Chapter XV: The Escape
The night actually seemed peaceful. There were no whispers around the city that night. There was only complete and utter silence. Even with the ships docked in Arendelle's docks, the city still seemed peaceful. No commotion came from the ships at all. Since it was a blockade, the Southern Isles' forces were going to stay there for a while. Only when Ander gave the order or when Arendelle was reduced to rubble would the military ships leave. Elsa, of course, was not happy with the blockade one bit, but she couldn't do anything about it. She knew Ander wouldn't change his mind about things. There was almost nothing Elsa could get through his thick skull.
The military people who came with Ander were all stationed to a specific ship. They were all ordered to fight and die on that ship if danger arose. But that night, not a single soldier stood guard on the deck of any of the ships. The temporary peace and silence was too good for any of them to pass up. For the next day or two, Ander and Hans would be staying in the Southern Isles' royal ship. The comforts of home were there on that ship for the two to enjoy. All they had to do was wait for Arendelle to do something or nothing at all.
Everyone slept uneasily in within the walls of Arendelle Castle, especially Elsa. The first day that Ander had given them was officially over. Now, the guards only had about a day and a half to get the monarchs and representatives back before Ander's ships opened fire. She kept having images in her mind about the death and destruction that was to come if her guards failed their task. She couldn't properly go to sleep with all of that in her mind. Elsa kept tossing and turning on her bed, changing the position is which she slept in. Kai wasn't sleeping next to her that night and that gave her no comfort. She always slept soundly whenever Kai was around, but knowing he was in his own room, she knew that it was going to be a rocky night.
Kai was having similar problems with Elsa. In the room next to Elsa's, Kai lay flat on his bed, with the front side of his body facing the ceiling. He didn't change into his sleepwear and was still wearing his Captain of the Guard uniform. His dagger was in his hand, and Kai was holding it over his head. He was pretending to be studying the blade when he actually was having bad thoughts. Elsa told Kai the bad news personally, and he became worried. Kai hated deadlines, and with the stakes as high as they were, this deadline was just the worst.
Kai knew that he had to have faith in his men. They wouldn't succeed in anything if Kai believed they couldn't. The guards idolized Kai and all wanted to follow in his footsteps. They admired Kai's bravery and courage just as much as they admired his fighting skills. Kai had not prepared them to lose, and they were not prepared to let him down. Kai put his dagger down on the ground, pulled his blanket over his body, and closed his eyes. He didn't know how he would be able to sleep, but he had to at least try. But, he had a feeling that these would be restless nights.
Anna was still awake in her room. The time to leave was now. She turned to her side to check if Kristoff was sound asleep and she found that he was. She slowly took the blanket off of her body and placed her feet on the cold floor. Anna needed a new set of clothes since her sleep wear wouldn't exactly be the best thing to wear out there in the snow. She tip toed to her wardrobe and slowly opened it up. Many of Anna's dresses hung in her wardrobe including the dress she wore for Elsa's coronation, her casual wear, and other clothes.
Anna searched for the winter clothes she wore when she went on the journey to find Elsa. She found it hanging on the far left side of her wardrobe. Anna took it down and changed into it quickly and silently. She then opened a drawer on the bottom of the wardrobe where her shoes, boots, and slippers were. She found the winter boots she wore with the winter dress and slid her feet into them. She then put on her snow gloves. Anna missed being in these clothes. She had her first real adventure wearing them which made them special to her.
Anna grabbed a small satchel the was lying on the floor and slung it over her shoulder. She needed something to hold stuff. Anna then slowly made her way next to Kristoff's side of the bed and looked under it. There, she found Kristoff's stash of carrots for Sven. Anna didn't have time to grab some food from the kitchen so the carrots would have to do. She took a few and put them in her satchel.
She then walked over to the door that led out of her room. She reached for the door handle but she stopped her hand right before it touched the golden handle. There was sure to be some guards left patrolling the castle ever since their last attack. The guards would surely stop her and foil her escape. She had to take a different route. A more dangerous route.
