a/n: What's up, guys? I thought it'd be fun to let you know that I started this chapter at 3 a.m on Thursday. I usually start on Mondays, but I had a little bit of a block. Anyway, here's chapter (eerie music) THIRTEEEEEEN!
Oh by the way, the town that Hans and the crew arrive at in this chapter is the same town that Anna was at in Chapters 7 and 8. Just FYI.
Chapter 13
Hans was awoken by a loud bang. His head shot up from the pillow to see Markus standing in the doorway of the small room, having opened the door loudly. When Markus saw that Hans and Astrid were in the same bed with clothes strewn everywhere, his mouth curled into a smile.
"Roped you in, did she?" he laughed. "Come on, lad. We need you up on deck. We'll be docking soon. You too, Astrid."
With a final smirk and a shake of his head, Markus left the two of them to get dressed. Astrid sat up and stretched, causing the blanket to fall off of her upper body, revealing her small, perky breasts. She caught Hans staring and shoved his shoulder lightly.
"Morning." she said with a yawn.
"Morning." Hans leaned over and kissed her. She returned the kiss with vigor, pushing Hans back down and rolling on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. Astrid pulled away from the kiss and leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"Think we have time?"
Hans gave her one last kiss then sat up. Astrid yelped in surprise as she suddenly found herself seated in his lap.
"Probably not. They're bound to come back if we don't get up there soon. And I don't know how your uncle is going to feel about this, if Markus tells him."
Astrid sighed. "Good point. Come on then, lets get dressed." They got out of bed and hunted for their respective articles of clothing. It took them five minutes to find everything, and Astrid was left without her left sock.
"Next time," she said as they headed up to the main deck, "let's pay attention to where we throw our clothes."
They stepped up onto the deck, blinking a few times in the bright sun. Captain Aaron was at the helm.
"Get enough beauty sleep, you two?" he said with a chuckle. "Come on, I need you to help bring the ship into port."
Hans and Astrid grinned at each other, then went about their duties.
About fifteen minutes later, the ship was docked, with the crew and other men bringing up crates and barrels from the cargo hold. Captain Aaron was standing on the docks, speaking with a merchant about payment.
Hans and Markus carried a particularly large crate onto the dock, setting it down with a grunt.
"Captain must really like you, lad." he said with a smile. "He won't let any of us go near her."
"Excuse me?"
"You think he's a fool, boy? He knows what you two got up to last night."
"I... uh..."
Markus clapped him on the back. "Don't worry yourself, lad. He likes you, which means he won't have you thrown overboard before we get to Corona. Might even let you stay on with us, if you like."
Hans smiled. "I'd like that." he lied.
Captain Aaron strolled over to them. "Kristoff, the lads and I are headed up to the tavern for a drink. You coming?"
Hans gave a mental cheer. This was perfect!
"Uh, no thanks. I'll stay here with the ship."
"Right you are. Markus, you coming?"
"O'course I am!" The two of them went on their way, followed by Benn, Mekal and Agnar. Astrid was suddenly beside Hans, leaning on a wooden pole.
"Aren't you going with them?" Hans asked.
She shook her head. "Nah, they don't need my help to pick fights in some tavern. I'd rather stay here with you." She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked into his eyes, biting her lip seductively. "Do you want to-"
Hans cut her off with a kiss. "Yes." he breathed.
With a mischievous grin, she grabbed his hand and led him below deck, back to the cabin they had woken up in. Not bothering to close the door this time, she pushed Hans against the wall and began kissing him fiercely.
Not one to be outdone, Hans spun them around, pressed her against the wall and began kissing her neck. She moaned and tilted her head to give him better access, giving a quiet groan when she felt Hans' teeth sink into the sensitive flesh.
Hans pulled away, out of breath and looked Astrid in the eyes. Her chest was heaving, and her eyes displayed nothing but lust. He brought one hand up to gently caress the side of her face.
Then, grabbing a handful of her hair, he slammed her head into the wall.
She fell to the floor, unconscious. Hans straightened up and smoothed his clothes, then went to the cargo hold and retrieved a length of rope. He used it to tie Astrid's hands and feet together, then gagged her for good measure before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
"Stupid bitch," he thought as he headed up to the main deck. Using the key he stole from Astrid the night before, he unlocked the door to Captain Aaron's quarters and went inside.
