The trio returned to the courtyard where everybody was surprised at the snow falling. Brooklyn held his hand, rubbing it to warm it up. Anna still had Elsa's glove. She handed it over.
"Here, this should keep it warm," she offered. Brooklyn took it, unsure if it would fit but was surprised that it was elastic. He slipped it on and felt better with the soft fabric on his sore skin, seeing the snowflake image on the back.
"Thanks," he said gratefully. Anna smiled back at him but her eyes were sad. Hans put a gentle arm around her. "Did you two know?" He asked. Brooklyn shook his head. "No," the gargoyle responded, seeing the Duke spazzing about the snow.
"It- it's snowing! The Queen has cursed this land! She must be stopped, you have to go after her!" He shouted at his personal guard. Brooklyn's eyes flashed, while Anna shook her head. "No, wait!" She said. Duke hid behind his guards. "And you. Is there sorcery in you? Are you a monster, too?!" Duke demanded in anger, while glaring hard at Brooklyn. Brooklyn trembled slightly.
"You dare say that word again—!" He snarled. Anna took his arm. "Me and Brooklyn are completely ordinary!" Anna argued. Hans stood up. "That's right, they are!" The two gave him a look. "I-in the best way," he quickly fixed. Brooklyn took it for now. Hans seemed nice enough but felt something off.
The Duke wouldn't buy them. "She nearly killed me and hurt her guardian!" He snarled. A freak of a guardian… he silently added. Brook held his hand. "It wasn't her fault! She just got scared." The red gargoyle argued back heatedly. Anna nodded. "He's right. It is mostly my fault for pushing her. So I'm the one who needs to go after her."
Brooklyn blinked. "Alone? No way. Elsa is also my responsibility, Anna. I'm going with you," he said. Anna smiled, glad to have her guardian. "Bring me my horse, please!" The red gargoyle had met her horse a while ago. He hadn't been fond of them since riding one in his youth and falling off but her horse, a brown and white one, seemed comfortable around Brooklyn. It helped him grow interested in horses again.
Her horse sniffed him when it was brought, Brooklyn petting him carefully. "Hey, boy," he said. Anna put a cloak around her. Hans was against this. "Anna, no. It's too dangerous!" Anna rolled her eyes. "Elsa's not dangerous. And I have Brooklyn to protect me from other dangers. We'll be fine. We have to make this right." She stradled onto her horse. Brooklyn didn't need to jump on for he could keep up with one on all fours. "We leave Prince Hans in charge!" Anna said to everybody. Brook knew his hand would hurt when running but with the glove it would be a bit more bearable.
He looked at Hans. "Be sure the people are safe," the gargoyle said firmly, glaring a little. Hans nodded but his face had worry. "Are you sure you two can trust her? I don't want either of you getting hurt. And Brooklyn, she may strike you again." Brooklyn narrowed his eyes. "She only reacts when scared, Hans. I'm going to do a different approach this time." Anna nodded. "Yes. And she's my sister she would never hurt me."
Anna then got her horse to gallop. Brooklyn ran after them, sometimes gliding into the snowy air. The people were in awe of this gargoyle's gliding, watching them leave.
Brook felt scared for Elsa's saftey out there all alone, and hoped she was ok. They had to find her.
….
Next day, near 3:00 in afternoon.
Brooklyn was exhausted from trudging in the cold wet snow, eyes having bags under them for they rarely stopped to rest. His wings had gotten stiff from the cold too, preventing him from gliding much anymore. But this was for Elsa. Anna's voice called through the trees. "Elsa! Elsa!"
"Elsa!" Brook yelled, voice croaked from all his yelling. He would fall asleep in the snow if they didn't find her. Anna had offered him to ride often but he responded no each time. Anna didn't like how tired Brooklyn looked.
"Are you ok?" She asked. Brooklyn nodded numbly, but he shivered just a tad, the cold getting to him. His wings were around his shoulders, too. "Uh huh. Just want to find Elsa and get home…" he said. The princess smiled assuringly. "We will, and I'll find us a warm place soon." Brook shook his head. "N-no. Can't stop." But Anna was persistant. "You've been out in the cold too long. I don't care if you say your kind can survive a long time in this weather, but clearly you don't have enough time left for you. You need to warm up."
Brooklyn looked at her tiredly. "Fi-fine. Keep calling her."