Anna walked to the large triangular window in her room. She opened it slowly and carefully, trying her best not to make a sound. The right side of the window swung open to the right, and the left side swung to the left. The wind was howling in the air but it wasn't loud enough to wake Kristoff. Snowflakes fell through the open window and into the room as Anna looked down below her. The snow had made a perfect slide for her to go down just like she had a year and many months ago.
Anna looked back at Kristoff one last time before she went out. Right now, she was betraying Kristoff's and Elsa's trust. She would be throwing her life in harms way once she leaves her room. Was she prepared? Anna was sure she was ready. She wasn't going to give up now. Arendelle depended on it.
"I'm sorry." Anna said to Kristoff.
Anna jumped through the window and landed on the flat roofing that was angled down, all of it covered in snow. Anna slid down the roof, taking strange turns as she went down. Her feet were in front of her, and they pushed down the snow in front of them and that snow fell down the roof with Anna. Soon, Anna fell into Arendelle's courtyard. Luckily, there was a small collection of snow where Anna landed so the fall wasn't that hard on her.
"That wasn't so bad." said Anna who was wiping the snow off of her legs. Before she could take a step forward, tons of snow from the roof suddenly fell on Anna. Her entire body was buried in snow as she was standing. That would be the third time in her life that happened. The first time was when Anna was thrown off her horse, and snow coming from a tree fell on her. The second time happened when she accidentally broke Elsa's favorite pair of shoes. Anna shook the snow off of her body and stepped out of the pile of snow beneath her.
Lucky enough, there were no guards patrolling the courtyard. Anna didn't think about the fact that the courtyard might have been being guarded while she was sliding, but now she didn't have to worry about it. Her job was easier now.
"Anna?" said a voice to Anna's right.
Anna turned her head to the right and found Rapunzel standing there with a satchel over her shoulder and a frying pan in her hand. Both of them were confused as to why the other was out this late. Rapunzel was the last person Anna expected to be outside at this time.
"Hi, Rapunzel." Anna said.
"What are you doing here?" Rapunzel asked.
"I could ask you the same question." Anna said.
Rapunzel was about to tell a lie, but she couldn't come up with one quick enough. She wasn't used to lying. She's always been telling the truth throughout her life, and only very few times have she lied. Rapunzel knew she was busted, but she felt she could trust Anna.
Rapunzel took a deep breath. "I'm sneaking out." She said. "I'm going to save my parents."
Anna's eyes widened. That was convenient for both of them. They both wanted the same goal and had pretty much the same plan to achieve it. Since Rapunzel told Anna, Anna felt like she could tell Rapunzel.
"I'm sneaking out, too." Anna said. "I'm going to save my country."
"Why do you need to sneak out?" Rapunzel asked. "You're the princess which means you can pretty much do whatever you want."
Anna sighed. "Blame Elsa." she said. "My sister has been limiting things for me lately. She's trying to keep me safe."
"That's what sisters do, I guess." Rapunzel said.
"She's making me feel useless!" Anna said angrily. "She has not given me a chance to help."
Anna was frustrated with Elsa lately. Elsa was not granting Anna the one thing she wanted most, so Anna would have to give it to herself. Now, not even Elsa was going to stop her.
"I'm going to help Arendelle, Rapunzel, and no one is going to stop me." Anna said. Anna was determined to leave. She was never more sure of what she wanted ever in her life.
Rapunzel understood Anna's point of view. She understood the feeling of wanting to be useful. Rapunzel took a step closer to Anna and held her hand in front of her. Anna looked at Rapunzel with a raised eyebrow.
"We're both leaving to do the same thing." Rapunzel said. "It's probably safer if we stick together. What do you say? Partners?"
Anna smiled. She feared that she was going to have to do it alone, which was not preferable. She was glad that someone was willing to help her when no one else would. She felt like Rapunzel was her only friend at that moment, and Anna needed a friend. Anna shook Rapunzel's hand. "Partners." Anna agreed.
