AN: Last night you might have gotten a notice that I posted only to show up here and find nothing, or some found a new chapter. I posted last night and shortly after I did, I decided I hated the chapter and took it down to rewrite. Why? Because I want to give the best version of the story I can. So I fixed what I thought was wrong, added a few knuts and bolts. Now It's ready for human and robot consumption. Please sit back and enjoy, popcorn to your left, tissues to the right.


Anna hugged the cold stone wall as she moved along the dim corridor. Her heart was beating madly, but she forced herself to take the winding, frustratingly identical halls of Hasvik at a slow pace as she tried to figure out where Rune had run off to. Kristoff walked at her side, pressed protectively, but almost uncomfortably, close. They had just taken out a lone guard when the snow leopard stopped, ears perked, and whined low in her throat before taking off into the darkness. Anna and Kristoff had tried to follow, but after a handful of twists and turns they lost sight of her, and now had no idea what direction to continue in. That alone kept Anna from trying to run through the maze of Hasvik Keep, because there was only one thing—only one person—that could elicit such a response from the cat. Elsa.

Anna tried to convince herself that maybe Rune simply sensed Elsa nearby and got excited. The leopard's behavior didn't have to mean something was wrong, that something happened to her sister. But no matter how many times Anna repeated the words in her head, the sinking feeling in her gut told her time was running out. Every wrong turn they made, every dead end they had to backtrack from felt like a noose around her neck, getting tighter and tighter.

Anna let out a frustrated growl as they came to another intersection, identical to the last three they had encountered. She threw her hands out to her sides and turned in a circle. "This is hopeless. There's no telling where she could be. We don't even know if she's on this floor."

Kristoff reached out and squeezed Anna's shoulder. "We'll find her." He looked down the dark hallway. "We passed more than one staircase before Rune bolted, and she didn't seem interested in any of them."

Anna took a deep steadying breath then nodded. "Okay," she said. "Right." She squared her shoulders and looked around at their choice of paths. "Left, right, or straight?"

Kristoff rubbed his chin as he peered down each hall. "This one," he said, pointing to the left.

Anna frowned and shifted her weight, craning her neck to look down the dim passage, wondering if he saw something she had missed. "Why that one?"

Kristoff shrugged. "It's colder than the others?"

Anna nodded. She had no better reason to take another hallway, and it wasn't the worst idea she'd heard all day. They were far north, and everything here was draped with a pervasive cold, but if something was truly wrong, then Elsa would be radiating artic temperatures in waves. Anna gestured for him to lead the way, throwing a glance back at the other two paths, hoping they were making the right choice.

As they followed the hall, there was a noticeable dip in temperature the further they went. Anna felt a small bit of hope spark in her chest, but reminded herself that the cold could be a result of them moving further from the center of the keep and closer to its outer walls. They were approaching yet another intersection when the sharp clang of metal against metal echoed off the stone walls—there was fighting up ahead.

Anna threw a look over her shoulder, debating if they should just go back and try a different way. But without Rune, following the increasing cold seemed to be the only thing they had on their side, the only hint to where Elsa might be. She turned to Kristoff, but before she could get a word out, a Vindarr guard ran into view. The man stopped in his tracks when he spotted them, then immediately changed directions, heading toward them instead of his intended target.

Kristoff stepped in front of Anna, blocking an incoming blow with his own short sword. He turned as the swords hit, taking advantage of his larger bulk to slam a shoulder into the guard and knock him to the ground. Anna backed away as the man regained his feet with practiced ease, leaving his shield on the ground as he gripped his sword and launched another attack. Kristoff clumsily blocked the sword once more, trying to repeat the move that had dislodged the guard before, but the Vindarr was prepared, turning his body at just the right moment to cause Kristoff to overbalance. He hit the ground with a solid thud.

As the man lifted his sword to deliver a fatal blow, Anna slammed the discarded shield as hard as she could into the back of his head. The guard toppled over to the ground in an undignified lump.