She did so. "Elsa, it's me, Anna! The sister who didn't mean to make you freeze the summer! I'm sorry. It's all my fault!" But then she said something else mostly to herself; "Of course, none of this would've happened if she had just told us her secret. She's a stinker…" Brooklyn didn't feel quite mad for that comment, for Anna had a bit of a younger sister moment so he let her have that.
But then snow fell down in front of them. Brook yelped out, Anna's horse startled from it, knocking her off, running away. Brooklyn saw the horse leave, knowing he could go after him but Anna was more important. She looked worried. "Oh kay…" she said nervously. Anna grabbed a bent over tree, struggling to get up. Brooklyn took her hand. "Well things got a bit more difficult," he said. Anna nodded, yelping herself when the tree snapped back up again, making more snow fall on the two.
Brooklyn's eyes narrowed from the cold snow covering his head. "Just perfect!" He muttered, going to dig himself and Anna out. The two trudged on again, a bit slower now that the horse was gone.
….
Nighttime had fallen now, and the two friends looked pretty travel worn and wet. Brooklyn's hair stuck to his back, grumbling under his breath. Anna was just as annoyed. "Ugh! Snow! It had to be snow! She couldn't have had tropical magic that covered the fijords in white sand and warmth…"
Brooklyn shook his head. "Nice fantasy but no. Don't fancy walking in dry hot sand," he pointed out. But then he saw smoke. "Look!" He said in excitement, teeth chattering. Anna noticed too, smiling. "F-fire!" She laughed, but then the two slipped down a hill; right into freezing water. Brook stared right ahead, the water burning his skin. It was so cold!
He and Anna both stood up, Brooklyn shaking himself dry the best he could, Anna's dress now frozen solid. She definitely needed new winter clothes. The two of them quickly made their way towards the building in front of them. Brooklyn helped her up the stairs, knocking the snow off the sign, too.
"Wandering Oaken's Trading Post," the red gargoyle read out loud. Seemed good enough. He looked at the glove he wore which looked worn down, his hand feeling stiff from being in the cold. "Oh, it has a sauna, Brook!" Anna said, pointing to the sign. Brooklyn chattered non stop. He could sure use one right now, opening the door.
Inside was a nice little shop with all sorts of items for sale; mostly for the summer. Not much use for it right now, Brooklyn thought to himself. A voice spoke.
"Yoo hoo!" He turned to see a thickset human man there at the counter, a cheerful smile on his face. "Big summer blow out! Half off of swimming suits, clogs, and a sun balm of my own invention, ya?" Brooklyn painfully grinned from that, legs shaking. "D-dunno that I-I need it… giving the w-weather." He shivered. The man, Oaken, tilted his head. "Cold, I take it? Then may I interest you in a free hot drink I made myself, and a towel, ya?" He poured from a teapot the drink into a mug, handing it over with a nice towel.
Brooklyn looked down at the drink which smelled interesting, taking it in his hand. Oaken nodded encouragingly. "Go on. Try it." The red gargoyle sipped the drink. It hit his taste buds and went nicely warm down his throat. A smile came along. He took the towel too and dried off his hair. "Thank you. But aren't you curious that I'm not human?" Oaken shook his head.
"Word about you being guardian to this young lady even travels out in these parts." Anna nodded. "Great, thanks for helping him. But for now, about winter boots and dresses? And maybe a scarf for Brooklyn?" Oaken nodded. "That would be in our winter department," he said, gesturing to a corner where a nice blue cloak with boots, a green scarf, snowshoes, pickaxe, and rope sat.
Brooklyn took the scarf while Anna took the outfit and boots. He wrapped the scarf around himself, which felt soft. "Hey, listen. Just need to ask; did anybody else, like the queen pass by?" He questioned. Oaken shrugged. "The only ones crazy to be out in this storm is you two." But then the door opened again. Brook stood near Anna protectively, seeing it being a tall muscled human with snow covered clothes.
Oaken looked back and forth. "Well, you two and this fellow. Yoo hoo! Big summer blow out?" Brook rolled his eye, chuckling quietly from that. The man came closer to the counter, Anna leaning back, whistling awkwardly. Brooklyn watched the stranger with caution. "Carrots," the man said. Brook tilted his head. "Behind you guys." Anna realized, moving out of the way.
"Uh, sorry," Brooklyn said, watching him pull the carrots from one of the shelves underneath then going to the winter corner for the rope and pick axe. Oaken smiled. "Ooh, a real howler in July, yes? Wherever could it be coming from?" The man came back to the counter. "North Mountain," he replied.