The two started to walk off to the stone bridge, but Anna stopped when a question came up in her head. Rapunzel looked back at Anna, confused.
"What's wrong?" Rapunzel asked.
"How did you sneak out?" Anna asked.
Rapunzel swung her frying pan around. "Your guards weren't frying pan proof." Rapunzel smiled.
"You knocked out our only form of security?!" Anna asked.
"When you put it that way... They'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Man, you ask a lot of questions."
"Only when I'm concerned." Anna countered.
"Whatever. My turn to ask you a question."
"And that is?"
"Again with the questions..."
"Rapunzel!" Anna was getting annoyed with Rapunzel's humor, but she knew it was all in good fun.
"Okay, fine. Do you have any idea where we're going." Rapunzel asked.
"I don't have an exact location."
"Great start." Rapunzel said.
"But, I do know it's a flat area like a field. A large patch somewhere in the forest."
That raised Rapunzel's hope a little bit. "Well, that narrows things down a little bit."
"But, the forest is huge."
"Let's just stay positive." Rapunzel suggested. They had to believe they could find the place if they were going to succeed. Doubting themselves wasn't going to help their cause at all.
"Hi guys!" said a jolly Olaf from the other side of the courtyard. Uh oh, thought both Anna and Rapunzel. They turned to see the snowman making his way towards them.
"Hi Anna and Anna's friend." Olaf said.
"Rapunzel." Rapunzel told Olaf.
"Gesundheit!" Olaf said.
Rapunzel face palmed. Some nights she wondered why she was given such a complex and strange name. But, she still loved her name. It made her unique, and if Rapunzel was one thing, she was unique. She shrugged off Olaf's ignorance and refocused herself.
"Hi Olaf." Anna said. "What're you doing out this late?"
"I came outside to play with the snow but I saw you guys first. What're you doing here?"
Anna and Rapunzel looked at each other. They couldn't let Olaf know the truth though they knew he could be trusted. Olaf loved Anna too much to let her throw herself in harm's way. They needed to lie to the snowman and leave before anyone else came down.
"Uh..." Anna said. "I was just going to show Rapunzel around the city."
"At night?" Olaf asked.
Rapunzel nodded. "See, I'm arachnophobic which means I don't like being around crowds of people."
"Doesn't arachnophobic means you're scared of spiders?" Olaf asked.
"Hey, you didn't invent the term." Rapunzel said.
Anna kicked Rapunzel's leg from the side, telling Rapunzel to stop messing around and focus at the task at hand. They had to get rid of Olaf now or never. Anna came up with an idea.
"Olaf, I think I lost my wedding ring somewhere in the snow. Can you find it for me?" Anna said.
Olaf saluted Anna and said "I will do it with honor!"
Olaf walked away and started digging through the snow around him. He put his carrot nose to the ground and sniffed around for the ring. Anna felt bad for him since all of his efforts would be in vain but she couldn't worry about that now. Anna turned to Rapunzel and motioned her to sneak to the gate that led to the stone bridge.
While Olaf was searching, the girls slowly made their way to the gate. Once there, Anna slowly but silently opened both doors wide open. Anna was Rapunzel's guide. Anna knew the way to the forest, and Rapunzel needed that guidance. They were partners in crime now, and they knew they had to do it together. While Olaf wasn't looking, they made their way to the stone bridge.
Now, they were home free. There would barely be anyone out in the streets which means no one would spot them leave. Anna led Rapunzel as they jogged through the city. They were heading towards one of the main openings to the forest; the most popular for tradesmen and merchants who did their business in the forest.
After a few minutes of jogging, Anna and Rapunzel stopped in front of the forest clearing which was the main opening. They needed a minute to catch their breath. They weren't used to jogging long distances non stop.
"Here it is." Anna said.
"Are you ready?" Rapunzel asked her.