Kristoff looked up at her, offered a breathless, "thanks."

Anna held out a hand to help him up in lieu of a response.

He took her hand and pulled himself to his feet. Together they turned toward the intersection in the hallway where the sounds of fighting had ceased. Anna and Kristoff exchanged a look, hefting their own weapons as they slowly creeped toward the corner. They had no way of knowing who had won the fight or what they were about to walk into. They cautiously peeked around the corner to see a man with his back turned toward them, picking something up off one of the fallen Sirma soldiers.

Anna's adrenaline was still pumping from the previous altercation and she felt ready to take on anyone standing between her and her sister. As the man straightened, she stepped in front of Kristoff and swung her shield toward him. The man turned and ducked just in time, narrowly avoiding getting his head bashed in. He stumbled back a step, arms windmilling.

"Whoa, hey!" Kristoff grabbed Anna's arm before she could try for another swing. "Anna, it's Alarik."

She blinked at the man. "Oh." Her cheeks burned as she lowered the shield. "Sorry."

Alarik steadied his balance, then looked up at his potential attacker. It took a second, but Anna could see the moment Alarik realized it wasn't a soldier that had almost taken his head off; his eyes widened with shock, then narrowed into a look Anna didn't quite have words for as he turned to Kristoff. "A promise to keep, huh?"

"I promised Elsa I would keep her sister safe," Kristoff said. "That's what I'm doing."

"She's not supposed to be here." Alarik sighed and wiped the blood from his blade before sheathing it.

"She can hear you." Anna dropped a hand to her hip, keeping the shield held aloft in her other.

"My apologies," Alarik said with a slight tip of his chin, "but what the hell are you thinking?" His lips twisted, and he added, "Your Highness."

Anna frowned. "I'm thinking that I can do more here to help my sister then I could sitting back at the camp doing nothing."

Alarik shook his head, his expression grim. "I understand your need to help, believe me, I do, but gods forbid something happens to the Queen, then you—"

"I know," Anna bit off. She was well aware of what it would mean if something happened to Elsa, if something happened to both of them. But she wasn't Elsa, and, in this instance, she couldn't put duty before family. Something told her she needed to be here. "I have spent the last month and a half with people telling me I can't see my sister, with Elsa's life being put in danger to protect mine. Now I have a chance to help, to fix the problem I caused. I will find her. I will bring her home. And nobody—not you, the admiral, nor Elsa—is going to stop me."

Alarik's eyes widened. He opened his mouth, then shut it with a click. "Very well." Then, surprisingly, he smiled. "What can I do to help?" His face fell into a frown as he looked around the area. "Wasn't Rune with you?"

Kristoff nodded, sheathing his own sword. "She bolted a bit ago, just took off running. We couldn't keep up and lost her in this maze."

"You think something happened to the Queen?" Alarik asked.

The bit of relief Anna had felt when Alarik didn't fight her on her being in Hasvik was quickly washed away under the reminder of Rune's sudden departure. She nodded mutely, her eyes fixed on her newly acquired shield.

Alarik rolled his lips against his teeth and nodded. "Okay, well, I just came from that direction—" he pointed behind him "—and didn't see anything indicating she might be that way."

"I say we keep sticking with the coldest path," Kristoff offered.

The three of them stood still for a few short moments before agreeing on the direction. They walked in silence, the air carrying a sense of tension, the sounds of not-so-distant cannon fire and battles above them echoing through the stonework.

Just when Anna thought her head might burst from the weight of the silence, Kristoff asked Alarik, "where are your men? Weren't you supposed to be going after Markkus?"

Anna rotated her head toward Alarik so she could both hear and see his answer, curious and eager to know that the shady man who had deceived her sister was in custody, or at least, would be soon.

Alarik nodded, rubbing at the back of his neck. "We were fighting our way through the upper levels when one of their earth mages caused the floor to crumble. I fell through, I think, two levels, and ended up separated from them. I was having little luck finding my way back to my men, but they'll continue to look for him without me." He glanced down at Anna. "As it is, I believe my services will be best served protecting the princess and finding Queen Elsa."

