Chapter the Next

Hans accompanied Sophia to the downtown market. No stranger could tell that the red mark on the left side of her face was caused by the same man who should have been protecting her. Hans was feeling much better. With a little food, water, and care, he had recovered quickly enough.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" A town crier called for attention. Sophia stopped right next to Hans, "It has been made known to our beloved queen," Hans didn't realize his mouth went up into a little smile as that word came out, "And our precious princess that Hans," The crowd gasped audibly. This could not be good news, "Has escaped custody."

A large woman to his right fainted. Gasps of shock, hate, and disgust ripped through the crowd.

Don't everyone congratulate me all at once, Hans thought wryly. Of all the indignities that he'd suffered the past few days; being turned into an animal, being attacked, almost drowning, eating fish-guts, and road-kill, and needing a little girl to protect him, this still annoyed him. He was a master strategist. And not one person could appreciate the planning he went through to overthrow the kingdom? Come on!

"What's going on?" Sophia asked a husky woman nearby. Hans sat to listen; it was important to gauge the reaction of the crowd, plus, it would be interesting to see an adult try to explain what happened to a child.

"A… monster is loose," Sofia gasped at the news.

"Don't worry, Shadow," She tucked her arms around him protectively, "I'll protect you."

Hans/Shadow swallowed nervously. You've got nothing to worry about. He wanted to say, I'll protect you!

Instead, he sat there silently, allowing her to brush through his fur. The dog part of his mind loved the attention, especially when her hands got that spot right below his jaw. Hans was… not okay with it. It felt weird, too comfortable. He was not a dog; he was a prince. And princes did not ask for ear-scratchies. Nor did they beg.

The town-crier continued, "Warden Busby, and Prince Gunther are vigilantly searching. Their security forces are on their way already!"

Hans' ears perked up. Already?

Yes, he'd been gone for over a week now, but the reaction time here was… rapid, more rapid than he had counted on. While he was near the castle, Hans decided to sniff out his enemies. Keeping his nose to the ground, he left Sophia while she was distracted. He didn't want to get her involved in mauling a head-of-state.

And he was going to maul her. Whatever softer feelings Hans had for Elsa, he knew he had to set them aside. That was what made people weak; love. After considering the issue, Hans had come to the realization that he didn't want to kill anybody. Even as a captain he had never cared for the sight of blood. But if he had any chance of going home… he had to kill the sisters. He had no choice.

"I say we kill the witch outright," Muttered a thug Hans trotted past, "Won't know what hit her; I've bludgeoned a few girls in my day. They just stare at you in shock…!" He made a face mocking them. Hans paused, listening. It disturbed him to think of Elsa as dead. Sure, it's what he wanted but… she couldn't go through something incredibly violent; she'd done nothing to deserve it. She just happened to be in his way.

Still snuffling, Hans/Shadow came to rest at the booze-drenched boots of Sophia's step-father. He hackles raised unintentionally, but the prince knew better than to draw attention to himself.

"Naw, naw… you're all wrong. Some very powerful people from out-of-town want this girly dead. She's got these freaky powers, so you gotta-" Whatever his plans were, they were interrupted by Sophia as she came running up to ask her father's permission to go see the princess.

Hans got to his feet. Finally, a chance to end this. He got to his feet, waiting for the captain to give into those crystal-blue eyes. The big man sighed, "I'll see you boys at the dig, okay?"

He turned to his daughter, "What?!"

"I want to go see Princess Anna and Queen Elsa!"

Hans' eyes went wide when he heard where and how her father wanted to see the sisters. Even Hans found it quite rude.

That's your daughter, sir! Hans huffed. Not that it was his business. Still, the man relented and was dragged to a meeting area. Shadow scented the air; roses… and frost. Sophia bounced up and down with excitement.

The town crier got up once more to announce the arrival of the queen, "Hear ye, hear ye, Queen Elsa and Princess Anna are right now trying to sort out the mess Prince Hans has created," Or not… "Therefore, today's meeting is cancelled!"

The crowd let out a collective groan.

Oh yeah, thought Hans sarcastically, that's the worst thing I've ever done.

"I tell ya, that Hans sure comes in handy," the captain laughed petting his dog, "If he could get rid of my property taxes, I'd worship him!"

Hans didn't find that very funny. Sophia was heart-broken she couldn't meet her idols. She had gone on and on (much to his chagrin) about how much she admired the two of them. (Of course, he had been recovering at the time, so it's not like he could get her to shut up.) And now her dream was ruined. Because of him; because of Prince Hans.

"Beautiful animal," Said an almost-familiar voice. It belonged to one of the castle's workers. He work the official insignia of the Arrendale royalty.

Hans, though he would not like to think about his reasoning, allowed the dog-brain to go over and comfort Sophia. It's not as though he cared to be complimented on how he looked as a canine anyways.

"You could own him, you know?"

That got Hans' attention. He wasn't quite ready to leave Sophia. As shameful as he found it, she was his friend, and he wanted to repay her for protecting and caring for him.

"Eh…"

"Soph! Show the man my dog."

Your dog? I'll show you, your dog! Hans growled. Still, when Sophia called him, he came.

"He can do lots of tricks!" she squealed, delighted.

Uh... what now? Tricks? No, no, no, no… I am a prince; I don't do tricks. Unless those tricks involve murder. Now, those tricks I'm good at! Hans swallowed his annoyance. Then again, if he was sold (another indignity) maybe Sophia's dad might have enough money to actually buy her real food.

"Sit!" She commanded. He sat. Inside, Hans was 'going to his happy place', trying not to think about the fact that he was now a circus act. Strike that, even a circus act was more important than him now; it would get a crowd.

"Stay!"

Easy enough.

"Speak," she commanded. If only I could, I'd give you a piece of my mind, buddy. "Speak!"

Fine, "ruff…"

"Up!" He bounced onto his forelegs, "down!" He went back down.

"Play dead!"

He actually threw in some acting here, acting wounded, collapsing onto the deck, howling in pain, then gasping out his last breath.

"Sooo…. A drink in exchange for him?" Asked his new owner. One!? Hans raved internally.

"Are you kidding me?!" The drunk raved, "That was about two drinks worth!"

"Fine!" And so, once more the dog traded hands.

Good, very good, Hans thought, get me onto the castle grounds, take me to your leaders, let them fuss about how nobody can find Prince Hans and…

His trail of thought was cut off as he realized he was on a sled getting further away from the castle.

Hey! You're going the wrong way!

"We're going home, boy," Said his new owner, "I'm not thrilled with the name 'Shadow', but, we'll see. Anyways, that's Sven, and I'm Kristoff. Welcome to the family."

A.N. Poor, poor Hans...