Chapter 23: Reindeer
Following Elsa's display of magically producing ice from her hands, she ran away from the house and up into the mountains creating patches of ice with each step. While the Weselton Trading President want to contact Merlin, Anna insisted on finding Elsa herself despite Hans being against it.
"Even if you find your sister, she may not want to come back," Hans pointed out as Anna was checking her camping supplies. "And who will run your family's company now?"
"The president, of course," Anna replied. "But you'll be the acting CEO while I'm gone, since I am next in line to inherit the company."
"But I'm no older than you are, Anna."
"Look, I don't have any other options. I hurt Elsa's feelings and I have to make up for it."
"But she's got powers you never knew about."
"I don't care about that! All I want is to apologize to Elsa, because I still love her as a sister. But maybe I will ask her about these powers anyway, just so she's not falsely accused of being a Witch. On that note, do you think you can keep the Weselton Trading President from contacting Merlin until I get back?"
Hans paused. "Well, I'll try."
"Thanks." Anna smiled and kissed Hans on the cheek.
###
As snow fell from the sky, Anna was trekking upwards wearing a pink cap and jacket with black snow pants and brown boots. Unfortunately, her pack was very heavy which made the journey longer. When night fell a few days later, she came upon a log cabin that had a giant freezer in front filled with ice packs. There was also a stable nearby with a reindeer resting inside alongside a blond-haired boy who was playing a lute.
"Um, excuse me," Anna began. "Is this some kind of lodge?"
"Far from it," replied the blond-haired boy. "It's a shop that sells ice during the summer. But because of the unusually cold weather we've been having lately, hardly any customers have shown up."
"And how do you know this?"
"Because I sell ice for a living." The blond-haired boy stopped playing his lute and stood up. "The name's Kristoff, and my pet reindeer is called Sven."
In response, the reindeer snorted.
"Nice to meet you, Kristoff," Anna responded, trying to sound polite. "I'm Anna, and I am currently looking for my sister Elsa."
"What does she look like?" Kristoff asked.
"Has white-blonde hair, pale skin, was wearing a blue dress and gloves with a black suit jacket."
Kristoff shook his head. "I can't say I've seen your sister, but I have heard rumors of a blonde-haired 'Snow Queen' who resides in a castle made entirely of ice."
This made Anna flinch. "Where is this castle?"
"Near the top of Forbidden Mountain." Kristoff pointed up using his gloved hand. "Hardly anyone goes up there, though, since the Pandemonium Gang owned a dojo near its base and there was supposedly an evil Fairy that had her own castle too. Maybe this Snow Queen used what was left of it as the base for this ice castle she made."
Eying Sven, Anna said, "So, could I borrow your reindeer, Kristoff?"
"Oh, no," Kristoff objected. "If you want to borrow Sven, you'll have to take me along."
"Fine, then I want you to take me up to Forbidden Mountain."
"Did you not hear what I said? And besides, this weather will make the trek up there difficult."
"I'll pay you."
"How?"
"My sister is the CEO of Arendelle Refrigeration, which is the same company that manufactured this," Anna said as she nodded her head towards the freezer. "I'll make sure you get a handsome reward for helping me find her, which is probably more than you make selling ice."
"Hey, it pays the bills!" Kristoff claimed, and then he said, "But if you insist on going, you're going to need to do two things for me first before I agree to go with you."
"Name them."
"First, you need to lighten your pack down to the bare essentials. And two, explain what's really going on."
###
Reluctantly, Anna told Kristoff what had happened to Elsa while she was getting rid of extra stuff from her pack. Afterwards, Kristoff hitched a sleigh to Sven where he placed his pack and Anna's into the back of it.
"You know, I can't blame your sister," Kristoff said as he drove the sleigh further up the slope. "I mean, what do you know about Hans?"
"He's from the Southern Isles, has twelve brothers, and likes sandwiches," Anna answered while sitting in the passenger seat of the sleigh.
Kristoff looked doubtful. "Is that all? You don't know if he changes his underwear every few days, or why he likes you. For that matter, why do you like him?"
"He's cute, polite, and a good listener."
"Friends can do that just as well as boyfriends."
"But I don't have friends. At least, not ones I'm particularly close to."
"Why's that?"
"Because—
Suddenly, Sven stopped which threw Anna and Kristoff forward where they landed in front of a snowman that looked down at them.
"Hi, I'm Olaf," the snowman said with a buck-toothed smile.
Immediately, Anna got up and backed away while Kristoff did the same. "D-Did you just talk?"
"Of course!" Olaf the snowman replied. "I came to life recently thanks to Elsa."
"Elsa?" Anna exclaimed. "Do you know where she is? I'm her sister Anna."
"Well, she lives in an ice castle that's just up this mountain. I can take you to it."
"That would be great!" Anna got up before quickly pointing to Kristoff and Sven. "These two are with me."
"Ah, the more the merrier!" Olaf waved his stick arms joyfully.
So as the little snowman moved on his stumpy feet, Anna Kristoff and Sven followed.
"You guys come from below the mountain, right?" Olaf said. "What's it like down there?"
"Definitely warm," Anna replied.
"Warm?"
"Um, higher in temperature…"
"I'm not sure I follow."
"Well, it's a feeling you get where you're really content and aren't uncontrollably jittering from the cold."
"Like what you're doing?"
Realizing she was shaking from the wind blowing in her face, Anna nodded.
"That sounds really nice. I hope I get to experience being warm someday. Do you know what happens to snowmen in summer?"
Just as Kristoff was about to speak, Anna covered his mouth with her gloved hand. "Let's talk to Elsa about that. She would be able to answer your question better than we can."
End of Chapter 23