Chapter XXII: Catching Up

Kai was riding on his horse, Shade, for countless amount of time. He didn't know how long he was riding along the straight path, and frankly, he didn't care. He was still following the footsteps of his friends, chiefly following Anna's and Rapunzel's steps as Elsa ordered him to focus on Anna rather than the others. Kai knew that Kristoff and Eugene left the castle at a different time than Anna and Rapunzel, plus they had rides, meaning they should've caught up to the girls by now, assuming they followed their tracks. Or, they could still be separated from each other, and they never crossed paths at all.

Kai shrugged off all of these possibilities and focused on what Elsa asked of him; finding Anna and bringing her back home. Kai assumed Kristoff left to do the same task as he was, otherwise the married couple would've left together with Rapunzel and Eugene. It would've been illogical to not leave at the same time to do the same task, and Kai knew that they weren't that stupid.

He was always paying attention to the snow covered ground as he rode Shade, making sure he wouldn't lose the trail. He highly doubted that the girls took any drastic turns when walking down the path, but knowing them, they were unpredictable. Kai couldn't allow himself to get his eyes off of the trail.

Ahead of him, he saw something that made him stop Shade. He slowed the horse down, and jumped off of him. He then took the the whip like part of his sadle that made the horse move whenever Kai whipped it, and tied it around a tree with a small trunk. Shade wasn't going anywhere.

Kai then walked ahead to investigate what made him stop in the first place; the prints of a wolf. He found many wolf prints on the snow, all scattered around but still close enough to indicate that they were in a pack. He found that the paw prints came from outside of the path, from the right of it to be exact. Not only did he find the prints, but he found that they continued ahead of him. He looked ahead of him to find that the path had split with it leading to the left and right just a couple hundred meters ahead of him.

He followed the wolf prints ahead, along with Anna's, Rapunzel's, Sven's, and Maximus'. This isn't good, he thought to himself. His friends might've been in danger, but Kai didn't know exactly what happened. As he followed the tracks to where the straight path ended, he noticed that all of the tracks looked as equally fresh as they all happened at the same time. The deepness of Sven's and Maximus' prints equaled the deepness of Anna's and Rapunzel's prints. He deduced that this was where the guys must've caught up with the girls. He didn't exactly know how the wolves fitted into the equation, but he intended to find out.

Standing at where the path ended and split off, he looked to the right path. He found that Anna's and Rapunzel's prints went that way, along with the many small prints of wolves. He then looked to the left and found that Sven's and Maximus' prints went that direction, although he found more wolf prints coming from the left side to the right side. They went opposite directions, he thought to himself.

Then, he noticed how Anna's and Rapunzel's prints were more spread out from each other on the right path, meaning that they were running. What were they running from? The wolves, Kai answered to himself. It made sense that the wolves chased the girls on the right path, and the wolves came from both the path Kai and gone and the left path.

He then knew why the guys weren't chased by wolves but the girls were. He found that the guys passed the girls at some point, but there was no indication that the guys actually saw the girls since there was no indication of any if the two parties stopping to talk to the other since the movement of both parties, according to the prints, were always constant. He assumed that the girls hid from the guys, making the guys miss them. Since the guys moved way faster than the girls, the wolves must've missed them when they went on the left path.

Kai answered another question that arose. If the girls planned to go to the coordinates, which was to the left path, why did they go on the right path? The answer was simple. They had no choice since the wolves on the left path chased them to the right.

Now, Kai knew exactly how things went down. The guys passed the girls earlier and went to the left path. The girls were forced to run to the right path because of the wolves chasing them. He hoped they didn't get into any trouble.

Now, Kai found himself deciding what to do. Should he go left or should he go right? He could only choose one group to find. Both, he thought, were probably in danger. Kristoff and Eugene were probably headed towards the coordinates where unknown dangers awaited them. Anna and Rapunzel were chased by wolves, to which Kai didn't know the outcome of.

He made Elsa a promise to Elsa which he intended to keep; bring Anna home safe and sound. He would not come home empty handed. He would have to take the right path as that's where Anna went, but that's also where the wolves went. He had to protect her at all costs, and bring her back home with him. He hoped that they were able to survive the wolves as he couldn't even imagine what Elsa would do if he came home with two corpses. He had to make sure they were okay.