"Thank you," Anna said with a smile. She knew how bullheaded it was of her to come here, but also that there was nowhere else she would be right now.

Alarik chuckled. "Oh, don't thank me. When the Admiral finds out, I'm sure there will be hell to pay. And when your sister finds out . . ." He gave an exaggerated shiver and shook his head.

Anna winced. She hadn't thought about what would happen when Elsa found out she had willingly run headlong into a battle with only Kristoff and Rune for protection. Despite what she might have told Kristoff after the whole sprained ankle incident, Elsa hadn't let Anna off anywhere near as easy for trying something so reckless. She could only imagine her sister's reaction to this.

A shiver tore through her, one she felt all the way to her bones. It took a moment for Anna to realize that it wasn't the thought of Elsa's ire causing her to shiver, but the temperature. As they had turned the last corner, the air took on a frosty chill that screamed that Elsa was nearby.

Alarik laid a hand on her shoulder, keeping her from running off. "Careful," he said in a low voice. "We don't know who or what is nearby." He drew his sword, holding it steady in his hand. Kristoff did the same as Anna tightened her grip on the shield.

They crept down the hallway, Anna's heart hammering against her chest as she spotted spindles of frost coating the walls. They followed the frost until they came to a doorway, partially collapsed. Alarik held out a hand for the others to stand back as he peered outside. Beyond the doorway, rain was falling in heavy, icy sheets.

"Christ . . ." he whispered.

"What?" Anna asked, trying to see through the debris.

Alarik took a deep breath. "It's clear, but the Queen was definitely here." He gestured to Kristoff to help move a few rocks to clear a path. Once they made the gap big enough to fit through, Alarik went first, followed closely by Anna, who lifted her shield over her head in an effort to block the chilly rain. As her eyes adjusted to the ruins of the darkened area, she felt her breath freeze in her lungs. The space had clearly once been a large courtyard, but had become the epicenter of what could have only been a brutal battle.

Stone and ice lay in scattered wreckage on the ground. Pieces of embedded ice decorated the walls of the Keep, their sharp edges glittering faintly. At the center of the courtyard was the most disturbing sight—a man, frozen solid. Anna wrapped her free arm around herself, her fingers tightening around the strap of the shield as she dared to step closer to the figure. She felt nauseated from the thought of what it would have taken for Elsa to freeze someone's heart and turn them to ice, of what such an action would do to her sister, whether or not it was purposeful.

Anna could see that chunks were missing from the ice statue, as though something hard had slammed into him after he'd been frozen. She stopped just in front of the statue and gasped. "It's Tyr."

Kristoff crossed the courtyard to stand next to her. "I thought he was supposed to be in the dungeons."

"He must have gotten out after the fighting started," Alarik said from somewhere behind her, sounding distracted.

Anna squeezed her eyes shut. She had known in her heart that Tyr wouldn't survive this night, but she had desperately wanted to keep her sister from bearing the weight of his death. It would seem fate had a different plan for them. She took a deep breath, preparing herself to walk away, when a yellow glimmer caught her eye. A crystal hung from Tyr's neck, and for some reason, it hadn't frozen with the rest of him. She reached up and wrapped her fingers around the glowing yellow stone, and yanked, pulling it free from the ice.

Kristoff leaned over her. "Is that what I think it is?"

Anna gave no answer as she squinted at the crystal in her hand—a Vindarr crystal that held magic. Something odd and not entirely unpleasant thrummed beneath her skin, traveling up her arm and pooling in her chest like a warm jolt of electricity that was begging for some sort of release. Anna wondered if this was what magic felt like—if this was what Elsa felt all the time.

Before she could further explore the feeling, a torrent of blustery cold air swept through the courtyard, ice enveloping the small crystal. Without warning, it exploded into a thousand tiny shards. Anna yelped and jumped back, shaking her hand as pain bit through it.

