Hi guys, I'm back. Sorry for the long wait. School has finally finished yay! And now I can write as much as I want. SO I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER. It might not be as long, because I kinda rushed it soooooo…

Plans and Preparations

As the days went by, the whole of Arendelle was excited for the Christmas Ball that was coming up in a few weeks. Officials and dignitaries arrived. Monarchs from neighboring kingdoms set sail for Arendelle, hoping to not get caught in the ferocious storms. Ships of every size and shape were packed in the fjord, carrying loads of supplies. During this time of year, everyone was happy.

Everyone except the Queen.

Elsa yawned for the one-hundredth time as she slumped very unladylike on her hard wood chair, in the meeting. It was getting late and her mind was clouded from the lack of sleep she had, and her eyes were red and unfocused. All up, she was a mess. She hadn't even noticed that her councilors were talking to her.

"Your Majesty, the Christmas Ball is coming up soon, have you planned who you're going to invite?"

"…hmmm… w…what?"

The councilor sighed, "Have you planned who you are going to invite to the ball?"

"Um…Yeah, I um…" Elsa trailed off once again.

"Your Majesty are you alright? You don't sound so well."

"Yes I'm fine, please continue." Elsa sat up.

"Very well, for this upcoming Winter Ball, we have decided to double the guards to be sure the assassination attempts won't happen again."

"What? No. The guests will probably get terrified. Besides I have Shane to protect me if there is trouble."

"I'm sorry, but we must take these extra precautions. There have been three assassination attempts on your life, and I'm sure that there will be a fourth. And what good is one man against ten, despite his skill?"

"Shane seems to be a very good fighter," Elsa objected, "He's already saved me and my sister's lives. Without him, I would have probably been killed."

"Yes…that's true of course. I have no doubt that this man is a very well trained fighter. But still, he is human. And he may make mistakes. We can't risk having those at the Ball. An besides-."

Elsa had had enough, "Enough! I will think about this matter myself privately. For now this meeting is over."

Elsa hurriedly got up and walked out the door. It felt like her head was going to explode. Behind her she heard the councilor bang his fists on the table and mutter something that sounded very like "women these days."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elsa walked down the candlelit hallways, to the dining room. As she opened the double wooden doors, she was surprised to already find Shane, Anna and Kristoff sitting down, already waiting for her.

Anna looked up as her sister entered, "Elsa! There you are. I was wondering when you were going to come and have lunch. What happened, you look upset."

Elsa walked over and plopped herself down on a confortable chair next to Shane. She sighed contently.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just the council getting on my nerves again."

"Uh huh." Anna didn't look content but she didn't push the matter any further.

"So how was the meeting? Did u plan the ball?"

"Yeah I did. Everything went very well." Elsa said sarcastically.

The doors were suddenly opened and servants rushed in with food and placed them on the table.

"Dinner time!" Anna said gingerly.

Kristoff laughed, "Ugh, why are you always like that?"

All he got was a hard punch in return.

Shane couldn't help but laugh. So far he had had a pleasant time with the two lovers. As always Anna was cheerful and restless, but was also warm-hearted and kind. Kristoff, on the other hand, seemed to be quiet and shy-quite the opposite of Anna. He seemed to like being alone, and not in front of a lot of people. Yes, he was kind and helpful. But what seemed funny to Shane was the fact that Kristoff was literally a towering giant, but on the inside, he was as shy as a mouse.

As soon as the food was served, everyone tucked in hungrily. Hardly a word was spoken. No one really cared how loudly or how messily they ate-even the Queen.

By the time every scrap of food was eaten, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Shane were all stuffed to the maximum. They all slouched lazily in their chairs clutching their stomachs.

It was Anna who finally broke the silence.

"So Shane, have you ever been harvesting?" Anna winked at Kristoff.

"Uh…no, I have heard of it, but I've never done it."

