A New Discovery
Anna was sneaking out.
The young woman of fourteen, only heir to the Aredellian throne, crawled on her hands and knees through the tunnel she had discovered a week prior. Her green dress was already soiled as was her red hair, but she persevered. Her knees were screaming, but Anna didn't mind.
"Good bye boring lessons," Anna snorted, a candle in her hand. "Outside of town here I come."
Anna soon reached a dead end, but her candle blew out as fresh air brushed the bangs on her forehead. She looked up and saw the outline of a small door in the earth directly over her head. She placed both her hands on the trapdoor and gave a great heave. The piece of earth began to move, but stayed resolutely in place. Anna shuffled onto her feet, braced her back against the wooden slat and heaved again. As it rose up freshly fallen snow piled off onto the ground as she stood up and pulled her scarf around her neck more tightly as icy winds assaulted her face.
She was in the middle of a forested grove of pine trees, caked white from a recent snowfall. Behind her was the brick wall that separated Aredelle from the nearby woods. She wandered out into the grove, snow crunching beneath her feet and a smile cracking across her face. Giggling, Anna flopped into the snow and created a snow angel. Nostalgia overtaking her, she rolled up some snowballs and created a snowman with an oversized head and small body.
"Hi I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs," Anna said in a high voice. On impulse she gave the snowman a big hug.
After exploring some more, Anna began to shiver. As the young princess began to walk back towards the tunnel, the bushes rattled as something darted by.
"Hello?," Anna squeaked as fear permeated her heart.
Anna shrieked as a wolf jumped out in front of her, blocking her escape route to the tunnel. Anna could only watch in horror as every direction she turned there was another wolf until she was surrounded. Anna armed herself with a stick and waved it at the wolves menacingly but it didn't deter them.
"SOMEONE HELP!" Anna screamed at the top of her lungs. "HELP!"
The wolves closed all of them baring her teeth. As one raised on its haunches, it laughed itself at Anna. The Princess swung at the wolf with her stick: it shattered and Anna's felt like her arms were about to be ripped from their sockets as the wolf overshot her. Another launched itself at her and Anna just barely dodged it. A branch clipped her foot and Anna flopped onto her back into the snow. The wolves closed tighter, teeth bared and ready for the kill. Anna closed her eyes, bracing herself for the end.
Sorry Mom, Dad. I should've of listened...I love you...
No teeth bore into her. Anna couldn't even feel the hot breath that was to signal impending death. She opened her eyes as a white blast illuminated lit up the her eyelids. Anna peered through her arms to see a figure walk into the clearing as the other wolves regarded the new arrival. When the newcomer turned, Anna saw her bust and recognized her as a woman. She was dressed in brown skins and hooded like the ice harvesters who came into Aredelle from the mountains around the town. Two of the wolves charged at the new arrival.
Anna tried to shout a warning but gasped as ice spontaneously erupted from the fingertips of the mysterious girl and blasted both wolves into the trees. The leader of the pack howled and the remainder of wolfpack now concentrated on the hooded newcomer. Anna cringed: she counted ten wolves still standing in the fight. But her rescuer girl stomped on the ground. Snow became ice and blocks formed out of thin air around the two young woman. Anna eyes were as wide as dinner plates as the over ten wolves converged on the ice harvester. The girl held out her hands and manipulated the ice blocks with dizzying speed. Wolf after wolf was hit and thrown into snowbanks, logs, a nearby frozen stream, over trees. and into the undergrowth.
"Run, get to the city," the girl said to Anna in a voice that sounded oddly familiar.
Anna bolted but her boots gave out on the ice and she fell on her right side, hitting her head on the ice as the wolfpack ran into the forest, tails tucked between their legs.
"Are you okay?" the girl asked, kneeling beside her.
Anna squinted at the girl as she pulled her hood off. Platinum blonde hair fell over her shoulders, braided to the side. Her eyes were ocean blue, she was thinly built with a small bust, and her skin was the lightest of white outdone only by her hair. Anna blinked as a ringing began in her ears and darkness began pressuring her irises.
"She is hurt," the girl said to another person.
"What should we do with her?" came a male that increasingly sounded fuzzy to Anna. "You used your powers."
"She hit her head, no one will believe her," the girl pointed out. "Bring her to one of the houses. Knock on the door then run for it.
Anna blushed as a hot-looking young man, dressed in the same ice harvester skins. picked her off the snow.
