Anna
Anna was walking back to her temporary bedroom from breakfast (which she had taken early to avoid seeing her husband), lost in thought about what Francis had told her. "Find out", he said. Why does this have to be so hard?
Ever since she had met Kristoff, Anna was sure she had met the right one. Kristoff had no reason to help her that day at Oaken's Trading Post (and Sauna), but he did anyway. He helped her reach her sister, took her to the trolls to learn the secret to thaw her heart, and ridden down the mountain to Arendelle to save her. He moved into the castle for her, sacrificing his ice business and moving away from his family. Even as Kristoff and Alan continued sparring and his weapons skills increased, Kristoff had never been anything but a kind and gentle man. On some level, Anna knew he could be dangerous if threatened (he had been an ice harvester, after all), but she never suspected he ever would be. Until last month.
Anna and Kristoff took a cart and went up to Elsa's ice palace to visit Olaf and Marshmallow, two sentient snow creatures that Elsa had created during the Great Freeze. Olaf was a small snowman that Anna and Elsa had built as children, who Elsa had inadvertently brought to life on the first day of the Freeze, and Marshmallow was a large, top heavy snow beast created to keep people out of Elsa's palace. The small snowman had been staying up there lately to keep Marshmallow company, who much preferred the ice palace on the North Mountain even though Elsa had offered to build him a castle closer to Arendelle. The visit had gone splendidly. The four of them had a picnic that Anna had brought and found themselves in a fierce snowball fight, Anna and Marshmallow versus Kristoff and Olaf. The fight was intense and brutal, but then Marshmallow betrayed Anna, dumping an exorbitant amount of snow directly on her head. Seeing this travesty of a war crime, Olaf and Kristoff joined forces with Anna to take the beast down, which they failed conclusively at, Marshmallow ending the fight by scooping all of them up in one hand and tossing them in a snowdrift, playfully saying "Go away".
They wound up staying much too long. The sun had started to set on the way back, so they were hurrying back to Arendelle before nightfall. In hindsight, traveling that fast through the forest in poor lighting, unaccompanied save for each other, may not have been the best idea. They came around a blind corner just to face a large fallen tree in their way, stretching clear across the road. Swearing, Kristoff jerked on the reins, but it was too late. Their horse slammed into the tree and the cart went flipping into the forest. The next thing Anna knew, she opened her eyes in thick underbrush, blood obscuring one eye from a gash somewhere near her hairline, her left arm twisted at an unnatural angle beneath her, and her right leg felt like it was in a million pieces. Kristoff was already up and moving, calling out, trying to find her.
"Kristoff!", she cried. "I'm over here!"
"Anna!" Kristoff came crashing through the underbrush, bruised and bloody, holding his hand over his thigh, blood seeping through the tough fabric beneath his fingers. "Are you hurt?"
"No! I mean, well, yes, I'm bleeding, I can't move my arm, and I think my leg is broken."
Kristoff swore angrily. "Alright, hang on." Kristoff drew his sword and started hacking at the brush, clearing a path through the thick brambles. When he reached her, he offered his hand, which she took with her right. "I'm sorry," he said. "This is going to hurt." Anna nodded and braced herself. In one quick motion, Kristoff yanked Anna to her feet, hoisted her in his arms, and carried her out of the brush into a small clearing. Carefully setting her down against a tree, he began examining her injuries, wincing when he saw the gash on her head and taking her arm and moving it around. "Alright, the gash isn't too serious, and your arm doesn't appear to be broken. Probably just sprained. Here-" Kristoff removed his shirt and tore two long strips, using one to bind her head wound, and using the other as a makeshift sling for her arm. He then examined her leg, and she yelped out in pain at his touch. Kristoff shook his head.
"Your leg is broken, but I can't do anything here. Just try not to move it. We need to get you medical attention as soon as possible. The horse died in the crash, so we're going to have to try and-" He was interrupted by someone yelling, but the sound was faint.
"Ho, down there! Is everyone alright?" The voice came from somewhere back near the road. "We saw the crash!" Kristoff rose.
"Ho! No, we are both injured, I am Prince Kristoff, escorting Princess Anna. We need a ride to Arendelle immediately! She needs medical attention!"
"That's too bad." The voice was much closer now. "We were rather hoping for a different answer."
"Yeah, us too," said Kristoff.