Kai decided to take the right path. Kristoff and Eugene are tough guys, Kai told himself. They can handle their own.

Kai heard a growling noise behind him. Actually, he heard multiple growling and snarling sounds. He slowly turned his head to the left, barely making any other movements, to see what was behind him. He found a large pack of wolves behind him, slowly closing in on him. Where these the same wolves that chased Anna and Rapunzel? That didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was getting out of this predicament.

He turned his body around to face the wolves, and it seemed as though they got angrier. Some of the wolves had blood on their mouths. Kai wondered where it must've come from. If the blood belonged to Anna or Rapunzel... No, it couldn't have. The blood was too fresh to be the girls'. Fresh enough to seem as though the wolves just ate.

Kai counted twelve wolves in all. They all looked like they've seen some conflict as few of them had snow all over their bodies, and others had bumps on their heads. All looked fairly angry and hungry. Kai looked behind the wolves, back at the straight path. He found Shade on the ground where he left him, surrounded by red snow. That wasn't good. The wolves have gotten to Shade first.

He wasn't afraid of the wolves at all. He has faced so many dangers, worst than wolves in his life. He would be able to handle some dogs, easily. He summoned a ball of fire in his hand, and not only that, but his entire right hand was wrapped around the flames. He was careful not to burn his clothes. He then took his left hand and did the same thing, wrapping it in fire that danced.

They wolves weren't necessarily hungry for Kai's flesh after they saw the fire. He didn't even need to draw his weapon for them to back away. Their growling got more intense, but the wolves all backed away from Kai, afraid of the fire. They still didn't run away though, and that was something Kai had to change. He took a step forward, closer to the wolves, and that did the trick. They all ran off and back into the forest to get away from Kai.

Kai then ran to Shade, who was on the ground, bleeding. Kai ran as fast as he could to the poor horse. When he reached Shade, he knelt down on the red snow to see what was wrong. Shade was moving his legs, as if he was trying to get up, but that wasn't happening. There was a long three line scratch on the side of his neck that was facing up, and it led down to his throat. Blood was pouring down out of it. Shade's breathing was slow, and his whinnies were weak.

Not only that, but there were other forms of injuries on him. On his belly area, there was a large hole, with blood pouring out of it. A wolf took a bite there, and took a chunk of his skin and some meat. There were bite marks all over Shade's legs, and cuts all over his back as if a wolf jumped and scratched him many times. Many more cuts were on his body, but Kai was only able to see the left side of the horse's body. He was sure there were more on the other side.

"You're going to be okay." Kai assured Shade. "We're going to get you up and get you some help."

Shade made a sound that told Kai the horse doubted his plans.

"I'm going to help you get up." Kai said, fearing for Shade's life. "Come on, we need to get you out of here."

Shade closed his eyes, showing Kai that the horse knew what was going to happen. There was no way Shade was getting up. He was done for.

The wolves had the element of surprise with them. They attacked Shade when he wasn't looking, and took him down before he could make a single noise. All of that when Kai was figuring out where to go.

Shade made a weak neigh, in pain. Shade was of no more use to Kai, and both of them knew that. Kai was going to get up and get out, and leave his horse there. But, Kai couldn't just let his friend suffer before he died. Kai knew what he had to do as a favor for Shade.

Kai took out his dagger, and looked at Shade's neck. He managed holding back a tear. He then pointed the tip of the dagger at the horse's neck, and made the tip touch the skin. Shade knew what was going to happen, and if he could, he would thank Kai. Kai then stabbed Shade's neck with his dagger, trying not to look. He could understand the pain Shade was in through the sounds he made. Shade kicked his legs around violently, but soon, it calmed down. Kai knew the deed was done when Shade stopped making noises and stopped kicking.

He took his dagger out of Shade's neck, and wiped the blood off of his dagger with his clothes. He looked at the lifeless body of Shade.

"Goodbye, my friend..." Kai said to Shade.

He didn't have time to mourn Shade or bury the horse. He would have to continue with his mission on foot, leaving Shade's body there. It hurt him to not do anything about the body, but he had no choice. Kai stood up, and turned around. He then walked down the path to where it split, and he took the right path where Anna and Rapunzel were chased.