"What is your name?" the girl soothingly asked, holding an icy cold hand to Anna's forehead, helping to dull the splinting headache which was tormenting the young girl.
"Anna. Y...you...yours?" Anna asked as the pain increased and her eyelids began to droop.
"Elsa and Kristoff."
Anna's eyes flickered open to a splinting headache. She looked around as the right side of her head throbbed; she was back in the castle on her bed and with a mug of hot chocolate was steaming on the nightstand. She sat up and sipped it as she tried to recall how exactly she got here. Frowning at the blank her mind was drawing and wincing from the pounding headache. Anna squinted as the pain pulsated
Hearing familiar footsteps outside her doorway, dread took ahold of her heart. She placed the mug on the nightstand and pulled the covers over herself. Deep, heavy footsteps walked into her room that she immediately recognized as those of her father.
"Get up Anna," boomed a deep voice.
Anna knew better than to continue to fake sleep as a lamp was lit. "How did you know?"
"Your mug is mostly half-empty and Gerda informed me it was full not more than half an hour ago," Queen Iduna informed her offspring. "What happened out there?"
Anna groaned inwardly. She was in so much trouble but knew it would be worse if she lied. "I found a secret tunnel."
"Why didn't you immediately tell us?" Agdar demanded. Iduna put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.
"I just wanted to explore it," Anna protested. "I hardly get to do anything like that around here."
Iduna and Agdar exchanged looks. "What happened in the grove?"
Anna drew a blank. "I'm not sure."
"The physicians did say she suffered a concussion," Iduna reminded Agdar. "Maybe we should let her sleep."
"Not yet," Agdar said. "What do you remember? Our guards found four dead wolves in the clearing along with cloth ripped from your dress. We need to know."
Anna tried her utmost to remember. Blurry and fading details evaded her recall, like a chocolate bar on the top shelf of the pantry shelf she couldn't reach. "I...was surrounded by wolves. And then a girl named Elsa and a boy named Kristoff rescued me. Ice harvesters..I'm..."
Iduna squeezed Agdar's shoulder again. "Clearly we owe this 'Elsa' our gratitude. Let Anna sleep for now. We'll decide her punishment tomorrow."
Agdar nodded. "No more escapades like this again. Or you can spend two hours memorizing passages from the Bible again and a full day in etiquette lessons with your tutors."
Anna flinched ay the mere thought of the punishment as the King and Queen of Aredelle left her bedroom. She slumped against the pillows as Gerda came in.
"Next time don't give us such a shock princess," the head maid said as she gave another cup of hot chocolate to the girl. "Not like the time you went down the stairs and broke your leg."
As Gerda left Anna rolled onto her left side playing what she could remember in her sore brain but it left her with more questions than answers. Who was this Elsa? How could she ever repay her? Why did she look so like her? Anna's mind shut down and her eyes closed as she slipped into the realm of sleep.
Oaken's Trading Post
"She won't remember anything," Elsa insisted, pushing a lock of her white hair back as Kristoff parked the sled.
"Easy Sven," Kristoff called as he tied the reindeer to a post. "Do worry, we'll get you some carrots. Elsa, you know what Grand Pabbie said."
"Okay, okay, I'll keep it under wraps," Elsa conceded as they entered the post frequented by the ice harvesters. "Shut it. I saw how hot you thought that girl looked."
Kristoff blushed as Oaken greeted them. "Yoohoo, big winter blowout. Half off coats, boots, and winter dresses."
Elsa rolled her eyes as Kristoff laughed as they bought rope, carrots (for Sven), and ice picks. "Okay, pants."
"No, I'm not ever wearing a dress!" Elsa protested as they left the trading post with their wares. "Too drafty, especially when cutting ice."
Kristoff laughed again as Elsa swatted him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
"Still, there's something familiar about that girl," Elsa said, taking advantage of the brief respite.
Another ice harvester hurried up to the pair.
"Anderson," Elsa said with a smile. "How can we help you?"
"The King and Queen of Aredelle have summoned you two to the castle. For rescuing the Crown Princess."
Anderson left just as quickly as he had appeared to rejoin the main body of ice harvesters already heading off to another icy lake somewhere in the mountains.
"Great, it was the princess," Kristoff said, a little crestfallen. His first real crush and it was the princess of Arendelle.
"Oh no, we're in trouble," Elsa added, hanging her head.