It was nothing spectacular, just a large feather bed next to a nightstand. There was a chest at the foot of the bed, which Hans tried to open. It was locked. He slid the key into the lock, and turned it with a click. He lifted the lid and looked in side.
"Well, that was easy." he said to himself. He was greeted by a multitude of gold, copper and silver coins. Picking up a large coin purse from the nightstand, he filled it to bursting with coins, then left the room. He locked the door behind him and left the ship, tapping a small man on the shoulder as he passed him.
"Excuse me," Hans asked. "Where can I find the Harbourmaster?"
"You've found him. What can I do for you, lad?" he said, extending a hand.
Hans shook it. "I'm looking to book passage to the Southern Isles. You wouldn't happen to know of a ship that can take me there, would you?"
The man smiled. "You're in luck, lad. See that ship there?" he pointed to a large frigate anchored out at sea. "She's headed there now. There's the captain if you want to enquire about booking passage." he pointed out a tall, thin man with a large scar across his left cheek who was loading men and boxes into a small boat.
"Many thanks, sir."
He grunted in reply. Hans made his way to the tall man. "Excuse me, sir."
He turned and faced Hans. "Yes?"
"I'm looking for passage to the Southern Isles. I was told that you were headed that way."
He nodded. "Aye, I am."
"How much?"
The man scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... How does fifteen silvers sound?"
"Perfect." Hans retrieved the coins and handed them to him.
The man counted them out. "Welcome aboard, lad." he said with a smile. "You're just in time, too. We're heading back to the ship now. Name's Gideon, by the way."
"Kristoff."
"Good strong name, that is. Well," he said, gesturing to the boat tied to the dock, "climb in, lad. Men, make room." The sailors already in the boat shifted to make room for Hans.
As the boat moved out to sea, Hans looked back toward Captain Aaron's ship. To his surprise, he felt a small twinge of guilt. Those people had been good to him, rescued him and given him food and shelter. And Astrid...
He quickly shoved those thoughts away. He needed to focus on getting home, and convincing his father to invade Arendelle.
That bitch Elsa had disrupted his plans for too long. He had failed too many times. But not again.
Never again.
Anna watched as Olaf dashed here and there, finding things to dig out of the snow to show her. She had decided to go for a walk down the mountain, and found it impossible to refuse Olaf's pleas to accompany her. The trolls were very friendly, but the Princess had felt the need to be on her own for a while. She was reminded that her plan had failed when Olaf showed her the same two-pronged icicle for the fourth time in a row.
It had been three days since Anna found out she was pregnant, and she still hadn't told Elsa. She didn't know why, but it was just something she felt like she needed to keep to herself, at least for the time being.
Anna had had plenty of practice concealing her emotions from Kristoff, so Elsa hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. She had, however, become slightly less social with Anna, and at one point it seemed as though Elsa was intentionally avoiding her. The night that Pabbie had told her about her baby, Anna and Elsa had made plans to visit Elsa's ice palace the next day. The next morning when Anna woke up, however, the trolls had told her that her sister had left without her. Initially wanting to make the trip there on her own, a particularly harsh snowstorm had prevented her from doing so. When she had returned, Elsa had apologized profusely, stating that "There was something I needed to do on my own."
This made Anna believe that Elsa was hiding something from her. She had immediately wanted to confront her about it, but a little voice in the back of her head told her that even if her suspicions were correct, Elsa wasn't the only one keeping secrets.
Anna still wasn't completely sure how she felt about having a baby. Although she tried her best to hide it, she was still wracked with guilt over Kristoff's death. This child would be a constant reminder of what she had done, how she had lied and used him. But at the same time, Anna felt as though she owed it to Kristoff to have his child. Kristoff was dead, but wouldn't having some small part of him brought back into the world make up for it that in some way? Anna was torn between doing what she thought was easy and what she knew was right.
