Beyond the Hill
February 17th 1836...
Anna was riding her horse, Kjekk, through the town. Tugging her magenta cape as she felt the sudden cold breeze. It was February and that's when winter was in its late stages before spring arrives sometime next month, but even then it's still pretty cold. Citizens that she had passed gave slight bows to her. Anna knew that they were being polite, but she sometimes wishes they didn't always do that since she became a frequent visitor to the town.
But the cold or the citizens weren't on the 14-year old's mind at the moment. Anna was deep in thought. Her reasoning for being out at the moment was so she could clear her mind.
"Hey, Anna!" a male voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
Anna turned to see her friend, Kristoff waving to her, with Sven by his side. Over the past few years, Kristoff's build had grown bigger and was incredibly strong for a recently turned 18-year-old. Sven has also had become a fully grown reindeer and his antlers were bigger compared to the first time Anna met him.
"Hey Kristoff," Anna got off Kjekk and guided him towards the ice harvester his reindeer. She put her horse next to Sven before walking to her friend. "How are you?"
"Oh you know the usual," he answered. "What are you doing?"
"Avoiding papa."
"Oh no, what happened this time?" Kristoff asked in a joking, but mostly serious tone.
"How do I put it? I wake up. The sun is shining, birds were chirping on the rooftops. I went down to eat breakfast..."
Earlier that morning…
Anna had been summoned to her father's study as soon as she had finished her breakfast. She had noticed both of her parent's absence during breakfast, which she find it odd considering they always ate with her all three meals of the day. Then again, they were acting odd the previous day. They both had somewhat somber expressions as if they were remembering something that was once happy, but now were nothing but bittersweet. But Anna was used to seeing them act like that on that day this time in the year.
She approached the door that leads to the study. Anna was slightly nervous. The only times she had summoned whenever something serious was going on or she was some trouble. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.
"Come in." A voice said.
Anna opened the door and walked in. She saw her father sitting at his desk with her mother beside him. They had a look on their faces that indicate that they want to discuss something important.
"You wanted to see me?" Anna asked.
"Yes sweetheart," Agdar answered. "Please sit down."
Anna sat down on a chair across her father's desk.
"Is there something wrong? Is this about what happened last week with the pig and the pie?"
"No, it isn't," Idun replied. "Your father has something important to tell you."
Anna faced her father. "What is it?"
"Anna," her father started. "In a few months, you'll be turning 15. An age where you enter the stage of becoming an adult. Which is important of being royalty."
"Uh, Okay…" Anna responded. "Where are you going with this? Because I'm feeling nervous right now."
"We believe it's time for you to learn about being Queen."
Anna wasn't quite expecting this. She thought it was going to be one of 'those talks' she had received when had turned 12, and that other time when she asked how babies were made. But this kind of thing was different. Much too different.
"Q-Queen? Me?" Anna stuttered.
"Yes," Agdar answered. "As the...sole heir to the throne, it is an important task. We believe you're ready to learn. Is there an issue?"
"I um...I mean, I'm flattered, and maybe feel a bit honored, but also really surprised. I wasn't expecting this. Why now?"
"We want you to be prepared in case something happens to me and your mother."
"But you guys are in good health. Unless..." Anna made a slight gasp. "You're not dying are you?"
"Wha-? No! No ones dying sweetheart." Idun lifts her arms in an assured matter. "We just want you to be prepared if something does happen."
"Are you saying that you don't want to be queen?" Agdar asked.
"Of course not!" Anna defended herself. "I just...I need time to think about this."
The last thing Anna remembered doing is leaving the room before putting on her winter clothes and headed into town on her horse.
"Your parents want to start training you as queen?" Anna nodded in response to Kristoff's question. "That's gotta be quite an honor."
"Yeah…" Anna said quietly, slowly looking away from her friend.
"It sounds like a huge responsibility. I mean, you'll be busy learning how to be a queen."
"I guess."
Kristoff took notice of Anna's rather somber tone. "You don't sound happy. I'm pretty sure some people in your spot would be thrilled with news like that."
"Well, I'm not like other people." Anna crossed her arms
"What's the matter?" Kristoff asked. However, Anna didn't give a response. "Come on Anna. You can tell me. What's eating you?"
Anna took a deep sigh as she uncrossed her arms. "It's not that I don't want to be queen. I know it's a duty I most likely have to do one day. It's just that, I don't feel like I'm cut out for the part."
"You're saying that you'll be a bad queen?"