"You should go with Kristoff, tomorrow. He seems to need a new friend. You should even visit Kristoff's family." Anna said the last sentence with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah…ok. That'd be nice. I've never been ice harvesting before, and uh… it'd be nice to meet Kristoff's family."

"YEAH! You know Kristoff's family is really nice." The voice was foreign and childish.

Shane spun around and nearly jumped out of his skin. He was met with a small white snowman with twigs as arms, and a carrot for a nose. A small cloud hovered above its head.

"Hi! My name is Olaf and I like warm hugs." The snowman held out his twig arms and started to approach Shane.

Shane screamed and pulled out his sword, "What the HECK are you?!"

Olaf stopped and looked confused, "Well, I am a snowman, of course. And you look as if you need a warm hug." He started to approach Shane again.

It was all Elsa could do but burst out laughing. Anna though, could not stop herself.

"Sorry Shane, I should have told you earlier. This is Olaf, the snowman I made." Elsa's cheeks were red from holding in her laugh.

As Shane looked down, he saw that Olaf was hugging his leg.

"Hello, my name is Olaf. What is your name?"

"Uh…uh, my name is S-Shane."

He tried to shake the snowman off his leg. It was leaving a wet patch on his trousers.

"Wow ok Shane! You look very tall. And what is that black dress you're wearing?"

Olaf started laughing randomly.

Shane nearly choked, "This is not a dress. It is a specially made outfit I had tailored for me."

Olaf laughed even harder, even his carrot nose started to fall.

"You're alive?" Shane could not believe that he was just talking to a pile of snow.

"Well… I think I am alive." Olaf started moving his twig hands, looking at them curiously, "Elsa made me."

Shane didn't know whether to believe him or to just drop dead.

"Umm…yes." The voice came from Elsa. "I somehow brought Olaf to life when I was running…away from Arendelle. It was when I felt free."

"How come he doesn't melt?"

"Ooh…ooh I know." Olaf started jumping like an excited child. "Elsa specially gave me a special flurry so I don't melt. But the heat feels so good…"

"Ok Olaf why don't you go out and play outside." Elsa spoke to him as if he were her child.

He technically was.

Olaf bounded out the door and down the hallway, humming silently as he went.

The four people were silent for the moment, hearing Olaf's humming gradually fade.

Then Anna broke the silence.

"Shane you never told us why you are here in Arendelle."

Shane looked confused, "Er…what?"

Anna looked exasperated, "I-I mean, you seem to know a lot about that Vendetta group and their plane to overtake Arendelle. But you never actually told us what you're doing here and how you know these people."

"Oh…yeah…" Shane realized that everyone was staring at him. He knew that he was cornered.

"I-I…er… usually like to travel a lot. You know… family thing…" Shane tried his hardest.

Damn, that was so lame

Elsa raised an eyebrow, "Well, for a traveler, you do fight like a professional."

"Annnnd… you do seem to know about this 'group' of people and what they want with Arendelle." Anna chimed in.

Great, now I really am stuffed

"Oh… I used to live in Arendelle with my family before your parents…" Shane trailed off.

"Oh, it's ok, that was a long time ago," Elsa replied, " What happened to your parents Shane?"

He was silent for a moment; his eyes were distant as he remembered the memories.

Fire

Heat

Smoke

Anger…

"They were murdered; burned to death."

Elsa and Anna gasped in unison, Kristoff just looked down.

Elsa's mouth opened in shock, "Shane…I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No…No it's ok. I'm over that now. It was a while back."

"Do you have a sibling around here?" Anna tried to brighten the mood up.

It didn't really work.

"Yeah, I used to. I had a sister named was Elise."

"What happened to her? Where is she now?"

"…Dead" Shane's voice was barely a whisper.

Anna started to tear up.

"Who killed your family Shane?"

"The same group of people who are trying to take over Arendelle."

Elsa seemed to share the sorrow with Shane. Her eyes were full of understanding for him. It was understandable. She did after all; lose her parents, and very nearly, her sister.

"Shane it's ok. You don't have to tell what happened if you don't want to. I understand that the memories are painful."

