I own nothing!
Warning: This story contains child abuse.
FYI: Anna is about 18, Elsa is 20, and Kristoff is about 19 (just saying)
Please enjoy and review! I sorry this took so long and thanks for sticking with me on this.
Kristoff's eyes slowly fluttered open. It took a moment for him to remember where he was: Elsa's ice house. The late afternoon sun was shining through the opaque ice, filling the interior with a warm glow. Kristoff stretched and realized the girls were no longer next to him. Looking around, he saw that the door was open and they were sitting in the doorway.
Kristoff stood and walked towards them. As he approached, he noticed their posture. Elsa had her knees drawn to her chest with her head resting upon them. Anna had her forehead resting on the back of Elsa's shoulder and an arm wrapped around her sister's waist. Concerned, the boy knelt on the other side of Elsa and asked, "Are you guys alright?"
Elsa glanced at him, and Kristoff cringed at his obviously unintelligent question.
"Elsa and I were talking about your story, Kristoff." Anna spoke up, "We thought, maybe, if there was something we could do, we should, you know, do it?" She finished awkwardly.
"That is not your responsibility!" Kristoff argued.
"But it is." Elsa countered suddenly, barely lifting her head from her knees. "Those are our people, and they are suffering. If there is anything we can do, it is our obligation to do it."
Kristoff sighed, "I don't want you guys getting hurt." He confessed.
"I just don't know what to do." Elsa said quietly.
Now it was Anna's turn to sigh. "I wish Pabbie was here," she stated. "He would be able to help us."
Kristoff perked up. "I could send Sven to get him, if you two really think it would help," he offered.
Anna nodded. Elsa shrugged tentatively, "It might."
All three stood. Kristoff went to Sven while the girls stayed by the doorway. "Hey buddy," Kristoff said to his reindeer, "I need you to do us a huge favor."
Sven looked at Kristoff, and the boy answered for his friend, "What do you need?"
"Go home, and bring Grand Pabbie back here."
The reindeer shook himself and meandered towards the door. Elsa and Anna stepped aside for him. Once out of the ice building, Sven began trotting down the mountain and out of sight.
After a moment, Anna turned back to Kristoff as if she were just remembering something. "Hey, Kristoff," she asked, "What's in the bag from Oaken's?"
Kristoff shuffled his feet as he answered. "Salt for preserving meat, and, umm, let me show you."
He gestured for the girls to come back inside. Going to the corner he left the bag in, Kristoff reached in and pulled out a small bottle. The boy brought it to the girls, who had taken a seat by the empty fire pit, and held it out for them to see.
"Really, Kristoff, rum?" Elsa asked.
The boy gave a sheepish nod. Elsa took the bottle from him and scrutinized it for a minute. Kristoff, fully expecting the bottle to be encased in a block of ice, was surprised when Elsa twisted the cap off, took a healthy gulp, and offered the bottle to Anna.
"It's a really small bottle, too small to do anything." Elsa said as an explanation to Kristoff's raised eyebrow and Anna's look of shock.
Deciding it was better not to question further, Kristoff took a drink after Anna. He realized just how small the bottle was when after they each had two more gulps, all of the rum was gone.
The King of Arendelle sat proudly upon his throne, attending to matters of the court. Just as the king was ending his affairs for the day, the chief guard, Hans, entered the throne room escorting a large man with a ruddy complexion and dirty blonde mustache.
Hans, also the youngest Prince of the Southern Isles, had come to Arendelle a few years ago looking for a mentor to finish his royal training. He was ambitious, cunning, and violent, but impressionable. Hans took any order the king gave him without question and hung on the king's every word. As the youngest of a very large family, there was also very little hope of Hans gaining power in his own kingdom. When offered a permanent position in the king's guard the previous autumn, Hans accepted readily. The king liked Prince Hans, and was pleased with the younger man's performance in his position of power.
"Your majesty," Hans greeted with a deep bow, "I'm very sorry to interrupt, but this man has reported a story of witchcraft."
The king sighed lightly, hoping this would be a quick interview. "Very well. What is your name?" the king asked the strange blonde man.
"Oaken," he replied.
"Hans, how did you find this man?"
Hans stepped forward and bowed again. "My men were chasing a young man for a curfew violation. They stopped to ask this man for information. When they went to arrest him for not having a trading license, his is story caught their attention and he was brought to me."
The king nodded, already disinterested in the case. "Mr. Oaken, please tell your story."
"This morning the guards come up to my shop and I said, 'Yoo woo, big summer blow out!' They ask if a young man and reindeer had been there. I said, 'Yes'. They ask where he went. I said, 'I don't know'. They ask what direction he left in. I point up the mountain and I said, 'That way'. They-"
"Hans, what is the meaning of this nonsense?" the king demanded abruptly.
"My apologies, your majesty, Mr. Oaken, will you please tell the king about the two girls you saw?"
"Oh yes. They wait outside in the sled. Blonde girl called red head 'Anna'." The king leaned forward, suddenly absorbing every word Oaken spoke. "Anna got out of the sled but stayed close to it." Oaken continued. "When the boy left shop, everyone goes back into the sled. Then, blonde girl holds her hand out, and ice comes from nowhere!" Oaken finished his story, throwing his hands in the air at the end.
The king's eyes were wide in shock, but he quickly schooled his features. "Hans, please procure Mr. Oaken a trading license and escort him back to his shop." Hans bowed to the monarch and turned to leave with Oaken in tow. "Oh, and Mr. Oaken," the king added, "don't tell another soul about those girls. Do you understand?"
Oaken nodded his consent and was led out of the throne room. Once alone, the king stood from his throne and left out of a back door. If anyone had been with him, they would have heard him murmur a single word: "Elsa".