"Anna!" Kristoff called. "Are you okay?"

Anna held her hand tight against her chest, wincing. "I think so."

"Let me see." He took her hand and carefully unfurled her fingers. Her palm was red where the crystal had sat, a minor burn already beginning to blister, and her skin was peppered with cuts from the crystal shards. "Looks painful," he said. "The cuts aren't too bad, but that burn will need to be cleaned and bandaged."

"It's fine," Anna protested, gently extracting her hand. Kristoff tilted his head and gave her a look. She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I don't mean it's fine like Elsa's 'it's fine.' I mean, there is nothing we can do right now, and it will be fine. The more pressing issue is that burst of . . . whatever, that definitely came from Elsa." She pointed over Kristoff's shoulder. "From that direction, I think."

Alarik came to a stop next to her looking in the direction she just pointed. "It's the only other way out of the courtyard."

Anna took one more look around the carnage of the courtyard, her pulse thudding painfully against her throat. "Let's go."

They moved out of the rain and back into the relatively warm, dry comfort of the Keep. Anna shook the water from her shield as she lowered it to her side.

"Left, or right?" Kristoff asked as they looked down the hallway.

Anna bit her lip, following his gaze. She was about to offer a suggestion, but noticed a smear on the wall leading back toward the center of the Keep. She stepped closer and felt her heart seize. "Guys." She pointed at the smear. "Is this blood?"

Alarik and Kristoff followed her gaze. She didn't need them to answer; the looks on their face was confirmation enough. She swallowed thickly and picked up her pace until she was nearly running. The others followed her lead and hurried down the hall. There were more red stains along the stone for a few turns, and then Anna took a corner and spotted something that filled her with just as much relief as it did dread.

It was Rune.

The giant cat heard their approach and lifted her head from where it had been resting on something Anna couldn't quite make out. As she moved closer, she could see a shock of muddy blonde hair pooled across the dark stone. Elsa was lying on her side, her back to them. She took off toward her huddled sister at an all-out sprint, her heart lodged in her throat, no longer caring if anyone was around who might hear them. She dropped the shield as she ran and crashed to her knees at her sister's side. "Elsa!"

Her hands fluttered uselessly around Elsa's shoulders, but she was too afraid to touch, fearful her sister would shatter within her clumsy fingers like delicate glass. Elsa's cheek was swollen and vividly red, with matching marks wrapped around her neck. Both were sure to be horribly darkened with bruising by morning. Superficial cuts marred the pale skin of her face and neck and shoulder, and her right forearm had an unnatural bend in it. There was blood everywhere, dark and ominous, dried bits under her nose and across her lips, a larger, still-wet patch at her shoulder, and splatters all over her clothing. Anna had no way of knowing whether all of it was Elsa's, which was terrifying in its own right, but the most worrisome sight was the large patch of deep crimson still spreading from the spot where Rune's heavy leg rested. The snow leopard looked like she had positioned herself that way on purpose, like she was keeping pressure on a serious injury. Beneath the blood, Elsa was so pale and still, Anna feared the worst.

As Anna took in her sister's multiple injuries, she couldn't help but think back on the state of the courtyard, the horrific sight of Tyr standing at the center, frozen solid with a hand to his chest, his face twisted in shock and pain. Some part of her was glad for it, a hot little flare of satisfied anger in her chest. Elsa had done that to him, whether reflexively or with full intent, but he had more than earned it. Anna couldn't have ever imagined seeing her strong, graceful, proud older sister looking so beaten and vulnerable, couldn't have ever imagined feeling this helpless.

Elsa would be okay. She had to be okay. After all this time, Anna couldn't accept anything else. This was not supposed to be how they reunited; they were both supposed to make it to the other side of this.

Anna didn't even realize she had started crying until the tear track burned cold against her cheek, the moisture chilled by her proximity to Elsa. She swallowed back the emotion then, reaching out trembling fingers to cup Elsa's face, feeling her pulse thundering against her palm. Normally, that would be a good sign, but she knew something about it was very wrong.

