"I'm telling you, buddy, this is the right way!" Kristoff was getting irritated. Honestly, it was as if Sven believed he was an idiot or something. Granted, Kristoff was kind of an idiot. He couldn't believe he had let his anger get the best of him like that. He should've never let Anna go out on her own. After all, she was right. It was stupid of him to think she wouldn't want to protect her family. He, for one, would do anything to protect Pabbie or Bulda. And so, after weeks of brooding, here he was- arguing with his reindeer about directions.
Sven chortled as if that was the single funniest thing he'd ever heard. The reindeer gave Kristoff a hard shove in the opposite direction, probing his best friend to turn around.
"Sven, no. I know what I'm doing. Who better to find Anna than her dashing fiance?"
Kristoff wasn't aware until that moment that it was physically possible for any living creature to laugh so hard. "Laugh all you want, but I have a hunch. She went this way, all right? I made this mess, so it's my job to fix it. I need to find Anna."
Sven sighed loudly, and plopped on the ground.
Kristoff rolled his eyes. "Stubborn old mule."
The pair went at it for a while, and eventually Kristoff got his way. Sven lazily followed behind his friend, occasionally attempting to convince the stubborn man to turn around, but to no avail. Kristoff continued to maintain that they were going the right way. That is, until they reached a massive ice castle in the middle of nowhere.
"No! No, no, no, no, no, this is- this is not good. I've done this before. No more ice castles." This was all too familiar. Kristoff had been to share of ice castles (well, one really, but that's still one too many) and it had not ended well. In fact, Kristoff was pretty sure that had ended with his fiance getting struck with ice. He didn't want the same thing to happen to him. Even worse, he had no idea what was inside that ice castle. Actually, Kristoff had a few ideas. He was just afraid he was right.
"Hey Sven, are you seeing this?" Kristoff couldn't tear his eyes away from the magnificent structure. It was even more beautiful than the last; a swirling mass of black and glistening blue. The sunlight danced across the delicate walls, mesmerizing the ice harvester and causing him to ignore the fear radiating from the palace. Elsa had created this, Kristoff was sure. When, and more importantly why, remained a mystery. "Sven, come on, look at this!"
Kristoff whirled around, finally noticing the sudden absence of his friend. "Sven?" The man glanced around, scanning the tree line for any sign of movement. Kristoff turned around once more, growing increasingly worried by the second. "Sven!"
In fact, Kristoff was so immersed in his worry he almost didn't see the fist flying towards him before he blacked out.
Author's Note: Written in Winter is back! After a long hiatus, here is the long overdue chapter ten. It's a little short, but it's going to take a little while for me to get back into the groove of writing. I'll try and have the next chapter up within the week in hopes that will make up for my unintentionally long break. Thanks for sticking with me!