"No, no, no, you misunderstand." The source of the voice revealed itself. A man stepped into the clearing, naked sword in hand. He was dressed from head to toe in black leather armor, with metal greaves, bracers, and chestplate, all painted black as well. "We were rather hoping you would both die in the crash. It's less work for us." Three more men joined the first, malice evident on their faces. Kristoff slowly rose to his feet to face the men. Anna tugged at his arm.
"Kristoff, don't, just run! You can get away!" He chuckled. "What, and leave you behind?"
"Yes, just save yourself!" He glanced back at her. "I can't do that, Anna." Lowering his voice to a whisper, he said, "You won't want to watch this."
"Kristoff, please-" Kristoff pulled his arm from her grasp and strode forward. Stopping fifteen feet short of the men, Kristoff glared at the lead man. "Shall we begin?", he asked. In one quick movement, he drew his knife from his belt and threw it at the men. It caught one of them in the neck, embedding up to the hilt in his jugular. Blood sprayed from his throat and he threw his hand to the wound, eyes going wide as he yanked out the knife and fell to his knees before collapsing. Anna could only watch as the man bled out at his comrade's feet, who were staring at Kristoff in shock, swords held in limp hands. She had never seen Kristoff do anything like this, and she looked at him in surprise and fear. He was still standing with his back to her, having not moved an inch since throwing the knife.
"Who's next?", Kristoff demanded. "Come on!" No one moved. Anna began to think the situation could be resolved without further bloodshed, but then Kristoff spoke once more. "Well alright then. If you won't come to me… I'll come to you!" He crossed the distance between them in seconds, surprising the assassins with his aggression, and his sword flashed as he ran between two of the men. One of the men suddenly found themselves short one head. As he buckled, Kristoff whirled around and slashed at one of the other men, but his blow was parried.
"Kristoff!", Anna cried. "Stop this!"
As they separated, Kristoff again taunted the men. "Next!", he called out. Screaming with fury, the two remaining enemies charged Kristoff at once. Gripping his sword with both hands, Kristoff aimed a ferocious blow at the closest man, who hurried to raise his sword in defense. The force of the blow was so great that the man was flung to the ground, but Kristoff was too slow in raising his sword, and the second man's blade found its mark, slashing Kristoff across his sword arm. Dropping his sword, Kristoff roared in pain and rage, and swung his free hand around, catching the man in the side of the head. As the man stumbled back, hand clutching at his temple, Kristoff bent and picked up his sword with his off hand. Rising and stepping forward in the same motion, he buried the sword in his foe's chest, the bloody point seeming to explode from his back, blood spraying out into the trees. Kristoff released the sword and turned to the last remaining man, who fell to his knees and began pleading.
"Please, Your Highness, please, have mercy, it was only a job, I needed the money for my family, I'm to be married in the spring, please, please, have mercy, I have yet to father a child-" Kristoff advanced on the man and paused in front of him. "Please…" he pleaded, looking up at Kristoff. "I beg of you…" Kristoff seized the man by his throat and lifted, holding him completely aloft as his fingers clawed at Kristoff's hand.
"Kristoff!", Anna screamed, sobbing by now at what she was seeing. "Please, stop!" Kristoff said nothing, and his fingers tightened. There was pure anger and hatred in his eyes. The man was fighting weaker and weaker. "Please, Kristoff! Stop!" The man stopped kicking, and Kristoff released him. He fell lifelessly. Anna stared at Kristoff in horror and disgust. "Kristoff… How could you? He was defeated…"
Kristoff turned and walked towards Anna. "Come on. We need to get back to Arendelle." He stretched out a hand, and Anna shrank away from him. Kristoff's face was perfectly blank, and he said, "Fine. You stay here. I'll go get their cart." Then he walked away.
Even now, as she walked through the halls of her own castle, she avoided looking at Kristoff's door. She had not been in the same room as him for more than a few minutes since returning to Arendelle. Wanting to avoid confrontation, she had even yielded their room to him without comment, electing to stay on the other side of the hall in one of the guest bedrooms. She didn't know what to do. She loved Kristoff as much as she loved Elsa, but she couldn't reconcile her love for the Kristoff she met with this new Kristoff, the one who was capable of killing four men without hesitation. As she was grappling with this concept for the thousandth time, eyes down toward the floor, she rounded a corner and bumped into the last person on earth she ever wanted to see again- Prince Hans.