Elsa woke up with a headache, and the back of her head throbbing. She realized that she was tied to a chair with her hands in metal locks. Her mouth was stuffed with a rag, and a tall man stood next to her with a sword near her neck.

She peered over to left, and Tanya was in the same predicament. However the princess was still unconscious with her head bent forward.

Where were they? They were in a dimly lit room, with light shining through the ceiling. It was a cell. She slowly put it together that the room was rocking back and forth. They were on a ship. Muffled voices could be heard from the floor above. So there was a full crew as well. The man noticed she had woken up, and yelled for another guard.

Elsa felt dizzy.

And then she felt sick.

Had she been drugged?

Or was it just seasickness?

She wanted to throw up.

Either way, she could not think straight.

An older man with a long grey beard and dressed in darkly colored robes walked through the door. He was accompanied by two other men in dark, yet ragged clothes. All three of them carried swords and had scars on their faces.

"I see you've finally woken up," the bearded man announced.

Elsa opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She could not get the words to sound like what she wanted to say, and it came out as a groan in pain.

"You and yer friend will be fine, the poison won't kill ye."

So they had been drugged.

"It was a stroke of luck to run across you two beautiful ladies. By the look of ye, you could be worth something. Maybe even royalty," those last words, the man said in certain tone of voice, as if he knew something. "Anyway, you'll fetch a fine price back home."

She felt her hands get cold with emotion. But she was not able to freeze her cuffs off. Instead, all she could do was make it snow around her.

The old man was shocked at first, but then a nasty grin came over his face.

"So are ye a witch eh? A sorceress? Trying to hurt the captain of this ship?" The man pointed at himself and guffawed.

She was not a witch. She was nothing like a witch, nor any sort of monster.

"I'm sure you and your friend here will go over well in the market."

Were they were going to be sold as slaves?

A call from the upper deck sounded the captain, and he looked up. Elsa noticed the ship was rocking in a rougher motion. The captain said something to his guard about a storm, and to give Elsa and the other girl more poison. He left going upstairs, leaving two guards behind to watch her.

Elsa did not want to take the poison, but it was hard not to when there was a sword next to her neck threatening her. She swallowed slowly, and within minutes, she blacked out again.

The queen woke up with heavy eyes. Her first thought; Tanya. The younger girl was still tied up next to her with her head bent backwards. Her ashy light brown hair fell almost to the floor, and shone like the moon. It was almost unreal how enchanted it looked. Her face had a gentle expression, with her pink lips parted slightly open. This was the first time Elsa had seen her look vulnerable. Despite their sticky situation, she was passed out with a peaceful expression, which was quite contradictory to what they should be feeling.

Tanya was beautiful.

Elsa snapped out of it. Luckily Tanya was out cold, and could not see her staring like a dumb vegetable.

The three guards were still there. But they were asleep, sitting up against the wall, with their swords in their hands.

They must assume we're still unconscious, the snow queen thought. If they realize I'm awake again, they'll just give me more poison.

Elsa decided if she and Tanya were going to escape, she could not let the pirate guards know she was conscious. She would remain as still as possible, until she could feel her powers come back to her. Then she would break by freezing the ship. She had taken self-defense lessons from private instructors just a few months ago, and could also use her powers protect them. The problem was how she and the girl would escape the ship, being out at sea.

For a while, she thought long and hard, trying to at least think straight again. Her thick cloud in her head slowly started to evaporate, once the effects of the poison wore off. And then, an idea struck her mind. Elsa knew how they were going to escape the pirate ship.

The pirates guarding them were still asleep, luckily for Elsa. Now was her chance. If they woke up, which they would, they would give away their escape from the room. She did not want to strike them with a blast of ice, she did not want to permanently damage someone for life. Scanning the room full of crates and barrels, she did see something she could use.

A frying pan? It will have make do.

Elsa took a deep and silent breath.

This was it.

She slowly let her icy magic freeze the chains on her and Tanya's hands. While that was happening, she froze the clothes the pirates were wearing to the wall, so they could not move or get up. It would be uncomfortable, but not hurt them.

