The Ice Behind Bars
Chapter IX : Intruder
Anna, Aiden, Rapunzel and Flynn ran through Arendelle's empty cold streets, trying hard enough not to be seen by anyone, not a hard task, for all Arendelle's citizens were hiding in their homes, afraid of God's rash to be released upon them at any time.
"Where is everyone?" asked Flynn while following the others.
"It doesn't matter, let's just get out of here before anyone sees us," Aiden commanded.
They reached the town's outside barn, where foreign visitors and refugee's horses are kept. They quickly mounted their horses, and galloped out to the forest. All oblivious to the blonde man's eyes on them.
Kristoff was laying behind the barn on a pile of hay, next to his sled and loyal reindeer, Sven. Growing up as an orphan is a harsh life, and definitely if you were raised alone in the streets, life can be tough, but it makes people tougher. Kristoff had no home, no family, all what he has is his ice business and reindeer. He was trying to amuse himself to sleep, singing his own written Reindeer Song, when he heard multiple voices, coming from inside the barn. "What the..?" he quickly stood up, and peeked from the window to see who was inside at such an hour, "Anna?" he whispered to himself.
There, he saw her with the others, and none of them looked happy, or even calm for that matter, none of them showed any sign of their friendly and lovable face from when he met them earlier. They all looked scared and nervous, yet Anna looked horrified, doleful, and absent, and that made him worry more.
"Come on you guys, move it move it!" Aiden motioned for the other's to get inside faster.
"Max, come here boy!.." Flynn called his white loyal horse, before he grabbed Rapunzel's hand gently, "Rapunzel, mount up." he said before mounting behind her.
"Anna come on!" Aiden was having hard times trying to keep Anna focused, her mind was still going back to the hell she saw. He groaned, "Anna, I know what we saw tonight, was….unbearable to you-" he was trying to comfort her, but she snapped at him, cutting him off.
"Unbearable for me!? Do you think what we saw is unbearable to anyone! Do you?!" she yelled at him with fury, "Stop treating me like I'm some sort of a child!"
"Anna, I didn't mean-" Aiden was trying to explain for her that he was only worried about her and the others, but Anna quickly shut him up again.
"Save it!" she held her hand up to his face, "I may have listened to you this time, but I'm not gonna let you tell me what I should and should not do!..."
"I just wanted us to get out of here safely!...i want to protect you!" he reasoned
"I don't need protection! I can take care of myself! You know that! Why are you always like that!? Why do you always treat me like I'm nothing but vulnerable! Like I can't take care of myself! Tell me! WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" she snapped back.
"I DON'T WANT YOU TO END UP LIKE NANCY!" he finally spoke his mind.
Anna quickly stopped, heartbroken, ashamed of what she was saying moments ago, her face quickly softened, and shocked as she saw tears forming on the corner of Aiden's green eyes. Rapunzel and Flynn stayed silent, and lowered their heads. Anna finally realized why Aiden was so protective of her, he was like a brother to her, they were close enough to tell anything to each other, even if it involves grief.
Nancy, Aiden's big sister, was tortured then hanged by the act of theft when she tried to steal a piece of bread for her starving 5 years old brother, Aiden. She was brought to King Ace Of Uloenna, whom sentenced her to her unfortunate death, without even hearing her plead. Aiden watched from behind the crowds, as his sister's body dangled from the gibbet. It's when he decided to take revenge. He snuck inside the king's castle, stole both his crown and sword. The next morning, Uloenna's citizens were shocked to see the king's sword hung from where Nancy's body once dangled. The sword impaled a white pigeon, while its blood dripped on the ground, on the sword's grip was the king's crown. It is a gesture of great humiliation for the monarch. In Uloenna, such an act is meant to explain one thing, Injustice. It was when Aiden met the thieves, they offered him a home, a family and a shelter away from Uloenna, in return for his cunning skills. For a 5 year old with no parents or even a family member anymore, alone in the streets, he had no choice but to accept. It was when Aiden's life as a real thief started.
