A/N: I'm not sure why my computer decided to "puke all over this chapter" last night (thanks to omaomae for pointing that out). But I'm pretty sure I fixed it this time.

Chapter 6: Gerda's Story

Kristoff sat in the seat of his new sled, with Sven curled in the grass beside him. The sled was filled with ice, but the two of them had decided to take a rest outside town before delivering their wares to the various warehouses and shops on the royal ice delivery list. They just needed a minute or two to collect their thoughts. Kristoff's thoughts were largely on a certain someone sailing to Denmark, while Sven's were largely about the half-dozen of carrots crammed into the cup-holder. Before she left, Anna had given Sven one of her scarfs, telling him that autumn meant scarf weather, and even reindeer needed to keep warm.

It had been a long day on frozen lake, but a good one. After a hard day's labor, Kristoff normally would have been able to look at the ice-packed sled with and been too exhausted to muster any feeling but pride in his work. But not today. His body was fatigued but his mind was restless. He decided to grab his lute and see if he could ease his mind with a tune.

Pling-ding-ding

Sven looked up when he heard the familiar notes—he knew he would be part of this song. Kristoff picked out a couple chords then began singing,

"Reindeers have it pretty easy,

when you want to marry the One

No need for a scene, or to fear a snow queen

Just find the right girl and you're done."

Sven looked at his pal with a bit of irritation in his eyes. That last line was supposed to be his; didn't Kristoff know how their duet worked? Also, was this going to be another of Kristoff's whining rants about how he didn't know how to pop the question to Anna? Sven let out a small "hrmph," but Kristoff continued:

"But I find myself in a quandary,

that leaves me feeling like my gut's in my toes"

Sven gave Kristoff a look that conveyed just how tired he was about always hearing about the blond's apprehension with engagement. Kristoff gave a voice to that look:

"Stop being a sissy—go talk to your missy.

It's time to man up and propose."

"I know Sven. But I'm sure she's expecting jewelry and fanfare, and a show of lights, and … I mean, she was raised in a castle. I'm sure she has some high expectations."

Sven snorted in response, and looked toward the tall tower of Arendelle castle, where the Queen's study was.

"Yeah, I've talked to her sister," Kristoff answered. "At least, I got her blessing. But instead of giving me any ideas, now she's got her expectations raised pretty high too. I mean, her only sister—her heir—marrying an icer… I'm gonna have to step up pretty high to meet …" Kristoff gazed at the tower, which was topped with a large snowflake. "And to be honest, the Queen still makes me kind of uncomfortable, like I'm not fancy enough, or prudent enough, or if I say the wrong thing, she'll go all ice crazy and …"

His thought was interrupted by a long "Squaaaaaaaaack!" as a seagull fell out of the sky and landed in the passenger seat of his sled.

"Hey, bird. Shoo. These are my carrots," Kristoff said, waving at the bird, then hastily adding, "And Sven's carrots. Not your carrots."

The bird replied with a, "Trrk, trrk, cwaaaah! Wah yah yahhh!"

Kristoff turned to look at Sven, expecting to see the reindeer in attack position, ready defend his veggies. But instead Sven had his eyes wide with disbelief, shifting his eyes between the seagull and Kristoff, listening closely to every noise the bird made.

"Harrf!" Sven replied, "Harrf, harrf!" each grumble rising in urgency.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Kristoff asked, looking between the two animals.

"Harrf!" Sven answered, and then started running toward the town, with the seagull flying close to his head.

Kristoff looked at the ropes connecting the running reindeer and the sitting sled, as the chords became taught. He barely had time to brace himself and his lute before the three of them were dashing at break-neck speed. Down the hill. Into town. Through the castle courtyard gate. Finally to the castle doors themselves.

Kai was on his way up from the kitchens towards the Queen's study. He wanted to check with her, and make absolute sure, that she really wanted the first dinner she would eat as queen without her sister present, that she really wanted it to be all the leftover chocolate pies from the Buckthorn festival.

"Tonight I don't have to set a good example to my headstrong sister," she had told him earlier. "And tonight, I feel like chocolate pies—specifically all the chocolate pies."

Previously Kai had dismissed that, assuming that the head chef would never get behind such an absurd dinner menu. That's why, when he visited the kitchens and saw chocolate pie slices arranged in rows upon rows, he stopped dead in his tracks and let his jaw drop. Twisting on his heels, he performed an about-face and started marching straight up towards the topmost tower. This was not a confrontation he would look forward to, but somebody had to tell the queen she couldn't have chocolate pie for dinner.

As he passed the entrance hall, he could see there was some sort of commotion at the door. He sighed thinking, one crisis to another, it's always the job of faithful butler, and walked to the entrance. The royal Ice Master, Kristoff was standing there, along with his reindeer. Kai had always liked Kristoff—the ice man's humble roots reminded Kai of his own. But he had a protocol to follow in the palace.