Brooklyn had a brainstorm; Elsa could be hiding up there, he was certain. Oaken did the price. "Vat will be 40." He summed up. The man was startled. "40? No, 10!" Oaken shook his head. "Oh dear, that's no good. You see this is our winter stock. Do supply and demand have a big problem?"
The man gestured outside. "You want to talk about a supply and demand problem? I sell ice for a living," he said bluntly. Brook looked outside, seeing his sled of ice.
"Well, you're gonna be doin' that for a while," he said jokingly but the man raised his brow, making Brooklyn gulp. "Uh, unfortunate, really," he fixed. Oaken shook his head. "Still 40. But I will throw in with a soak in the sauna. Yoo hoo! Hi fanily!" Brooklyn and Anna saw the rest of Oaken's family there naked in the sauna, waving in the same way. They looked friendly. He waved shyly back. Anna did too.
But the man grew more desperate. "Ten's all I got! Help me out!" Oaken moved the items around. "Ok, I will get you this and no more!" Anna then asked the question Brook had been dying to get answers for. "Just one question. What was happening on the North Mountain? Did it seem… magical?" The man took down his muffler. "Ugh! Yes! Now the two of you back up, while I deal with this crook here!"
He was really a grown Kristoff. When Kristoff had seem the gargoyle with the princess when walking in Kristoff had a hard time believing he was seeing this creature again. He still had the blue stripe on his white hair. Oaken stood up. Brook cringed. Wrong thing to say… plus the man was bigger than expected.
"Vhat did you call me?" Oaken demanded. Kristoff smiled meekly before getting tossed out the doors.
Anna and Brooklyn both felt awkward about this when Oaken sat down, surprising Brook with his strength to pick the guy up and throw him like a gargoyle. "I'm sorry about this violence. I will add a quart of lutefisk, so we have good feelings." He placed a jar of pickled fish on the table. It gave off a weird stench, making Brooklyn wrinkle his nose in disgust. "Just the outfit, scarves, and boots, ya?"
Brooklyn watched Anna pull out what money she had, and even paid for the stuff the stranger had bought. She turned to Brooklyn who wrapped the scarf around his neck. "Anna, why did you buy the rest of that stuff?" Anna smiled. "Because I think he could help us." The red gargoyle shook his head. "No, no more strangers, Anna. We don't even know him!"
Anna gave him pleading eyes. "Please? You'd do anything to save Elsa, wouldn't you?" This made Brook frown at this, before reluctantly nodding. They trudged out to the nearby barn. Brooklyn could hear a ukulele and soft singing. The two peeked in.
"But people smell better than reindeer's. Sven, don't you think I'm right…"
"That's once again true, for all except you!"
Brooklyn could see the man from before lying on the hay inside and his reindeer there, acting like he was really talking though it was the man. Ok, weird, he decided to himself.
"You got me, let's call it a night."
"Good night!"
"Don't let the frostbite, bite…"
Then they opened the door. "Nice duet," Anna complimented. Brook was confused. Was it really? The man jumped. "Ugh, just you two. What do you guys want?"
Brooklyn stepped forward. "Your name first." He stated. The man frowned before replying. "Kristoff. And this is Sven," he introduced. The reindeer dubbed Sven gave a soft bellowing sound in greeting. Brooklyn waved at him.
"And I'm Brooklyn and this is Princess Anna," he said back. Kristoff seemed interested in Anna before she did her own. "Now that's done, Kristoff? I need you to take us up the North Mountain," she stated. Kristoff just shrugged it off. "I don't take people places."
Brooklyn took the rope and ice pick from Anna. "Uh, here, let us rephrase this." He threw the items at Kristoff who yelped. "Take us up the North Mountain, please," Anna finished while Sven sniffed for something in the items. Kristoff looked at them weirdly.
"We know how to stop this winter and I have to get my best friend back home," Brooklyn explained. Kristoff frowned then sighed and laid back to sleep. "Fine, we leave at dawn. And you forgot the carrots for Sven," he pointed out bluntly, until carrots were thrown. Not by Brooklyn but by Anna. They hit him in the face. Anna flinched. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm very sorry—." Brook nudged her. She flushed.
Brook folded his arms. "No waiting, we leave right now!" He snapped, and he and Anna went outside to wait, wondering how this deal with this strange person would go.