Aiden looked away from Anna, trying to hide his tears, "You saw what this man did….you saw what he did to his own daughter…" he spoke his voice low and hurt. "If even she doesn't matter to him, What do you think he would do to you if he caught us?"
What are they talking about?! Kristoff thought confused.
Anna felt her heart ache, she didn't mean to hurt Aiden, reminding him of his past was the worst thing she ever did. "Aiden, I'm sorry…I ..i didn't understand that you thought like that.." she tried to reach for his shoulder but he shrugged away.
"I tried to convince her not to do it….i tried to tell her that we can just….beg for food." He spoke again his voice cracking.
Anna knew what Aiden meant, she knew how he felt guilty for his sister's death. "Aiden no! it wasn't your fault!" she forced him to look at her, as she placed her soothing hand on his wet from tears cheek, "I am the luckiest girl to have you to protect me." She said with a radiant, warm smile, her voice so soft that even made Aiden grin. Rapunzel and Flynn smiled proudly at them. They knew both Anna and Aiden were very close, Aiden was like a brother to Anna, he always tries to keep her safe, and she always tries to tease him. But nevertheless, they love each other.
"Okay…uhm, guys we have to go before anyone sees us, remember!" Flynn reminded, receiving a punch on his back from Rapunzel.
"y-yes of course," Aiden said, whipping his tears in embarrassment quickly, "come on Anna." Aiden said with a warm smile.
Anna rolled her eyes playfully before she nodded, and mounted the mare. Aiden mounted behind her. And they were off.
Kristoff stared at them for a minute, before he was snapped back by his reindeer's snort, he wanted to just go back and sleep on the hay, but his curiosity defeated him. "Sven come here," he leaded the reindeer to the sled, before he hooked him to it, climb up the sled, "Come on boy, go!" he whispered for his reindeer to move forward. Kristoff, wanted to follow them, he wanted to know where they were going, what were they talking about, why were they in a hurry, why were they so scared at first and why they are even here in Arendelle.
As the fort came to a view, there anxiety grew stronger. How could they ever explain their empty handed return without revealing the nightmare they faced back there.
Flynn sighed, "Remember, I'll do the talking, you just try not to look like you've seen a ghost." He suggest.
"I wish we saw a ghost instead."Rapunzel deadpanned.
"No one should know, do you hear me?" Aiden demanded, receiving a nod from both Rapunzel and Flynn, yet Anna kept silent, "Anna." He said with a stern voice, he knew she wouldn't listen to him, so he had to make sure she will not do anything hasty or reckless.
Anna sighed, "I have to tell mother at least Aiden, please!" she tried to convince him, and her soft voice help her success.
Aiden sighed heavily as if exhaling away a large amount of weight on his shoulders. "Very well…just your mother, and be sure to do it in private…in fact, I'll be with you." He noted making both Rapunzel and Flynn to give him a confused look, but he only shook his head and shrugged his shoulders in defeat with a surrendered grin. Anna hugged him from behind, "Thank you." She breathed with a radiant smile.
As the fort became closer, the four herd one of the guarding members shout happily, "It's Anna and the others!"
"They're back!" another shouted.
People started rounding them, greeting them, as they dismounted their horses, all oblivious to the haunted faces of the four thieves. The moment Anna's feet welcomed the ground, she heard a familiar voice calling her from behind.
"Anna!"
Anna turned and grinned nervously. There, her mother was running towards her, shouting her name. Leanna quickly grabbed Anna in a hug, she was panting and… trembling? Anna thought whilst hugging her mother and furrowed her eyebrows in concern. Leanna broke from the hug, "You got me worried sick!" Leanna said, her voice high.
"Why didn't you tell me about your task before you went?! Why did you hide it from me!? You should have asked me first! What were you thinking?!" Leanna showered Anna with concerned questions, which made Anna a bit angry but she shook it off as she saw the dark circles under Leanna's eyes.