She could feel the metal getting colder and colder. Finally, similarly to when she was locked up in Arendelle's prison, the metal cuffs and the ropes turned to ice and shattered. At the same exact moment, so did Tanya's.

Freedom.

Tanya, unconscious, fell off her chair onto the ground face first. The guards woke up from the loud noises. But before they could process what was going on, Elsa whacked each one in the head with the frying pan.

They were out cold.

Elsa held up her nifty pan. What a useful yet unusual weapon, this could come in handy. Swords are overrated anyway, she thought. She heard irregular footsteps shuffling on the deck above her. They must have heard me, the queen panicked.

She picked up the princess off the ground, and lifted her body weight onto her shoulder. Tanya was small enough that she did not weigh much, though Elsa almost lost her balance lifting her up.

Hurrying up the stairs, she heard men's voices shout. There was no way she could take on a whole crew of pirates. She would have to try and sneak around them. Meanwhile she could feel her magic flowing from her hands, gradually starting to freeze the ship from the bottom up. She mustered all she could from within to speed up the process, though it was working at a slower rate. Completely freezing the ship was their ticket out.

Elsa hid around the corner, as a small group of pirates ran past to check downstairs. She continued her way across the hall, hoisting the girl over her shoulder.

There were shouts not too far away.

They had discovered they were missing.

As quick as she could, Elsa made her way to the end of the hall. In front of her was a fancily engraved door. Probably the captain's room. Not knowing what to expect, she slung the door open. The captain could be inside for all she cared, she could handle him. She just needed out.

It was empty.

In front of her was a huge glass window, which could be her point of escaping the ship. Elsa shot her ice at the window, freezing and then shattering the fragile glass.

Carrying Tanya, she came to the window and started freezing the ocean water. She could also feel the ship starting to become more buoyant, as her powers regained strength. The water from the ocean slowly formed into a shape of a ship made from ice. It was a small boat and had no sail, but it would do.

Anything to get off the pirate ship. Slave ship. Whatever this forsaken boat was.

Before Elsa could jump out the window with the girl, she heard a voice from behind.

"Where do you think yer going?"

The queen spun around, only to see it was the captain standing in the corner. He had been there, watching them the whole time.

"Yer not getting away girl, not from this ship."

"That's what you think!" exclaimed Elsa.

Though she did not intend on hurting the captain, despite how bad he was, she shot icicles at him. They formed into a small prison, trapping him inside like bars.

"No!" The captain roared. "You are not getting away! You won't make it out on the sea!" The captain yelled angrily and his face was tomato red.

"I can certainly try!" Elsa had fully regained her powers.

With running start and a mighty blast of ice, she jumped out the window with Tanya on her back. She saw her life flash between her eyes, as the waves crashed below her. But she was going to make it. She had to, for the both of them. Before reaching the icy deck of her ship, Elsa formed a large pile of snow, softening their landing. She got up immediately, and continued freezing the pirate ship.

In a matter of seconds, the ice reached the tip of the mast and the ship was frozen solid. The wood of the ship turned to pure ice. But like ice, it became lighter, and its weight became less dense. Fate decided to take another turn.

As Elsa's boat floated farther from her captors, the ship, taller than it was wider, fell to its side. The men on the ship, as the queen watched afar with horror, did not have time to react. The pirates fell into the frigid sea, and the cold water swept through the large ship. Screams of men sounded everywhere. It was the sound of death. Men were dying, and she was responsible for it.

No…

Holding Tanya in her arms to keep her warm, Elsa fell to her knees as the pirate ship was overtaken by the giant waves. Though it would not sink, because ice floats, all the men on board would drown or freeze to death.

No.

It was a horrid ringing through her ears. She held on to Tanya tightly, burying her face in her hair.

This can't be happening.

This was how her parents had perished, on a boat at sea because of a wild storm. Elsa did not even have the courage to say goodbye to them at their funeral. At least not without losing it and letting her powers run wild. A vision of watching her parent's portrait being hung up on the wall, came through her mind. It was put up after their death, like the rest of the royal portraits. But this time, she was the cause of death. She did not mean to hurt anyone.

