A Tale of Ice and Snow-Chapter 2
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Elsa was five years old. She was playing with her dolls when a silvered hair boy with a blue shirt and a cane appeared next to her, somehow magically. She noticed him and pointed at his cane. "Why do you have a cane when you're so young?"
He grinned at pointed his cane towards the window. A flurry of snowflakes flowed from the cane, out of the window, and into the hot summer's ground, sizzling as the snowflakes melted.
Elsa's eyes widened. "I can do that too!" She stood up and stomped her foot on the ground, sending a layer of ice all around the room.
He grinned. "We can be ice buddies, Elsa."
Elsa cocked her head sideways. "You know my name? What's yours?"
A corner of his mouth lifted. "I'm Jack Frost. I'll see you again. I promise." He then crept out of the window silently.
Jack did visit from time to time, but then Elsa had already been fearful of her powers and wouldn't listen to his advice. She had started drifting further from him, from Anna, from everyone.
One bitter winter, Jack had to leave. Duties, he said. "I'm really sorry, Elsa… I'll try my best to visit you again sometime…" By then, Elsa was nearing the age of being queen. She took a shuddering breath and nodded. She would be absolutely alone now.
xxxxx
Elsa had nearly forgotten about him. It had after all been five years since she last saw him. She grinned. "Yes, you may dance with me."
They danced in a slow waltz, somewhat awkwardly. Elsa's heart fluttered. Why did it, anyway? She was supposed to be queen, master of elegance. Yet she kept stumbling. Yes, she didn't dance much, but she knew how to dance, so why was this happening?
"So… how's life?" Elsa asked, in an effort to start a conversation. Stupid, she scolded herself, such a cliché question.
Jack merely smiled. "Oh… you know… it's nice. I honestly missed Arendelle's chocolate though."
Elsa giggled. "Yeah… Anna and I adore chocolate." Speaking of which, where was Anna? "Uhh… excuse me Jack, but I'll go find my sister to introduce to you." Jack let her go good-naturedly.
xxxxx
Elsa bumped into Kristoff along the way. He was holding two glasses of lemonade, one in each hand.
"Kristoff, have you seen Anna?" Elsa asked.
Kristoff blinked. "I was going to ask you the same thing. She said she would be waiting for me on the balcony, but I can't find her."
Elsa frowned. As much as Anna loved exploring the palace, even though she had lived there for pretty much her whole life, she wouldn't have gone away, this was her ball, the one she had been dreaming of for so long. "I'll go look for her in her bedroom. Kristoff, you should stay here and keep a look out for her," she instructed calmly, but in fact, her heart was beating in trepidation.
Elsa paced into Anna's room.
No sign of Anna.
Elsa cursed under her breath, and then noticed something in the room that normally hadn't been there before.
A scroll sticking out of a vase.
She rushed forward, grabbed the scroll, and unrolled it gingerly. It read:
Dear Queen of Arendelle,
Your sister Anna has been kidnapped. Go to Flint's shack in the Southern Isles in five days if you want to see her again.
The letter was not signed off.
But the Southern Isles.
That could only mean one thing.
The vase shattered as Elsa clenched her fists tightly.
But wasn't he in prison? He got a life sentence, didn't he?
"Gerda!" Elsa shouted.
Her faithful servant hurried forward. "Your majesty?"
"Come with me to check the dungeons. A prisoner might have just escaped."
xxxxx
Elsa had been brought up in the castle, lived her whole life in the castle, but she had never been to the dungeons her whole life. Mainly because her parents had forbidded it, and she was locked up in her room for half of her life.
The dungeons were just like she expected: dark and gloomy. And that was just the entrance. She opened the door carefully and stepped inside…
And got the shock of her life.
The guards of the cells were lying on the filthy floor, their eyes open, their faces pale, and their bodies limp. Obviously dead. None of the prison cells were empty though.
Except for the kidnapper's.
Elsa walked to the cell next to the empty one. "How did that man escape?" She hissed at the prisoner.
The prisoner winced. "I - I don't know, your majesty. Two nights ago he was here and the next morning he - he was gone and the guards were dead. All of us were asleep then. But he had always talked of escaping. Out of his mind, we thought. The dungeons were under maximum security all the time. Even if the guards were dead, we could never escape. But he accomplished it."
Elsa's face was stony. "Gerda, give the guards a proper burial and hire new ones." She walked out of the dungeons after Gerda, slamming the door behind her.
xxxxx
"The ball is dismissed." Elsa told the guests as brightly as she could, but under the circumstances of one's beloved sister being kidnapped, how could her tone possibly be bright?
"Kristoff, you stay with me."
"What is it, Elsa?" Kristoff asked, concerned. Obviously, something was wrong.
"I'd hate to tell you this but… Anna is kidnapped…" Elsa's voice shook as she spoke.
"… By Hans." She finished. She handed over the scroll to Kristoff and recounted what she saw in the dungeons.
"That BASTARD!" Kristoff yelled. He launched into a string of colourful language. "I'll go save her now with Sven."
"No, you can't, Kristoff. Sven's broken leg hasn't healed yet, remember? Besides… it's my fault… I was too busy dancing at the ball that I-" She broke off. "I'll go save Anna. She's my sister. And you'll be in charge of Arendelle. Queen's orders."
"But-"
"ENOUGH!" All the icy decorations in the ballroom shattered, save for the chandelier.
"I'm sorry Kristoff, but you should go now." Elsa's hand trembled as she walked out of the ballroom.
xxxxx
Elsa bumped into Jack Frost in the hallway.
"I heard everything just now. I'll go with you, Elsa." His face was solemn.
"Look, Jack, I really appreciate your help, but now is not the time. I have to leave tomorrow at the break of dawn and find some way to get to the Southern Isles in four days." She tried to walk away.
"I can help you get there in time, if you just let me go with you." Jack insisted.
Elsa thought about it. "Fine. Meet me outside the castle gates at dawn."
xxxxx
So cold…
Anna woke up freezing. Where was she? Wasn't she at her ball only just now?
She sat up and looked around. It was a flimsily built shed. Her hands and feet were tied up and she was gagged. Boy, that cloth tastes disgusting.
Someone walked towards her and chucked her chin up. "Oh Anna, I don't believe I've seen you in three years, yet you still look the same."
She stared into the eyes of her worst nightmare.
Hans.
A/N: Please review! I'll give you cookies :3