"Mother I have to tell you something….in private." Anna tried to whisper enough for only she and Leanna could hear, whilst holding Leanna's hand tightly. Yet Leanna wasn't focusing enough. The day she discovered that Anna went to Arendelle, she didn't sleep, she didn't eat, and worry and fear overwhelmed her, as she couldn't even stand still, pacing around her room back and forth, even with Brandon's soothing trials to calm her down. Leanna turned with an angry face towards the other three thieves, she was about to shout at them then Tyler appeared, and her anger turned to rage.
"YOU!...i told you not to let her go off like that! What if something happens to her !" Leanna was yelling at him, making some of the crowd to back away a bit for them to see the scene descending in front of them.
"Mother, listen to me! I have-" Anna was trying to pull her mother away. She had to tell her, yet her mother didn't give her a chance to speak,
"NO! you are not going back there again! Do you hear me! what if you got hurt! What if he caught you!" Leanna was yelling at Anna now, her rage still consuming her, not noticing her daughter's hurt face but she did notice Anna's face turned red and angry.
"STOP IT! Enough enough!" Anna yelled back, making Leanna freeze in place, eyes wide, mouth slightly open in for the first time in forever, Anna just yelled at Leanna's face, not just that, but in front of the whole guild. Rapunzel, Flynn and Aiden watched in shock, as Anna spilled her furious mind on her mother.
"I'm sick of all of you treating me like I'm a helpless child!" Anna yelled.
"I'm just trying to-" Leanna reasoned her voice full with concern.
"Protect me?!" Anna cut her off before she laughed sarcastically, "Hah, that's what you are always trying to do! Hiding me from the world! Why mother ha!? Why!? Tell me why are you so afraid of the outside world! HIDING IN HERE LIKE RATS! WHY?!"
"You don't know anything about what's out there! I've sacrificed my whole life for you! One even paid for it with her own!" Leanna yelled back, oblivious to the staring eyes of the other members and the smirk on Tyler's face.
And it's all because of me! She died because of me! Leanna thought.
What ?! what is she talking about?! Anna thought bewildered.
"You don't know! You've never faced Suffering!...nor Starvation! FEAR! PAIN! You don't know any of THESE! BECAUSE I KEPT YOU AWAY FROM THEM!" she said flailing with her hands in rage.
"I've seen suffering and pain with my own eyes last night." Anna mumbled silently, not allowing anyone to hear her.
Leanna stared at her for a minute, her hands shaking from her outburst, eyes twitching, did I just yell at her? She thought. The Guild members were all shocked. Leanna just showed anger towards Anna for the first time since they came to the fort. The stern and rigid Leanna, who never gave Anna anything other than love, smiles and hugs, just reacted the opposite way. Leanna turned her face to meet Tyler's with a wrathful and disgusted look that can only mean one thing, this is all your fault! She thought, but he just kept staring at her, his face blank. She was about to rip his eyes out of that face, when Anna's angry voice spoke again.
"If you can just… listen to me! I have to tell-" Anna suddenly stopped, her eyes darted around the ground as if thinking of something, she turned to give her three friends an absent look, and they returned it with a confused one. Then she spoke again, still staring at her friends,
"You know what…" she said, then turned to look into her mother's eyes, "Nevermind." She turned on her heels, gave the three one last look, in which they understood what it meant, and it wasn't pleasant, then she walked away into the sanctuary, the crowd parting as she walked away from her still staring and frozen mother. The crowd started to separate, everyone returning to their own business, Leanna kept staring at Anna, left alone in the middle of the fort square.
"Oh boy…" Flynn said while resting his head in his hands.
"She is definitely up to something." Rapunzel noted while rubbing her arm nervously.
"She's gonna do it." Aiden said his eyes not trading from Anna's figure.
"What?" Rapunzel said with a bitter laugh.
"She's going back!" he said pointing at where Anna went with both his hands.
The three didn't wait another minute, they rushed to follow her before she does anything crazy.