But it is happening. And I'm responsible.

She let out a wail of anguish, and cried holding the girl. Tears flowed down her face and it started to drizzle rain. The ice ship floated on over the waves as she mourned.

Anna woke, letting out a scream.

Kristoff and her childhood maid Gerda flew into the room, after they heard the younger girl.

"Is everything alright?" Kristoff exclaimed.

"Sweetie what's wrong?" Gerda added in a panicked tone.

The princess caught her breath as she shakily lit the candle on her nightstand. Olaf was right there sitting by her side. He was silent but his face was full of worry. He was watching out for her that whole time.

"Are you okay Anna?" The snowman said gently.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm okay. It was just a nightmare."

Kristoff sighed, "Only a nightmare? It sounded like you were hurt."

"Well it kind of did," a tear fell from Anna's face. "It was about Elsa."

Gerda was the first to speak up. "Oh dear, I'll leave you two be. How about I go and bring back some tea?"

"Thanks Gerda," said Kristoff.

After her maid left, Kristoff finally spoke up holding his distraught wife-to-be. They had postponed the wedding until Elsa could be there. But now, they had no idea how long that would be. "What was your dream about?"

"She was hurt. Elsa was in pain and crying in her own storm. It was just like how I saw her crying on the fjord, before saving her from Hans. But it wasn't on the fjord. And instead of watching her, I was in her body. Not actually in her body, but seeing everything from her point of view. If that makes sense."

Olaf took her hand in his.

"Have you heard from her yet? Are the guards still searching?" She asked.

"There's been no sign of her yet."

"It's been five whole days! Elsa said she would be back within a day."

"She's probably still just trying to find Tanya, I'm sure she is safe."

"How do you know? Elsa wouldn't just disappear like that. Something wrong has happened to her, I just know it." Anna got up from her bed. "I'm going to go find her."

"Whoa there, just wait a second. You can't go out there by yourself."

"I have to find her, she's in trouble!"

"Slow down for a second! She needs us here, to take care of Arendelle!"

Anna stopped in her tracks.

"You and Elsa are the only heirs to the throne… so we need to be here for the kingdom. We have a new responsibility now. If Elsa really is gone… you're all Arendelle has left." It was the hard truth, but it needed to be said.

"Kristoff…" Anna burst in tears into his big arms. He kissed her head.

"It's going to be ok."

"She has to be alive, she has to."

Olaf spoke up, "Um guys? Some of my clouds are getting darker." Indeed it was true. The clouds that were already grey in color had darkened and multiplied.

Gerda came back into the room with a pot of herbal tea.

"Everything will be okay. But right now you need to rest," Kristoff reassured both of them.

Exhausted, Anna just nodded taking a small sip of her tea. She slipped back into the covers, as the three of them walked out.

The Kristoff turned to Olaf. "Why don't you stay with Anna? After all Elsa made you, and she needs her sister."

The snowman agreed it was a good idea, and walked back into the room holding his own cup of tea. Not the smartest thing for a snowman to do. Olaf was still learning about what heat and hot things actually were.

"Gerda is there nothing else we can do?" He said after Olaf was out of hearing range.

"I'm afraid the guards are doing all they can," her eye's saddened. "The most important thing you need to be doing, is staying strong for Arendelle, and especially for Anna. If the queen, Elsa, really is gone, Arendelle looks to you and Anna. I raised the princess since she was just a baby. Right now she is in a very emotional state, and if her sister never comes back… she will be that way for a very, very long time. She needs you to be strong for her."

Kristoff did not want the queen to be gone. Elsa was very capable of taking care of herself, she was independent like that. But he was realistic, and considered the possibility that she was gone. However he did not want to rush into conclusions. That would only upset Anna even more. He had no idea what he was going to do. He was just an ordinary mountain man who sold ice for a living. How could he even support a whole kingdom?

One person came to his mind immediately. Anna.

He would do whatever it took to take care of Anna, even if a whole kingdom came with her as well. After all, he loved her.