"Mister Bjorgman," Kai began. "You know the rules. Your reindeer welcome to the castle grounds, but he is not allowed in the castle. And if you wish visit the queen," he added, wrinkling his nose, "you will need another bath."

"No," Kristoff grunted, holding to Sven's neck and trying to keep the massive animal from forcing its way into the hall. "Not here to see the queen. Sven's just been acting weird ever since this bird…"

That's when Kai noticed the seagull flying around over Kristoff's head. The door guard was waiving a spear at it, trying to keep it outside. The seagull squeaked and croaked, but Kai could sense there was magnitude behind the bird's calls. He grabbed the door guard by the shoulder and told him in a rushed whisper, "Go. Find Gerda. Now."

As the guard rushed down the hallway, Kai turned to the bird. "Now, if you wait here, help will be here shortly."

Gerda cautiously made her way to the entrance hallway, not sure what to make of the guard's out-of-breath explanation of a mad seagull. As she neared the doorway, she heard Kai and Kristoff talking.

"And she can really talk to birds?"

"It's a magic she possessed since she was little. Certain flowers will talk to her too. And reindeer."

"Reindeer?"

"Only the ones that want to talk to me," Gerda answered as she came into view. "Your friend Sven, it seems is content to—"

She was cut off by a screech from the seagull. She turned to the bird, a look of surprise and panic across her face. "What?"

The bird screeched again. "Where? By who? How do you know?" She didn't even wait for a squack in answer before turning and running up the hallway towards the tower, with the seagull following close behind.

Kai could tell from the look on Gerda's face that today was not a day to worry about protocol. He moved out of Sven's way, and the reindeer and its master dashed up the hall as well. He started running until he was level with Gerda. "What's happened," He asked between panting breaths. "What did the bird say?"

"It's Anna. She's been kidnapped."

Elsa was sitting in her study, a stack of papers that still needed her signature towered high on the left side of her desk and a much smaller but still formidably tall stack of papers already signed on her right. She sure hoped that Louis the Governor was right that she only had to face paper piles this tall because the regional kingdoms were still excited at the novelty of having a new monarch on the throne of Arendelle—that soon enough she wouldn't get nearly as many royal requests of this or that, and a new routine would settle in.

Elsa added one more paper to the right-side pile and sighed. She looked at the small pile, and decided that it was big enough that she could reward herself with a break. She pulled out a small blank sheet of paper and started doodling on it. First a cartoony bouquet of roses, adding a few snowflakes to them, then someone holding the bouquet, then twin braids dropping down the back of that someone. Elsa was already getting excited for Anna's wedding, and Kristoff hadn't even asked her yet. That boy had better hurry up! Maybe she should revoke his official Ice Master status until he did.

Elsa heard Kai's voice outside her office and quickly hid her sketch. "Hello Kai," she began as he dove into the doorway. "Gerda… Krisoff? Sven? What's going on here? Why is there a bird in the royal-"

"That's Scuttle," Gerda answered. "He was on your sister's ship—oh, Elsa, Anna's been kidnapped!"

At the mention of her sister's ship, Elsa's heartbeat started speeding up, and at the word kidnapped, it was positively racing. Frost began to form at her fingertips. "What?" was all she could manage.

At this, the bird started chirping, with Gerda translating. "The ship was hijacked and all the sailors taken prisoner. There was a small boat with seven of the kidnappers on board. One of them could shoot fire out of her hands. They all wore bandanas over their faces, and the girl with the fire magic said they were the Boreal…" Gerda stopped her story to chirp a question at Scuttle. When he nodded, she finished "… the Boreal Bandits."

"The Boreal Bandits… You know of them?" Elsa asked.

"I lived with them." Gerda answered. "For a short time. Long ago. It was during the summer that I rescued Kai." She looked at the butler. "Did your parents ever tell you the story?"

Elsa shook her head.

"Well, when Kai and I were young, he was kidnapped by an enchantress, and I ventured out of the kingdom to save him. My first stop was with a sorceress who lived near the mouth of the river—she was the one who gifted me with the power to talk with flowers, although she also tried to magically wipe my memory. When I escaped her, a raven told me to visit the palace of a princess in one of the inland kingdoms to the north. When I escaped the palace, I was accosted by the Bandits. I managed to befriend one of the young bandit girls, who set me free and even gave me a reindeer to ride to Lapland." Gerda thought for a moment and frowned, before continuing, "but none of the bandits had magic."

Scuttle squacked and clucked again.

"No, they didn't have any Bandit Queen then either," Gerda answered. "I wonder—could they be in league with the sorceress from the river. Could she be this Bandit Queen?"

Elsa's eyes were wide again. "Where… where did you say this sorceress lived?"

"At the mouth of the river," Gerda answered. "I don't think there are roads that go to her cottage, but we can follow the stream—"

Elsa didn't let her finish. Her heart raced again, but not out of apprehension. Now it raced with a dreadful purpose—find that sorceress. Get her sister back.

Elsa dashed out the door.