Leanna was about to break, but she wouldn't allow herself to do so in front of the others, she quickly strode towards her room inside the sanctuary, followed by Brandon who saw the whole scene. Leanna rushed inside her room and slammed the door behind her, she walked slowly towards her bed, her arms wrapped around her stomach, then she turned quickly as the bedroom door opened, revealing Brandon. She looked at him with teary eyes. Brandon was the only one beside Anna, allowed to see any sign of emotion from Leanna as he was the one who helped the girl escape her father , "I can't take this anymore." She breathed, tears coming down her cheeks, "I have to tell her." She said lowering her head, "She deserves every right to know what I did, why I did it, and what is happening." She started crying, closed her eyes and quickly placed her hand on her mouth, trying to muffle her cries. Brandon started walking towards her, "No…you know we cannot tell her now," he said in a soothing voice, "I know it's very hard for you, but we cannot tell her right now, she is not ready yet." He said patting her shoulder.
"Brandon, what do you think she would do if I told her what I did to-" she was cut off by her own loud sorrowful sob that came out of her throat.
Brandon shook his head, "It wasn't your fault, we had no choice, you know it." Brandon tried to reason but that only made her sob more. He sighed then wrapped his huge arms around her, "Shush now, don't worry, everything will be fine, she's just upset now, she'll talk to you when she calms down." He said receiving a slow nod from Leanna. Then suddenly, a loud rough knock on the door broke their hug.
"Brandon! Brandon come here quick! We have an intruder!" the voice from behind the door shouted.
Leanna and Brandon exchanged concerned looks, then he gave her one last squeeze, "Don't be hard on yourself." He said receiving nothing but another nod, before he walked out of the room and went out to see what was happening.
"Anna!...Anna wait!" Aiden and the others were running towards her trying to keep up with her raging strides.
"WHAT!?" she turned instantly and yelled in her friends faces.
"Where are you going?!" Rapunzel asked concerned.
"I'm going back, and there is no one who could stop me," she said while crossing her arms.
"Anna, please think about this….it's too dangerous!" Aiden tried to reason.
"I know what I'm doing!"
"No you don't Anna! What are you trying to prove!? Your mother doesn't deserve this…what? You wanna get yourself killed just so you could get her back?" Aiden said holding both Anna's shoulders.
Anna laughed bitterly, "You think I'm going back there just to annoy my mother? I can't believe you!...i wanted to free this poor princess the moment I saw her! I don't care how dangerous it would be! She doesn't deserve this guys! Didn't you see how scared and terrified she was ?! oh god, even besides that, she was literally being SLICED!" she yelled, pushing Aiden in the chest.
"Anna, no one deserve this-" Rapunzel tried to say but was cut off,
"then this is a bigger reason why we should get her out!.." Anna yelled before she sighed and lowered her head, "Guys, I don't know if you wanna help me or not, but please listen to me! Can't you see we were sent there by fate for a reason! Maybe we were sent there so we could discover this horrible Arendelle truth that was probably hidden from everyone! Coincidence ? I don't think so, not every day you sneak inside a castle, end up in its dungeons and find its king torturing his princess...it is our destiny to get her out!... i WILL go back and free her." She gave them a determined look, her chest puffed and her head held high.
"Well….it is our duty to save her, I mean, how can someone be human seeing this and just cross his arms and do nothing." Rapunzel spoke her voice rising to cheerfulness.
Anna gasped in joy, "Oh my god, thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she said jumping on Rapunzel with a squishing hug.
"Whoa whoa whoa! No way !" Aiden said parting the girls from each other before he crossed his arms. The two girls looked at him with concern as he will definitely stop them from going back. "There is no way you two are going alone." He said then a smile crossed his face. The girls face lit up and they ran towards him wrapping him in a hug throwing him off balance. They laughed as they lay on the ground. "Okay okay…we have to work on this first." Aiden noted.
"Uhm, I don't think I agree on this," Flynn finally spoke as he stared at them with a frown.
"Awhh come on Flynn!...we can't just leave the poor princess like this without doing nothing!" Rapunzel said before she stood up and walked towards him, placed a hand on his cheek, "can you believe how much she is suffering, Flynn ? Tortured by her own father? Isn't that enough to give us a reason to help her?" she said her voice low and gentle.