Anna brushed the rain-soaked bangs away from her sister's face. "Elsa? Come on, I need you to wake up." She swiped the pad of her thumb across Elsa's cold cheek. "Elsa, please. Wake up." Distantly, she heard Alarik and Kristoff join her at Elsa's side.

Kristoff crouched down next to her. "Shit," he muttered, his eyes quickly taking in Elsa's battered form. He leaned forward and nudged at Rune's leg, trying to get a look at what the large ice cat was covering. She shifted just enough that Anna could see the ragged edges of torn skin before blood started bubbling up over.

Kristoff quickly pressed Rune's blood-stained leg back over the wound. "Okay, we're going to need something to stop the bleeding before we can even think about moving her." He stood up, looking down the hallway. Anna followed his gaze and saw that not far from them stood multiple doors. "Alarik," Kristoff said, "help me find towels or linens, anything we can cut into bandages." He looked down at Elsa then added, "and a blanket, if you can. Anna, you stay here, see if you can wake her. She might be confused if she does, so try to keep her calm and still."

Anna nodded numbly as the two men moved away, and her sluggish gaze drifting from Elsa's face down to her arm. She tilted her head. The cuff wasn't glowing. She looked to Elsa's other wrist, and saw that the crystal there had been broken, too. The stones on both cuffs looked as though they'd been shattered from the inside out. Anna added it to the growing list of things she didn't understand and wasn't sure she wanted to.

She moved her hands back to her sister's face, trying to wake her, tapping on the swelling of her cheek, hoping to elicit any type of response, even pain. She thought Elsa flinched, but it was so subtle she couldn't be sure it wasn't just wishful thinking.

"Okay," Kristoff said as he knelt back down next to Anna, arms laden with cloths and some broken pieces of wood.

Anna raised an eyebrow pointedly at the objects.

"For her arm," he said simply, in response to her unasked question. He turned to Alarik and handed him a sheet. "Fold this up into a thick square. We'll use it against the wound." He took a knife from his boot and started tearing another sheet into thick strips. Once that was finished, he looked up. "When I say, Rune, I'm going to need you to move. Alarik, you place pressure, like a lot of pressure, on the wound. I'll wrap it and stabilize it. Anna, if you can lift her up just enough so I can wrap the cloth around her waist?" He took a deep breath, then looked at each of them. "Ready?"

Anna shifted so she was positioned at Elsa's head, ready to lift her up onto her lap.

"Go." Rune moved back away from Elsa, and Alarik quickly leaned forward. In that brief moment, Anna got a clear look at the wound the snow leopard had been putting pressure on, and she nearly gagged. It was so much worse than she first imagined. She turned her face away, feeling faint from the sight of her sister's blood spilling past the rough edges of torn skin.

Alarik immediately pressed the thick folded cloth over the large wound and wrapped his hands around her back, using his weight to press down.

Elsa suddenly gasped, her eyes flying open before squeezing tight. "Sto . . ." Her legs shifted across the ground as she attempted to curl around the pain.

"Elsa?" Anna brushed her good hand over her sister's bangs, hoping to soothe her distress.

"Sto . . . Elsa turned her head, lifting a hand to push clumsily at Alarik's. Anna quickly wrapped her fingers around her wrist and trapped the hand against her chest as Kristoff started tightly dressing the wound. Elsa whimpered, the sides of her feet skipping across the rough stone.

"Shh, you're okay." Anna brushed her fingers through Elsa's damp hair. "We got you. You're going to be okay."

Elsa rolled her head reflexively against Anna's lap. It was clear she didn't understand what was going on and was only responding to the pain. Anna angrily swiped at a tear trailing down her cheek. She couldn't start crying again; she needed to be strong for her sister. Her fingers continued to move rhythmically through Elsa's hair, trying to keep the distraught woman calm so she didn't hurt herself further.