"Yeah, thank you Elsa. I think… I might have an early night sleep today. I have a long day tomorrow."

Shane left without another word. The room was suddenly sullen after he left. No one really wanted to talk about anything. Everyone was still shaken after the sudden change of mood.

Anna finally broke the silence, "I feel so sorry for Shane. It looked as if he had a really rough childhood. I mean, like all his family were killed. What type of sick person does that?"

"Maybe his family had some bad blood with them, or maybe had to repay a debt. We won't know until Shane tells us."

The sisters talked on for a while. There was nothing much they knew about Shane. He never opened or shared anything about his past. He was protective and kind, but he seemed to be distant from everyone. It was like he was holding some sort of secret. It was this secret that the sisters were now determined to find out about.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shane lay on his bed thinking about the conversation he just had. He felt angry inside. All those memories and flashbacks of his ruined past was something he could never forget.

His parents didn't do anything wrong-yet they were still murdered. His sister, Elise, did nothing wrong, yet she also paid with the same fate. It seemed that everything and everyone he loved and cared for were torn away from him, and destroyed.

There would be revenge. Yes, Shane would find whoever did this and kill them, even if it meant himself dying. There would be Justice.

But then, there was also the problem that the killers were now also on the loose, trying to kill the Queen and Princess. It was also Shane's job to protect them from any harm. It was the job that he had signed up for, in Arendelle, many years ago before the former king and queen's… accident. And it was something Shane was willing to risk his life for. He could never live with himself, if anything bad happened to Elsa and Anna.

He had already failed to save the lives of his loved ones. He had failed to save the lives of many innocents. He had failed Arendelle. He was dishonoured.

Now, he wanted to find redemption and justice. He would protect Arendelle and the monarchs, even if it meant dying as a hero. He would hunt the killers that had ruined his childhood and find those who threaten to take over Arendelle.

Shane felt something spark inside of him. Amidst all of the despair and sorrow, he felt a growing confidence to do and accomplish his most important mission of all… to kill and protect.

It was the job he was trained to do.

It was the job of an assassin…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Somewhere in Arendelle…

Skull Mask stood on the moonlit rooftop of his safe house overlooking the city.

As he set his eyes upon the castle, he felt his blood boil.

They had survived…

His men had failed to eliminate the monarchs once again. The ambush that had been so carefully planned out had once again proved futile against them.

All because of Shane

It was because of him that the monarchs survived. Because of him that his planned had failed so easily.

All this time he had thought that Shane was dead. Broken up and crushed aboard the ship on that fateful day.

It had felt like a crushing victory knowing that his biggest foe was dead.

Now, he was back alive, with hardly any physical scars on his body. It was like he had never suffered the carnage. One would only know from the mental scars that he bore.

Skull mask cringed as he felt his skin wrinkle and rot under his touch. All these years, he had suffered the pain and agony of feeling his flesh peel every morning he woke, of feeling his chest scream in agony as he struggled to take in precious air because of his stupid mask he had to wear. It felt life on earth the equivalent of burning in hell.

It wasn't fair

As long as that idiot, Shane, lived, he could never fulfill his plans. Shane would always stand in his way no matter what.

He had to be stopped.

Skull Mask would hunt him until he no longer breathed and walked on this earth. He would cause him more grief and pain than anyone could ever imagine. He would force Shane to see the rest of his world shatter and break, to see everything he loved burn, just like his parents, before his very eyes.

Queen Elsa and Princess Anna would be his scapegoats.

Arendelle would be finally his.

The people would cry and suffer under his reign.

Shane would die in the worst way possible.

Only then would the world see his true power…

Okkkkkkk, that is the end of chapter 7. I am really sorry for the long update. Life has really been quite busy for me these last few weeks. School is now finally over, so I will try to post more chapters soon.

Pleas review my story. Tell me if you like it, or if you want me to improve or change anything. All your comments and reviews are always appreciated. See you all next time in chapter 8.

OneZer0