Flynn sighed, placing his own palm on Rapunzel's hand that was resting on his cheek, "You saw what happened to you back there, I don't want you getting hurt." He said looking into her sparkling green eyes.
"Don't worry," she leaned forward and kissed him on his cheek, "I'll be fine! And you'll be there to save me" she winked making him blush and smile awkwardly.
"Sorry to break it up to you, love birds…but if he is gonna help us, he should stay here." Anna demanded.
"What?!" the three gave her a confused look.
"Someone has to stay here and watch, we don't want anyone to notice our absence, and especially not my mum!...besides, what we need is Lockpicking," she said pointing at Rapunzel with her chin, "and muscles." Pointing at Aiden.
"That's insulting." Flynn said his voice rigid with a frown.
Anna laughed a bit, "I mean…haha…your job is climbing, and we don't need to climb right now."
"Yeah but we still need something to transport the princess…..i don't think she will be able to ride, nor it is a good idea placing her on a horse while she bled." Aiden pointed out.
"Hmm…" Anna was thinking, tapping her chin with her index, then they heard it. Men shouting.
"What's happening out there?!" Flynn asked.
"I don't know, but come on!, lets go check it out!" Anna said before she started running, motioning for the others to follow.
They ran outside the fort square, seeing a crowd forming around something, shouting and cursing.
As they approached the crowd they could hear a man struggling and grunting, "get out of the way, please!" Anna said trying to get through the people to get a better view, then her eyes shot wide and her jaw fell.
Tyler and Brandon were standing in front of three members of the guild whom were trying to hold a man down, but he was struggling and he looked tough and muscular. "How did you find us?!" one of the members yelled at him. "Hold still!" another commanded.
Anna finally found her voice and spoke utterly shocked, "Kristoff?!"
The Blond man looked up and his face went slack, "Anna?!..." he asked confused.
"You know this man?!" Brandon asked her, driving all the crowd to look at her.
"Uhh, y-yeah!...Yeah I know him, leave him alone!" she demanded before she ran towards Kristoff pushing the members away from him.
"You led him here?!" Tyler said his voice loud and angry.
"What?!...no no don't worry ! he wouldn't tell anyone about all this, he is just lost that's all!" She tried to reason before leaning a bit towards Kristoff , her eyes not leaving Tyler's and whispered through her gritted teeth, "What are you doing here?"
"Uhh, I-I …" Kristoff was trying to say before he was cut off by Aiden's voice.
"Okaaay everyone! Nothing to see here, everything is under control! Now if you would please get back to your duties while we take care of this man!" he announced awkwardly.
Brandon gave Anna an unsure look, but she smiled back, vanishing his concerns. He nodded then mumbled something to Tyler, who shook his head at the four young thieves in disappointment, before both he and Brandon walked away. The crowd finally started to part away, some whispers and mumblings can be heard but Anna shrugged it off. She grabbed Kristoff's arm and pulled him behind her without saying a word and motioning for the other three to follow, away from sight and inside the fort stables. When they arrived they were surprised to see the stable man trying to hold Kristoff's reindeer who was hooked by a sled, steady.
"Emre Emre! Just leave him alone, we'll take care of him." Anna told the stableman, who released the reindeer and nodded before he walked away and went outside the stables.
Kristoff hurried to calm his buddy, who amazingly did when he saw his master, then he turned to look at the four thieves whom were weirdly all crossing their arms and lifting one eyebrow. Kristoff laughed nervously, "I can explain this…" he said.
"Then start now." Anna commanded with a warning tone.
Kristoff sighed, "Well, I saw you guys at the barn back in Arendelle, and uhm…you didn't look quite comfortable to say the least…and w-well…I thought…that maybe you guys were in trouble or something, so curse my curiosity, I h-had to follow you to discover myself, and I-I ended up in this abandoned fort which looks like it's not, so can someone please tell me what is happening here ?!"