Kai followed the the footprints of the girls and the paw prints of the wolves. He could see how fast they were running by how spread out the tracks were. He hoped the girls were alright, and he hoped he would be able to get to them. He couldn't think about the worst scenario. Think positive, he kept telling himself.

Poor Shade, he thought. Shade was an old horse, which probably explained his inability to fight the wolves. But, Kai thought no body deserved that fate. He'd rather Shade die of natural causes than being put down like that. He was thinking about his lost friend while following the tracks.

He followed the tracks for a few hundred meters until he came across a large tree in the middle of plain, round patch of the forest. When he took a step, he felt something hard below his foot and heard a cracking sound. Kai removed his foot to see what he had stepped on, and he found a pine cone on the ground. He scanned the floor beneath him, finding pine cones scattered around everywhere.

"What the..." Kai whispered. "Pine cones don't drop until Fall."

Then, he noticed how most of the pine cones were far away from the tree itself, meaning that there would be no way they just dropped during the winter. He also saw the wolf prints scattered all around the tree, as if they were circling it like crazy.

Kai refocused himself on finding the girls. He spotted the girls prints through the wolf prints, and continued to follow them. He found that they led to another path through the trees, and continued to follow. He was glad to see that the wolf prints did not continue after the girls' prints, meaning they were still alive... probably. That assured Kai a bit more about their well being.

He followed the tracks, but they soon went off the path and into through the trees. Kai, skeptical about where they went, continued to follow the tracks. He soon found himself in an area with no trees, but a single building in the middle of it. Smoke was coming out of it's chimney.

As Kai approached the building, he found that Anna'a and Rapunzel's prints entered it and then exited it. He saw where they went after they entered the forest, and their tracks led to another path opening to the side of the patch. Kai was about to just forget about the building and continue to follow the tracks, but he wanted to know what had happened in the building.

He was able to see another pair of footprints coming from out of the forest and into the building, two pairs to be exact. He saw that they went the same direction as the girls went. He didn't know who they belonged to, but he intended to find out. Whoever was inside the building would know.

Kai stood at the front of the building and read the sign that said Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna. Kai opened the door, and entered the building. Inside, he found many different items scattered all around the floor, some were broken. He looked to the wall to his right, to see different labels for items, yet the item itself was not there. Looking around some more, he found some parts of the wall were broken. There was obviously a struggle here.

There was a long shelf in the middle of the room, and to the left side of the shelf from Kai's point of view, a rather large man was picking up objects from the floor and putting them on the shelf.

"Hello." Kai said to the man.

The man looked at Kai. "Hoo-hoo!" He said. "Big winter snow out?"

"You Oaken?" Kai asked.

Oaken nodded. "Are you here to buy something?" Oaken asked.

"Actually, I've got some questions." Kai said. He then walked closer to Oaken who walked back behind his desk and sat down.

"What is it you require of me?" Oaken asked.

"Have you seen two young women in here?" Kai asked. "Perhaps the Princess of Arendelle and Corona?"

"Ah, yes." Oaken answered. "They were here not too long ago. They bought some clothes, medicine, and lutefisk."

Medicine, Kai though. "Was one of them hurt?" Kai asked. He hoped they were okay, wherever they were.

"I believe one of them had a minor injury." Oaken answered.

Kai was sort of relieved. As long as it wasn't anything major, Kai wouldn't have to worry. At least the girls knew how to treat whatever it was that happened to them. Kai turned his head and remembered the condition of the store.

"What happened here?" Kai asked.

"Some rough-houses came in looking for weapons, and they then attacked the girls." Oaken answered.

"The girls got out okay?"

"Well, I threw the men out myself and the girls ran after them." Oaken answered.

"Were they armed?" Kai asked.

"Oh yes!" Oaken said. From below his desk, Oaken pulled out the axe and sword Scarves and Hats used, one in each hand.

"Geez!" Kai said, backing away from the weapons. "Be careful with those things."

"They left their weapons here, and so I figured they belong to me. Want one? Fifty each!" Oaken said.

"I'm good." Kai said. "Hold on a minute... These look familiar." Kai took the sword and studied the strange blade that was anything but straight. Grey weapons like this looked familiar to Kai. Then, it hit him. He looked at the handle of the sword and found a small emblem carved into it. It was the Bandit's insignia, meaning bandits used this weapon. When he was a bandit, he would see everyone using cheap blades like this.