"Sort of, but its a different kind feeling. Like it doesn't belong to me. Like it belongs to to...someone else." Anna trailed off as she looked up into the hills that surround the town. She noticed Kristoff's somewhat baffled expression from the corner of her eye. "I know it doesn't make any sense."
"Don't worry. I'm kinda used to that from you."
Anna gave a small chuckle. "You are right about that. Anyway, I just need to clear my head for a few hours. You know where I'll be if you need me."
"Alright. I'll see you around."
"Thanks. You too." Anna got back on Kjekk and slowly rode off. She gave another wave to Kristoff as she did.
The ice harvester waved in response before she completely rode out of his view. He turning his attention back to Sven.
"Should we go with her?" Sven asked.
"Nah. I think it's best we give her some space."
Kristoff and Sven started walking away. As they did, they felt a small but strong cold wind gust.
"Sheesh, kinda windy today."
Anna had ridden on the top of the hills on the outskirts of town. She can oversee the fjord and the town from her viewpoint. On the other side of the hill lies the deep forest. Agdar had forbidden Anna from going into those woods, claiming that they are very dangerous. What he didn't know that Anna had made several trips into those woods anyways.
Taking her attention from the town, she went into the woods down the hill. When Anna started riding on her horse out of town when she was 13, she decided to go beyond the hill out of sheer curiosity. She didn't go too deep, but nothing bad happened at that time. That had continued the other times so she figured it was safe and continue going into the woods for the past year, with Kristoff being the only one to know this. She made him promise not to tell anyone about her trips. For all she knew, this could've been one of her father's exaggerations. While Agdar's overprotectiveness wasn't as bad when Anna was a kid, parts of it were still in him, and it still annoyed Anna greatly. She never did find out why her father was like this.
But her father's habit was the least of her concerns. Anna spent the next several hours just...thinking and asking herself questions. Is she ready to learn the big burden of ruling a country? Would she be cut out for the part?
"Ugh! Why is this so difficult for me to accept?" Anna stated to herself rather loudly.
Her horse, Kjekk, gave frightened neigh in response. Realizing what she just did, Anna tried to calm her horse by patting and stroking his neck.
"Sorry about that, boy. I just have a lot on my mind."
Before she apologizes to her horse any further, Anna took notice of her surroundings. While she was used to going beyond the hill, she had never gone very far. It was then Anna realized that she had traveled farther than usual.
"Wow. I guess I must've been so deep in thought I wasn't watching where I was going. Better head back before anyone notices we've been gone too long." Anna guided her horse to turn and started walking. Kjekk only manages to get a few feet when he suddenly stopped. "What's the matter, boy? Something spook you?"
Her answer came in the form of the sound of a tree branch snapping near their location. Anna looked around, but nothing was seen. Then, she saw some bushes rustling nearby. Something in her told her to run, but Anna had a great curiosity. In the end, she let the latter take over her and went over to the bushes. When she went a bit closer, something jumped out. It looked to be a small dog, though it was different from the dogs Anna usually had seen.
"Oh, its just a puppy," Anna reassured herself. "Hey, little guy. What are you doing out here all alone? Aren't your parents worried about you?"
A series of sudden growls spooked Anna and Kjekk. Nearby, several wolves emerge from the shadows. They were growling and snarling, showing all of their teeth. Anna gestured her horse to move back and her horse complied but walked very slow.
"Oh well. I guess that answers my question." Anna spoke rather calmly even though she was clearly afraid. "How 'bout you guys just let me go and I'll be on my way?"
Instead of getting the answer she hoped for, a wolf attempted to pounce on her. This prompted Anna to command her horse to start running for it. The next several moments were nothing filled with the adrenaline and an increasing desire to ride away from the wolf pack. She had no idea where she was going since her focus was escaping with both her and her horse's life. No matter how fast Kjekk went, the wolves trailing behind seem to get closer.
A wolf had once again attempted to pounce on the duo. This time, the wild animal snatched on Anna's magenta cape with its mouth. Anna manages to stay on Kjekk, but the wolf refused to release from the cape. After several failed attempts to get the wolf to let go, Anna just took off her cape and the wolf holding onto it went flying back, crashing into several other wolves. Despite that, a good amount of wolves were still chasing her.
Just then, another wolf had jumped in front of Kjekk, causing the horse to suddenly stop and lift on his rear legs in fright. Unfortunately, Anna wasn't able to hold on this time. Not only did she fell off, she tumbled and rolled down a snowy steep hill at a high speed. Eventually, she made a sudden stop at the bottom, along with hitting her head against a hard surface. Anna heard Kjekk's neighs and the wolves barking fade away until there was no noise at all.