"were you stalking us ?!" Rapunzel asked.
"Well, if you put it like that…it sounds bad." Kristoff tried to reason.
"It is bad!" Anna said with a loud voice.
"I explained myself, now it's your turn !" he quickly said, his turn to cross his arms and look at them with peering eyes.
The four thieves turned their back to him and whispered among each other, making him lean a bit forward, trying to eavesdrop, but Aiden cast him a dour glance, and he quickly stood straighter back as if he wasn't trying to do anything.
"Guys, do you really think we should tell him ?" Flynn asked.
"Well, he already saw everything, and I don't think telling him that he is just dreaming will work." Anna explained.
"How about we use a frying pan?" Rapunzel asked innocently.
"Frying pan? What are you talking about?" Anna asked confused, then she received a smirk from Rapunzel that made her realize what she meant, so she gasped, "Are you crazy? This could kill him!"
"I tried it on Flynn, it worked perfectly! Look, he's at full health! How much are these Flynn?" Rapunzel asked him, holding 3 fingers in front of his face.
"Five!" He said proudly.
"Okay maybe he's not, but still!...i think it would work." Rapunzel said awkwardly.
"No way hozay, we are not gonna try this." Anna decided.
"Well, lets just tell him…he doesn't seem like someone harmful….but he does own us though, he just got us into trouble with Tyler and Brandon." Aiden reminded.
"Very well." Anna said before the four turned to Kristoff and recrossed their arms.
"well?" Kristoff asked.
Anna sighed and started explaining what this fort meant, who are these people, what they are doing here and why. She told him enough for him to understand the fact that he is among thieves, though safe.
"Interesting…I've met four people at the market square back in Arendelle in which they looked friendly, harmless and chocolate lovers, turns out to be dangerous skilled thieves." He said while staring at somewhere in his mind. "just great…"
"Now that you know our secret, it's time for you to pay your debt! And I know exactly how" she said with a smirk, making all the others give her a confused look, then she turned and looked at the sled.
"You are to help us on something we wanna retrieve from Arendelle, and that requires the use of your sled." Anna said, still smirking, quickly pulled by Aiden and the others.
"Are you out of your mind!?" They all whispered to her in unison.
"We can't let him come with us! It's too dangerous even to us! And I'm still not even totally convinced that we should even do it ourselves!" Aiden revealed.
"Not just that, but we don't wanna put people through harm Anna, he doesn't deserve to be …Hanged, if we all get caught!...he's just a simple ice harvester!" Rapunzel said, trying to convince Anna that her plan was even crazier.
"hey I heard that!" Kristoff shouted from behind them, making Rapunzel roll her eyes.
"IF!...you said If! And besides he won't be coming inside with us, he'll just wait outside the sewer entrance with his sled, and we'll be able to transport the princess safely!" she said flailing her hands happily.
"Aggggghhh!" Aiden groaned heavily, feeling defeated, slapping his face with both his hands.
"Well…looks like we have no choice." Flynn said.
"You are still going to stay in here big guy!" Rapunzel teased, patting his shoulder.
"But-" Flynn tried to reason but he was shut by Rapunzel's finger on his lips. "Uhh, okay. I'll make sure everything's clear for you guys, and try my best to…oh my god I'm going to have to face your mother Leanna!" he said while facepalming.
"She doesn't bite you know!" Anna defended, making Flynn grab her from her shoulders.
"One look from her eyes is enough to choke me!" Flynn said shaking Anna's shoulders vigorously.
"Uhm….guys, someone is still waiting." Aiden snapped their attention, pointing with his head to Kristoff, whom was watching nervously.
"Oh! Sorry…" Anna cleared her throat then, "Kristoff, we need you to take us back to Arendelle and then bring us back here."
"Okay?..." Kristoff answered unsure then, "...are you going back there to steal something again?!" he asked raising a suspicious eyebrow.
Anna shook her head slowly, the amused look on her face turning into a sad one, "Trust me Kristoff, I wish it was that simple."