Elsa was another matter entirely. Anna was happier than she had been in years when it came to her sister. They had spent most of their lives barely seeing each other, and Anna had always related Elsa to feelings of sadness and rejection. But Elsa had changed in the years since Anna had seen her. She seemed happier and more confident with herself. The night of Elsa's coronation was the first time Anna had heard her sister laugh in over a decade, and now it was a sound that could be heard several times a day, whether it be a girlish hand-over-the-mouth giggle at one of Anna's more klutzy moments, or a hearty clutching-at-her-stomach guffaw at one of Galdur's many stories.
"Olaf, I think we should head back. It's starting to get dark." Anna called out.
Olaf looked up from the small mound of snow he had been intently examining. "Ok Anna!" he ran back to her and grasped her hand. "Do you know how to get back? It's this way!" he said, pointing further down the mountain. "Or maybe this way..."
"I know how to get back, Olaf." Anna giggled. Olaf always helped cheer her up.
"Oh, good! Then, uh... could you tell me? Because I have no idea."
Anna shook her head and pointed in the direction they needed to go. "That way."
"Thanks!" he said, skipping ahead and stopping here and there to look at something new.
Anna shivered from the cold and quickened her pace. "Don't get too far ahead, Olaf!"
"I won't!"
Anna resumed her train of thought. When Pabbie had seen how shocked and concerned Anna was about being pregnant, he had advised her to listen to her heart, but not to make any hasty decisions. Anna had been thinking about what course of action to take practically non stop for the past three days, and because of that, she didn't think that anything she decided to do would be considered hasty. Maybe she should tell Elsa about her baby. Anna had no idea what she should do, and heavens knew that she could use some help figuring it out.
Anna decided. Elsa had to know. She was going to find out eventually, so why not sooner rather than later? Besides, Anna felt that she was too conflicted and confused to make the decision whether or not to have her child on her own.
As they arrived back in the troll village, Olaf ran off to show some of his discoveries to the trolls, and Anna saw that Galdur was immersed in conversation with Pabbie, but Elsa was nowhere to be found. She approached the two and cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry, but have either of you seen Elsa? I need to speak with her urgently."
Galdur raised a hand to his chin. "If I remember right, she said something about heading up to her palace. Left not too long after you did, M'lady."
Anna smiled. "Thank you, Galdur. And please, call me Anna."
"As you wish, M'lady."
Anna rolled her eyes, and with a nod and a smile at Pabbie, set off in the direction of Elsa's palace.
Pabbie caught her hand to stop her. "Princess, you aren't going there yourself, are you?" he asked, looking concerned. "It's getting dark, and there is a storm coming. I can feel it."
"I'm sorry Pabbie, but it's extremely urgent."
"Please, Anna. I'm sure she'll be back soon. Couldn't it wait until then?"
The elderly troll's eyes were showing genuine concern, and Anna knew that he was trying to look out for both her and her baby.
"Very well. I'll wait until she get's back."
"Thank you, Princess."
Anna went into the small hut that she slept in and laid down on her bed of grass. She must have dozed off, because she was awoken by Olaf shaking her arm.
"Anna, wake up! Elsa brought Marshmallow to visit us!"
She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Elsa's back?" she mumbled sleepily. "How long was I asleep for?"
"Only about an hour." Olaf said. "Now come on, lets go say hi to Marshmallow! I'm sure he missed you." He dashed out of the hut, and Anna followed him.
She was greeted by the sight of many of the younger trolls hesitantly gathering around a large mound of snow. One of them tiptoed up to it and poked it with a stick. The mound sprang to life, taking the shape of a huge snow golem. It roared at the little trolls, and they ran away giggling. Elsa and Galdur, who were observing the whole scene, both laughed as well. Marshmallow began chasing the little trolls, almost knocking Anna over in the process. Anna made her way over to her sister.
"Hey there, sleepyhead." Elsa said, wrapping Anna in a tight hug. Anna halfheartedly returned it.
"Elsa," she said quietly. "We need to talk."
a/n: This one was a bitch to write. I don't even know why, but I've just felt absolutely wiped out this week. I had to force myself to stay up to finish this chapter. That's just how much i love you guys. For those of you who are sick of Hans content, (My girlfriend among them), next chapter will focus solely on the sisters. So both you and I will be able to get our fix of my favorite (sob) fictional girls.
Please, if you like this story, leave a review. I love reading them.
Cheesepuffs.