"No." Anna said. "But, we can't turn back now."
"That would be embarrassing." Rapunzel agreed.
"That's not what I'm afraid of." Anna said. She didn't want to face Elsa after an escape attempt. Who knew what the anger could cause Elsa to do?
Together, the two girls walked into the forest, not sure if they were ready to face the danger that lied ahead of them.
Anna hoped that Kristoff wouldn't wake up, but that hope didn't come true. It was only a few minutes after Anna and Rapunzel entered the forest did Kristoff wake up.
The window was still open after Anna left, making the room slightly noisy. Kristoff tried to change his sleeping position so it would not be much of a nuisance. He turned to his right and put his arm over the left side of the bed, hoping it would be over a sleeping Anna. But, the arm was laying over more bed.
Kristoff couldn't feel Anna's presence next to him. He opened his eyes immediately. He found that she wasn't on the bed just as he suspected. He sat up from his bed and quickly scanned the room, hoping to find Anna elsewhere.
"Anna?" Kristoff asked.
Of course there was no answer. He got off of bed and looked under it, hoping Anna was justp ranking him, but she wasn't there. He ran to her wardrobe and opened it. She wasn't hiding in it. Kristoff noticed that her winter dress was gone.
"Oh no." Kristoff said.
He ran to his the open window and looked outside to the courtyard. He found it almost empty. Almost. He found Olaf digging around the snow, which Kristoff thought was normal, but Kristoff asked himself why Olaf was doing that. As cheerful and eccentric Olaf was, he wouldn't be doing that for no reason. Something was up. He moved his eyes to the gate and found that it was open and unguarded. Kristoff wasn't surprised by the fact that it was unguarded but Elsa always ordered it closed for the recent nights. Someone opened it.
Kristoff studied the ground closer. Though it was faint, he found two different pairs of footsteps leaving the courtyard. That must've been Anna. Kristoff couldn't believe she betrayed his trust. He couldn't believe she actually left.
"Anna, what are you doing?" Kristoff asked himself.
Kristoff quickly changed into his ice miner clothes, put on his boots, and ran out his door. He had to get to Anna quickly before she hurt herself. Down the corridor, he saw another door open. Out from it jumped Eugene he ran the same direction that Kristoff was running. Kristoff ran faster to try to catch up to him.
"Eugene!" Kristoff yelled.
Eugene stopped right in from of the stairs that led down to the main hall. Kristoff caught up to him much to Eugene's confusion.
"What're you doing here?" Kristoff asked.
"I'm going looking for my wife." Eugene answered.
"Same." Kristoff said
"Isn't that coincidental." Eugene said. He immediately assumed that both escapes were connected.
"I know Anna left to go help find the kidnapped." Kristoff said. "I also know she left through the courtyard. I saw two sets of footprints down there. The two probably are working together."
"Oh no." Eugene said.
"We should hurry down." Kristoff suggested.
Together, the two men rushed down the stairs as fast as they could. Eugene almost lost his footing and almost tripped since he was too focused on getting Rapunzel back. He couldn't allow her to get hurt. If she did, he would never forgive himself. It was obvious to him that all she wanted was to rescue her parents, and though he understood that, he didn't understand why she took it upon herself to do it.
Krostoff ran ahead in the main hall and opened the door to the courtyard open for Eugene. Eugene erushed past Kristoff who closed the door as he went outside. They found Olaf still diggin through the snow, searching for Anna's ring in vain.
"Olaf!" Kristoff shouted.
The snowman looked over at Kristoff and smiled. "Hi Kristoff and Kristoff's friend!" Olaf exclaimed.
The two men rushed over to Olaf and Kristoff kneeled down on the snow in front of Olaf.
"Did you see Anna and Rapunzel pass through here?" Kristoff asked.
Olaf nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"Did they tell you to look for something?" Kristoff asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Do you know where they're going?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Can you tell us?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Olaf!" Eugene said. "Can you just answer the questions, please."
