascal was too deep asleep. Rapunzel didn't even notice. Instead she sipped her tea by the fire, wrapped in a protective blanket of hair, holding her frying pan with white knuckles.
"They may not even come, after all," she reminded herself. Still, her eyes kept wandering back to the front door, and she had to keep weighing the pros and cons of what could potentially happen.
Anna was up surprisingly and unwelcoming early in the morning. She said she was trying to be quiet when she puttered around camp, but Flynn didn't believe a word of it with all the racket she was making. Who knew starting a fire could be louder than arrows flying past one's ear in a high-speed chase.
"Anna, just let me do it," Kristoff mumbled, pushing her aside with one mittened hand and taking the spark stone with the other. Flynn grunted his appreciation to Kristoff before rolling over into Sven's fur, who had finally allowed him to cuddle for warmth. Good thing too.
Unfortunately, sleep was not in the future of the handsome crook. Anna, also seeking warmth seeing as the sun was still behind the mountains, came and leaned into Sven. Being awake, however, meant she would want to converse.
"Do you think she'll be there, Flynn?" Anna asked. Flynn grunted, and Anna interpreted.
"My sister, of course. Lisa…or Elise-"
"Elsa," Kristoff filled in for her, and Anna continued.
"I mean, it's been 12 years. Do you really think she won't be there?"
Flynn grunted again, burying closer into Sven.
"I mean, why else would we see a giant ice pillar appear out of nowhere? How common can ice powers be, right? And there's no way that was a natural thing, right Flynn?"
"Ahhhh," Flynn cried as he turned away from the warm animal, "Look Ginger, I'm going to give you some real advice here, alright, so listen. Stop worrying whether or not she will be there. Let's just go, and we will see what comes. Obviously it has to be something, cause that ice pillar is there for a reason, but whether or not it's a long lost 5 year old I can't tell you."
Anna was silent for a moment before muttering "she would be 14 now."
"Look, what I am trying to say is, you have a dream. Take if from an expert, some dreams are more attainable than others."
"Why, what's your background in this?" Kristoff asked, who had started cooking breakfast. The sun still was not over the horizon.
"No no no, no back story from Flynn. Sorry kids, but I don't do backstory." Flynn was awakened by the smell of cooking meat, so he and Anna moved closer to the fire.
"What? But that's the whole fun of meeting new people, getting to know who they are. Besides, why should I trust you if you don't tell me how you know this?" Anna asked, smiling and already starting to rebraid her hair.
"Trust me because I'm your elder." Kristoff and Anna laughed.
When they stopped laughing though, Anna ended up staring into the flames, quiet and continuing to change her hairstyle. And if yesterday had taught Flynn anything, it was that this was a sign.
"Ginger, what's up now?" Flynn asked, trying to take off the sarcastic edge. He could use practice with that.
"It's just…" Anna let her hair fall loose, " it sounds like your advice is give up on my dream."
Flynn was taken aback a little, "No, what? Ginger no, I was just tired. I'm a huge believer in dreams. It's just…don't pin this whole mission on one dream. You can have multiple dreams. Maybe you won't find your sister on this excursion, that dream can still live on. But that doesn't mean whatever we find up there will be a failure. If anything, you finally went out on your own, without being royal."
Anna smiled and started working her hair again, "Yeah, you're right. I did something for myself. With the help of friends, of course." Anna sighed, "And maybe she will be there anyway, then I can accomplish another dream."
"There's the spirit," Flynn said, softly punching her shoulder.
"So, Flynn, what's your dream?" Kristoff asked, passing meat around to the group.
"Oh no, no backstory means no dream. Unless you are willing to share yours, Mountain Man," Flynn looked at Kristoff with challenge in his eyes. But Kristoff didn't bat an eye.
"I want to have a steady supply of ice, year round in a location where other ice sellers won't find it. That will give me a good monopoly in town."
"That's your dream?" Flynn asked. He thought for sure Kristoff's dream would center more around a red haired princess.
"What can I say, I'm economical," the 16 year old replied, cutting into his meal. The sun was just starting to rise.
"Come on now Flynn, your turn to share," Kristoff pointed a knife at the thief and sent his own challenge.
"Fine, you win this round. I would love to be on an island of my own, resting in the sun, completely alone, with the exception of my piles and piles of money." Flynn closed his eyes, trying to imagine the warmth of the tropical sun. The vision was quickly blown away by a mountain breeze.
"Boo, that's a shallow dream," Anna commented, "Give us another one."
"What? No no, the deal was one dream."
"But we didn't know it would be so obvious. Everyone wants to be well off," Kristoff accused.
"Well get used to disappointment then. Guess I'm just a simple guy."
After this the trio broke into part banter part bicker, arguing whose dream was more realistic and best. They didn't leave until the sun was completely over the mountain.