Kristoff tied off the cloth over the wound and Elsa whimpered again, pressing her forehead against Anna's leg. "It's okay," Anna assured her. "They're done. You're okay."

Kristoff sat back on his heels, looking far more tired and exhausted then Anna had ever seen him. She suddenly remembered what he had told her back at the camp, that both she and Elsa were like family to him. She hadn't known Kristoff long, but knew he didn't use that word, family, lightly. She understood the weight that it held for him and felt all the more grateful for his presence here.

"Let me look at her arm," Kristoff said. "If we're lucky, maybe we can just wrap it and leave it for the doctor." He reached down, gently wrapping one hand around her elbow and the other in the small space between her hand and the inert cuff.

Elsa's fingers looked swollen, an almost purplish hue to them.

Kristoff shook his head. "We're gonna have to set her arm."

Anna blanched. She had no idea what that entailed, but doubted it was going to be easy, or painless.

"Are you sure?" Alarik asked, as if reading Anna's mind.

Kristoff nodded. "I've seen broken bones before, up in the mountains. Her hand is turning colors, and there's no pulse in her wrist. I think the break is cutting off circulation. If we don't set it, she . . ." He hesitated. "She could lose her hand if we don't return circulation."

Anna felt sick to her stomach. "What do you need?" She tried to keep her voice steady, but there was no denying the small quiver.

"Let's shift her onto her back," Kristoff said. "Slide the blanket under her so we don't have to move her much after."

Alarik did as he said, spreading the blanket down along her side, tucking what he could under Elsa, then carefully rolled her onto her back. Elsa clenched her jaw, wincing at every movement, but was no longer fighting them. They drew the sheet from beneath her on the other side and settled her back against the ground.

"Okay," Kristoff said, looking down at Elsa's half-lidded eyes. He took another deep breath. "Anna," he started, looking back up at her, "this is going to hurt, a lot. I'm going to need you to hold her tight, try to keep her calm and as still as possible. Alarik, trade me sides, and hold her arm just above the elbow. Don't let her pull away. Once the bone is set, we don't want to have to do it a second time."

Anna lifted her sister, scooting under Elsa so that her sister's head and shoulders rested against her legs. Kristoff took a moment to lay out the items he needed.

"You have done this before, right?" Alarik asked as he settled down next to Anna, wrapping his fingers around Elsa's upper arm.

"Sure, a few times. Of course, they were all giant ice harvesters. No real difference, I think, just . . . smaller." Kristoff then grabbed Elsa's wrist firmly with one hand, positioning the other just above the break. "Ready? One, two, three." He pulled hard, and the bone cracked back into place with a nauseating sound Anna was certain she'd never forget.

Elsa arched her back, releasing a raw scream that ended in a faint whimper.

Anna pressed on her shoulders, trying to keep her sister still. "It's okay," she whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears. "Shhh, shhh, I know it hurt, but you're okay now."

But Elsa was beyond listening. She dug her heels against the ground and tried to shove herself up, away from the pain. Her breathing was sharp and erratic, bordering on hyperventilating, as tears leaked from behind her tightly clenched eyelids. She tried to pull her arm away from Kristoff and Alarik, but they both held firm, waiting for her to stop struggling before splinting her arm. Elsa quickly lost steam, falling back against Anna, shaking badly. Kristoff and Alarik went to work on splinting her arm as Anna continued to whisper soft reassurances, anything she thought would help her sister.

Finally, Kristoff settled Elsa's broken wrist against her chest, using a large piece of cloth to lash the appendage there so that she couldn't move it. "All right." He moved the blanket, bundling up the queen. He tucked his hands under Elsa's back and legs, carefully lifting her up from the ground.

Elsa made no sound as he shifted her in his arms, and Anna could only assume she had slipped back into unconsciousness. She just couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.

Anna bent to pick up her shield, finding some odd comfort in holding the defensive weapon. "We need to get her back to the ship," she said. "So Malthe can treat her." She turned down the dark hallway, hoping that finding their way out would be easier than finding their way in.