Anna spends perhaps several minutes lying face down on the snow-covered ground in a daze. Believing the wolves to be long gone, she flipped over to her backside and sat up. She rubbed now bare hand on her aching head. During the chase, she had lost her snow bonnet, and one of her mittens when she fell down the hill. Something wet had been felt and Anna put her hand in front of her face. On her fingertips were small drops of blood.
"Oh dear…" Anna muttered. "I hope it's not bad."
The princess attempted to walk up the hill, but it was too steep for it to walk alone. She then decided to climb on it but the snow made it even more difficult, and barely got a few feet before sliding down. After several more attempts, Anna gave up.
"Alright. I'll just...find another way out of here." Anna started to walk through the woods. As she felt a gust of wind, she wrapped her arms around herself. "...Wherever I am. I hope Kjekk's alright."
The winds grew stronger as the clouds clumped together and darkened as Anna trudged through the snow. Little did Anna know, she was going in the opposite direction far from her home.
Very far.
Agdar and Idun were in the study waiting for Anna to return. She had been gone for most of the day. Much longer than Agdar's liking.
"Anna hasn't been gone this long before. Do you think we were too soon? Did we put too much on her? Maybe we should've waited a few more months," Agdar had spoken rather quickly. "Perhaps we-"
"Agdar, you're rambling again," Idun spoke calmly to her husband. "Take a few breaths."
The king followed his wife's advice and took several breaths.
"Better dear?"
"For the moment. Do you think we made the right call?"
"Anna is just probably taking her time to comprehend the news. I'm sure you were the same when your time came."
Agdar took a deep sigh. "You're right. Perhaps I was just overreacting...Again."
Before another word had spoken, the sound of a horse's neigh coming from outside had taken their attention. Glancing out the window that oversaw the bridge leading to the castle, a fairly big but familiar white horse was running at a high speed. The two rulers didn't see the horses rider, but that was most likely due to the fact the horse was running very fast.
"Looks like Anna's back. Maybe she's ready to talk," Idun said.
The king nodded to his wife and they both left the study. They made their way to the courtyard intending to greet their daughter. As they were getting closer to the doors, however, a loud commotion coming from outside caused them to stop. They can hear the shouts of guards and horses frightened neighs. The rulers look at each other briefly before running to the courtyard.
It was utter chaos on the courtyard with the same white horse being the center of it all. Guards were trying to do everything to calm the creature down to no avail. Servants watched afar, not wanting to get hurt by the frightened horse. After several minutes, Agdar manages to build up the courage to go over to the horse.
"Woah! Woah boy!" Agdar put his arms in front him to get the horse to calm down, while also grabbing its bridle. "Easy boy! Easy. Easy…"
The horse thankfully managed to calm down. Agdar gently patted the horse's snout as he assured those around him that it was safe. Idun slowly approached him. After closer inspection, they had concluded that it was Anna's horse, Kjekk. But there wasn't any sign of Anna around.
"Where's Anna?" Agdar asked a nearby guard.
"I don't know, your majesty," The guard replied. "This horse just came out of nowhere."
"If Anna's not here, then whe-" Idun said before more clopping caught their attention.
Everyone turned and saw Kristoff riding on his reindeer towards the courtyard. Much to Agdar & Idun's disappointment, which only made them even more worried, Anna wasn't with him.
"Oh good. You calmed him down." Kristoff got off and went to the rulers. Some guards blocked him.
"Let him pass. He's a friend," Agdar commanded, to which the guards followed. "Sorry about that Kristoff, they're new. Do know what's going on? Have you seen Anna?"
"Me and Sven were just minding our business when I saw Kjekk running through town like a maniac, and even almost ran into some people. We followed him to get him to stop before anyone got hurt, but it seems you beat me to it. As for Anna, I haven't seen her since earlier this morning. I was hoping she wasn't far behind, but I didn't see her."
"Agdar..." Idun spoke softly yet shakily. "I think you should see this."
Agdar saw his wife pointing to Kjekk's rear end. He, with Kristoff not far behind, went to where she was pointing. They didn't anticipate what they saw next. On the horse's thigh, several scratch marks were seen. They didn't look too severe, but some scratches did trail blood.
Agdar's heart started to race rapidly as he recognized the marks. "Wolf claw marks…"
"How though?" Idun asked. "Wolves don't come near here."
At those words, Kristoff's expression changed. It went from looking concerned to one that had realization and guilt. He rubbed his neck as he turned his attention away from the rulers. Idun took notice of his change of behavior.
"Kristoff?" Idun spoke to him. "Are you alright?"
"I um…" Kristoff stuttered.