Kai didn't know what was going on. He thought Lyre ordered the disbandment of the Bandits long ago, yet why are things like this showing up now. It was possible that the people that showed up are ex Bandits, doing whatever they were doing in Arendelle. Yet, it made much more sense to Kai if the Bandits were still organized. The description Hans gave of the people that helped Lilith matched that of a Bandit. Kai couldn't think anything yet until he was sure.

He placed the sword back on the table. "Those guys are bad news." He told Oaken.

"Oh, I know, trust me." Oaken said.

"Thanks for your help." Kai said.

"No problem." Oaken said. "Would you like to buy some lutefisk?"

Kai started to walk away when Oaken was just starting to name items that he was selling. When Kai opened the door out, the last thing he heard from Oaken was "Bye bye!".

Kai looked down at Anna and Rapunzel's tracks and followed them away from the building and to the opening of the forest. The prints of the other men were clear in the snow as they were much larger compared to the girls. The separation of the tracks indicated that both parties were running at a constant pace. Kai had to get to them as quick as possible, so he ran as well.

Kai slowed down when he saw a giant crater in the snow. He knelt down next to the crater, and saw that all of the snow that once filled it was now gone, scattered somewhere else. Whatever did this had a kick, and a large one at that. Kai noticed that an explosion caused the crater, perhaps from the bombs a Bandit would carry. Kai looked around and found two body outlines in the snow, about the same shape as both of the girls. He deduced that the explosion kicked them back a bit.

He knew they were able to endure the explosion as he saw their footsteps continue after the men. But, after following the tracks a few feet, he found that they went off the path and through the trees. He soon found himself following them into another empty patch of land with nothing but snow. The patch was significantly smaller than the other patches he had seen, but it was still fairly large.

In the middle of the patch, the snow was not as thick as it was in other places. Kai noticed that, and he knew where not to step. He was able to see the men's footprints and one of the girls' footprints head towards a large tree at the side of the patch. Kai saw the prints of one of the girls go towards the middle of the patch, but then suddenly disappear. None of the footprints continued anywhere else, meaning this was everyone's last stop. So where were they?

Sometimes, it seems as though it was a good thing Kai was a Bandit. He knew exactly what this place was as he had seen and been to many of them back in Teranhall. Kai assumed that there was a cave of some sort below him, and that by standing in the middle of the patch a trap would be triggered.

Kai took his sword and quickly cut off a long but thin branch off of a tree. He held the end of one side of the branch and pointed it towards the middle of the patch. He lowered the branch so that it touched the thin layer of snow, and Kai wiped the snow away. Just as he had expected, there was wood under the snow instead of dirt or grass. His suspicions were correct; this was a Bandit place.

He had a bad feeling that the girls had fallen victim to the trap, and were now beneath him. They were in trouble, and it was Kai's job to save him. Kai looked over at the large tree he saw before. If there was one thing he knew, it would be that there was always a way down to the cave other than the trap. He knew how most of the entrances operated.

Kai walked to the tree, avoiding walking through the middle of the patch. The trunk of the tree was large, very large. Larger than that of the giant tree he saw earlier, with all of the pine cones. There was a small twig that stuck out of it, in front of Kai. In no way did the twig look like it was there naturally. Kai grabbed the twig and pulled. Like a door, the part of the trunk Kai was looking at opened up to reveal that the tree was hollow in the inside. It was large and hollow enough to fit even Oaken. A ladder was at the side of the inside of the trunk and it led down.

Kai noticed a light coming from below him. He looked down to find a large hole inside the hollow trunk, with a light emanating from below. The wooden ladder was connected to the wall of the hole, leading down to the light. Kai assumed this was how the Bandits got in and out; through the ladder.

He didn't know how deep it went, but that didn't matter. What mattered was getting Anna and Rapunzel out of there alive. He grabbed onto the ladder and started to descend down into the hole.

"And down into danger I go..." Kai said to himself, prepared for anything.

Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter was a little boring, but I just wanted to give you guys some more Kai since he wasn't in the last few chapters. Next chapter, spoiler alert, will be an action chapter. Special thanks to the new people who just recently added this story to their favorites and followed it, LadyLiliaAnne and jcande. If you guys want me to take your name down, just PM me. I'll release the quote that shows the theme for the next story depending on how many people want it to know it. Ciao.