SpeechBubbleMe: All will be explained in time...

Belle and Gerda: Aren't those the same question? But anyways, I don't know. Belle's a young adult and Gerda is somewhere in her pre-teens. And of course they're not twins.

Love Snow Queen: Okay...

Kai had been running perilously through the massive, snowy forest ever since his daring escape from the Snow Queen's castle. He had no doubt that once the Snow Queen found out he had escaped, she would be looking for him, so he hoped to put as big a distance between him and the castle before that happened.

Frankly, he was stunned he had made it this far. He'd have figured the Snow Queen would have sent her wolves to go fetch him once she learned of his escape.

Just as he was pondering this, Kai thought he heard footsteps approaching in the distance. Panicking, Kai rushed to try and escape. Diving behind a large rock covered in snow, Kai scrambled to dig himself into the ground, covering himself in as much snow as possible to conceal himself from sight. Once he was sure he was fully encased in the snow, Kai lay frozen in place, careful not to make a sound.

While hiding, Kai heard footsteps draw near. His breathing slowed to a stop as he heard the footsteps come to an abrupt halt, only a few feet away from where he currently was.

"Where did he go?" Kai heard one of the men ask. Due to his snow covering, he couldn't see the men, but he could feel their presence, how close they were to his location.

"I know I heard him," Another men stated. "He can't be far!"

"Check for footprints," A third man commanded quickly.

"We can't," The second man replied. "The winter winds are blowing the prints away and covering them up."

"Dammit," The third man said, stamping his foot in the ground. "The Snow Queen will be really upset if we return empty-handed. We have to keep looking. Come on!"

Kai heard the men rush off, and a wave of relief washed over him. Still cautious, he remained hidden in the snow even after the sound of the men's footsteps had ceased, just in case any more men were nearby.

After a short period of time had elapsed, Kai finally emerged from the covering of snow. He made sure to look all around him, to make sure that there was nobody else there. Once he was sure the coast was clear, Kai stood up and walked off in the opposite direction of the Queen's guards.

From that point on, that was all Kai did. He simply walked in no clear direction, wondering to himself how long he'd be able to keep it up. Unlike Gerda, he had no magical gem to guide him. The only thing he could rely on currently was his wit, and pure luck.

Eventually, Kai stumbled upon a village in the clearance. Immediately, Kai felt a sense of relief; hopefully, he'd be able to find a place to stay and hide from the Snow Queen there. After all, a child would stand out less in a village full of people than in a vacant forest.

Quietly slipping into the village unnoticed, Kai sneaked through an alley. Peaking out from behind a corner, Kai took notice of a man pushing a cart down the sidewalk. The cart had a blanket on top of it.

Making sure the man wasn't looking, Kai quickly reached out and snatched the blanket as the man passed by. He vanished into the alley before the man even noticed what happened.

Crouching in the alleyway, Kai went to work wrapping the blanket around his head and shoulders, almost like a hood, in order to mask his face. He used a piece of rope to tie the hood around his neck to keep it from falling off. Once his disguise was finished, Kai stepped out of the alley and walked down the sidewalk, keeping his head low.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kai saw a group of children walking down the same road. Perhaps if I'm walking with a group, people won't notice me, he thought to himself.

Picking up a slight pace, Kai quickly caught up to them, walking close behind them, but keeping enough of a distance so that they didn't grow suspicious. Nearby, none of the townsfolk seemed to notice Kai as he walked with the group.

Kai breathed in relief. So far, his disguise had worked. Now, he just needed to find a place to stay until he could make his journey home.

Belle, the Beast, and Wynter walked through the forest slowly and silently, all of them in a dull mood. The loss of Gerda and the Robber Girl had cast a damp spirit over them, especially Belle.

"I don't even see why we're continuing forward," The Beast complained. "It was your sister who wanted to go and rescue that boy, and now she's gone, and she's taken her gem with her! We have no idea where we're going!"

"Well it's not like we have much options!" Belle snapped. "It's not like you know the directions back to your castle. We just have to keep moving forward, and hopefully, we'll find Gerda and the robber girl. That avalanche couldn't have taken them that far away from us."

"Well if it didn't, we'd have found them by now!" The Beast pointed out.

"Don't yell at me!" Belle shouted at him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" The Beast snarled.

Suddenly, Wynter made a grunting noise, causing the two to whirl towards him. The reindeer's eyes were full of panic, and his head was darting left and right. He was stamping his legs on the ground and stepping backwards, grunting loudly.

"Wynter?" The Beast asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"

Belle looked around, and her eyes widened as she noticed several dark figures looking in the darkness of the forest, surrounding them.

"I think I have a good idea what's scaring him," Belle whispered as she tugged on the Beast's paw. It was only then that the Beast took notice of the figures as they made themselves known to their victims.

Slowly, dozens of large wolves stepped out from behind the trees and bushes, snarling and snapping their jaws at Belle, the Beast, and Wynter. They encircled the three, cutting off all of their exits. Trapped, the three huddled close together, cornered on all sides.

Finally, the last, largest wolf stepped out from the shadows. The other wolves stepped to the sides to allow him to pass through them.

The black wolf came to a stop, facing Belle. His yellow eyes met with her own, his stare boring into her soul.

"Well, well, well," The black wolf hissed, a fanged grin appearing on his jaws. "What do we have here?"

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