"Kristoff, is there something you want to tell us?" Agdar spoke calmly, with his tone of authority heard as well.
Kristoff knew it was wrong to lie, especially to the king and queen. He knew he made a promise to his friend. But if Anna was in trouble he had to say something. So he made the decision, to tell the truth.
"I'm sorry to do this, Anna. If you're in any danger, I have to tell them."
"I think Anna went beyond the hill," The ice harvester confessed.
"She WHAT?!" Agdar exclaimed loudly, which Kristoff, some guards, and even Sven jerked back in response. "And you knew about this?!"
"I'm sorry. But, Anna's been doing it for over a year with without any inci-"
"You mean she's been doing something I strictly told her not to FOR OVER A YEAR?!"
Kristoff winced as he heard Agdar's words. Though he is understandably upset, Kristoff decided to plead his case.
"Yes. I know it was wrong to keep it to myself, but Anna practically begged me not to tell you. I tried to talk her out of it several times, given my own experiences out there, but she was stubborn and insisted that nothing bad happened. After a while, I noticed that she came back unharmed every time. So I figured maybe she was right and I promised not to tell you guys. Believe me, if there was any trouble I would've told you."
Agdar pinched the bridge of his nose and he calmed himself down and comprehended Kristoff's words. After the king fullied calmed down, he realized Kristoff was just keeping a promise for a friend. Something you should never break, unless otherwise.
"We need to find her," Agdar said. "Captain! Gather a search party and look through the woods. I'll join you as soon as everyone's ready."
"Yes, your majesty!"
"Idun, alert the citizens and see if can get some volunteers."
"Of course dear," Idun said.
"Let me join the search. My sleigh could be useful, and I have experience in the wilderness," Kristoff said.
"Very well. Got get ready. We leave within the hour." As mad as he was, Agdar knew the ice harvester wasn't at fault. Plus, Kristoff would've come whether the king allowed it or not.
Kristoff went off with Sven to prepare to join the search. Idun had already left to play her part. And Kjekk had been taken back to the stables to be tended. That left the king, with the exception of some guards scattering around, alone in the courtyard. Agdar noticed the darkening clouds in the sky and felt the winds increasing speed. One thing was certain.
Anna needed to be found soon.
Anna had no idea how long she had kept on walking but she knew it was defiantly several hours. The clouds had gone darker and winds were blowing even faster. The ever persisting winds made it difficult for her to walk through and harder to deal with the cold. Not to mention made it harder to see through. While she was wearing her winter dress, Anna couldn't stand a chance against the cold, especially without her bonnet, the other mitten, and cape.
The lost princess had made another step when she suddenly tripped. It brought a good amount of pain to her right foot. She ended up landing face first on the snow-covered ground. The winds continue to howl around her as she remained on the ground. A voice in her told her to get up and keep going. But another told to give up and that it was hopeless.
Anna had felt many things go through her as she still lied on the ground.
Cold.
Pain.
Exhaustion.
Hunger.
Regret.
And most notably:
Fear.
Anna was never afraid of death, but the concept did frighten her. Not because of what's on their other side as most are. She was scared of what she'll leave behind. Arendelle will be left without an heir. Kristoff and Sven will be left without a friend. The most she was afraid of: Leaving her parents the pain of burying their daughter, instead of the other way around. The worst part: She didn't even get to say goodbye to them.
No matter how much she fought, Anna's will to survive decreased as the icy cold winds increased their speeds. And then, that will just...left her. Many thoughts went through her head.
"Goodbye Kristoff. Thank you for your years of friendship. Goodbye Kai and Gerda. Thank you for taking care of me when mama and papa couldn't. Goodbye, mama. Thank you for giving me your love. Goodbye Papa...I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."
"I'm sorry…"
Anna succumbed to her exhaustion and let fate play out the rest. A lone tear came from her eye as this occurred. She was completely out cold.
Through the icy winds, however, a figure covered in a dark blue cloak emerge from the shadows and walked to the near-frozen girl. A huge white bulky object slowly emerges behind as the figure kneeled down next to her and gently rolled the girl on her backside. The cloaked figure placed a tender hand, that is covered with several faded scars, on the girl's face.
Well...that was quite an ending for this chapter.
Will Anna survive? And the most important question: Who is the figure? What intentions does (s)he have for our dear princess?
Here's a fun fact, the novel A Frozen Heart stated that Anna's horse was name Kjekk (The same horse that ditched her in the movie). Just thought I point that out.
I headcannoned that Kristoff was born in January.
Anna mention of a pig pie is a reference to a deleted scene from Frozen.