"Anna said she was going to show Rapunzel around town." Olaf answered.
Kristoff and Eugene looked at each other. That was obviously a lie. They knew Olaf would have been easily manipulated and believe anything that came from their mouths. Kristoff and Eugene both knew that their wives had quite a head start, and they needed to catch up fast.
"They went to the forest opening in town." Kristoff said, knowing that's the most likely place the girls went.
"Is that far?" Eugene asked.
"From here? It's not close." Kristoff answered.
"Guess we'll need a ride." Eugene said.
Kristoff turned his head to a certain large pair of doors on the wall in the courtyard. That door led to the stables which was usually guarded. They needed a ride to get to the girls quickly. Kristoff stood up and ran to the stables' doors and Eugene followed.
"What is this place?" Eugene asked.
"The stables." Kristoff answered.
Kristoff opened the door to the stables and walked inside. There were many horses locked in their wooden holding areas, and at the far back of the room was Sven who had the most comfortable holding area. Next to Sven was Maximus who was not enjoying the "comfort" of his holding area. A guard stood in between the two men and the horses. He stood half awake and leaning on his spear. Kristoff approached the guard who held his hand out in front of Kristoff.
"A little late to be down here, ice master." The guard said. "What business do you have?"
"I'm just here to get Sven." Kristoff answered.
The guard shook his head. "The Queen says no one may pick up a horse or reindeer in late hours. She fears someone may leave. Sorry Kristoff, but Sven stays here for the night."
"But-"
Eugene walked next to Kristoff and motioned him to step back. "Let me handle this." Eugene said. Kristoff took a step back, and Eugene looked the guard in the eye. "I didn't want to do this, but you left me no choice. Here comes the smolder." Eugene gave the guard a puppy dog, smolder face while the guard looked unamused. "This has been an off night for me." Eugene said. "It doesn't usually happen."
The smolder wasn't getting anywhere with the guard, and Eugene knew it. He just needed to buy some time for Maximus. Maximus already opened his wooden gate and was slowly making his way to the guard. Kristoff and Eugene knew that Maximus was approaching from behind the guard but they couldn't give a sign. Soon, the horse was right behind the guard. Maximus took his front right leg and held the hoof next to the guard's head. He then smacked the guard hard, and the guard fell down to the ground, unconscious.
"Max!" Eugene said, hugging the horse who was proud of himself.
"Is he alive?" Kristoff asked.
The horse gave Kristoff a gesture that told him the guard was going to be alright. That was funny since Kristoff had never seen a horse giving a gesture like that.
Kristoff ran to the back of the stables and opened the gate for Sven. Sven jumped out and licked Kristoff.
"Good to see you too, buddy." Kristoff said. "Look, Anna might be in trouble and we need to go after her."
Sven nodded at Kristoff who got on Sven's back. Sven slowly made his way to Maximus and Eugene. Eugene was already on top of Maximus when Sven got there. Eugene had already told Maximus the basic gist of their mission, and he was ready to go. The two men looked at each other, telling each other that they were ready.
They didn't have time to get anymore help. They needed to get to the princesses now.
Maximus and Sven raced out into the courtyard. Olaf was jumping around in front of the horses.
"Let me go, too!" Olaf yelled.
Kristoff held his hand down and picked up Olaf as Sven and Maximus raced past. Olaf jumped into the spot behind Kristoff, ready to go on an adventure, though oblivious as to what was going on.
Sven and Maximus raced onto the stone bridge and crossed it in a matter of seconds. They needed to find the girls quickly before something bad happened to them. They rushed through the city and to the forest opening. Maximus was following Sven since Sven knew the way. Kristoff and Eugene hoped that they could get to the girls quickly before they were long gone.
Author's Note: Hey guys! Expect a new chapter every 2 to 5 days and I promise you it will take no more than 5 days for a new chapter. The chapters I make are really long and average out to be around 4000 or so words per chapter so that's why it takes so long. Ciao.