Anna awoke the next morning in Kristoff's bed, still clutching his pillow. For a moment, she swore he was there with her, but it was only his smell in the room. The musky yet sort of cleaner smell that he now produced instead of the reindeer one. She grabbed a fistful of his sheets and squeezed, wishing she knew where he was.

It was gray outside, looking as if it might rain. A small rumble of thunder brought back a memory of Kristoff. It was right after he'd moved in, having been so grateful for the new bed. Kristoff was used to sleeping in the dark, but for some reason, was scared to sleep alone in his room that first night. Anna couldn't help but turn a little red with laughter. Kristoff blushed his usual pink color and had crossed his arms, pouting at her like he did when he was grumpy. Then, she'd thought about it, being alone in a room in a new place where suits of armor are in the hallway, weird shadows get cast on the wall and he didn't have Sven with him, who he always had next to him when he slept. Anna sympathized and then apologized for laughing and agreed to stay that night in his room until he fell asleep.

She remembered it well. It was storming badly that night, the thunder being very loud. She looked over at Kristoff, his eyes wide as he tried his best not to show fear. Typical man. A large thunderclap caused him to gasp, jump and pull his sheets up over his head like a scared child. Anna couldn't help but smile. Seeing a rough and tough no-nonsense independent man like Kristoff get so frightened over a little thunderstorm was sort of funny. She covered her smile as he peeked out from his sheets, only the top of his head and his big, brown eyes visible as he asked, "Is it always this loud?"

Anna chuckled a little and shifted in the chair they kept in the room. "Yeah, thunderstorms get pretty loud here. Any particular reason why you're so... scared?"

"I am not scared, for your information." Kristoff retorted as another thunderclap sounded, causing him to curl up in the sheets and sigh, "Okay fine. You win. It's just... sometimes Sven and I had to sleep outside in these things and... I don't know, I guess it's just bad memories is all." he confessed as his big, beautiful brown orbs shifted around shyly. He still peeked out from the sheets over at Anna. "Please don't laugh."

Anna didn't laugh, she did smile though as she dragged her chair over, it making an ugly squeal as it scraped the floor. She sat next to Kristoff and ran her fingers through his messy, blond hair, which seemed to calm him down as he closed his eyes like a dog being petted. "It'll be okay. It's just a storm. It can't hurt you in here. You're totally safe." she assured him.

"Thanks." he mumbled, his voice muffled by the sheets. Anna looked out the window at the rain pelting the glass as she continued to pet Kristoff's head. The rain really was kind of pretty now that she looked at it.

"Hey, Kristoff-" she asked, but looked over. He was sleeping like a baby. Anna smiled and kissed the top of his head. "Goodnight, Kristoff." she said before she left the room.

The memory pained her, though brought her some comfort at the same time. She missed him terribly. The answer to whether or not he could be found burned at her like an inferno.

She had to know as soon as possible. She got up and dressed, fixing her hair in no time since lately she'd not been turning in her sleep too much and quietly made her way down the hall, everyone else still asleep. She made her way to the kitchen and picked up a bagel on her way to the stable for her horse.

Elsa wasn't going to like this, but she didn't care.

She had to find him.

Hans made his way down to the brig, where Kristoff and his reindeer were locked up, being watched by the Duke's men. As he approached the cell, he saw Kristoff was curled up on the floor, asleep. He made small noises as he slept, but the noises were muffled by the gag. Hans saw as Kristoff began to stir a little, the noises becoming a little louder now, though still muffled.

He must be dreaming.

He'd almost managed to kill Hans back in the woods and if hadn't been for the Duke's men, he would have probably choked him to death. He'd found Kristoff's key to escape, a sharp chicken bone, jammed in the door lock at the cabin. Since then, he ordered that Kristoff be fed during his meals, leaving him bound still. No chances to get any more bones to try and free himself. Hans watched intensely as Kristoff's muffled noises became louder and more panicked. Oh yes, he was dreaming all right.

And it wasn't good.

In the dream, Kristoff was running through the snow, just as he was before with Hans, but something was different. He heard howling behind him and turned to see a pack of wolves snarling, foam coming from their moistened lips. Kristoff turned around and ran, the wolves giving chase. As he ran through the snow, the wind stinging his face and eyes, he heard an arrow fly by his head, narrowly missing him.

"There he is!"

"Shoot him!"

Kristoff kept running despite the cold burning his face, trying to keep out of the wolves' reach and dodge the arrows. Suddenly, a sharp pain struck through his leg, causing him to yelp in pain as he fell into the snow. As he tried to move, pain shot through his leg as he felt the spot where the pain began. His hand came back a dark crimson, indicating blood. He looked down at the arrow stuck in his leg. As he heard the wolves and men approaching, he took off his sash and bit down on it as he broke the arrow in two. He took a deep breath and pulled the other side of the arrow, causing immense pain in his leg as he managed to pull it out. He took his sash from his mouth and wrapped it tight around the hole in his leg, wincing in pain as he tied it off.

Suddenly, he heard a low growling and looked up just in time to see a wolf, it's teeth bared as it dove for his throat.

"Mmmphh!" Kristoff called out into his gag as he awoke from the dream. His eyes wide, he looked around, realizing he was still in the cell in the deck of the ship and not about to have his throat torn out. He looked over to see Hans leaning against the wall, the Duke's two men seated at a table.

"Have a nice sleep?" Hans asked, knowing full and well Kristoff couldn't answer. He pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the cell. "Like the chain?"

Kristoff looked down and saw the shackle around his ankle and followed the chain to see that it was bolted to the wall. Looked like he wasn't going anywhere. He looked back at Hans and furrowed his brow angrily.

"Don't look at me, you're the one who had to go and try and escape on me. We did warn you nothing good would come of that. Looks like you're just as stubborn as everyone says."

Kristoff shifted uncomfortably as the ropes around his wrists rubbed the sores. His body had begun to cramp up from being bound so tightly for so long, but he couldn't let Hans see any sign of weakness in him. Knowing him, he'd use it against him.

"Uncomfortable?" Hans asked, expecting an answer. Kristoff said nothing. "What's that? Didn't hear you."

"Mmfff." Kristoff said. Yes.

"I thought so. Don't worry, we're almost to where we're going, I'm sure I'll find a nice, comfortable spot for you and your pet there. But for now, you just hang in there, ice boy." Hans smirked as he got up. "Oh, and you might want to work on your diction. You tend to mumble quite a bit whenever I speak to you. Most people don't like that sort of thing." he taunted as he left.

Kristoff growled into his gag, the hate for Hans burning inside him. He wished he'd broken his neck when he had the chance... maybe then he wouldn't be in this mess. But that was highly doubtful.

He laid back down on his side, listening to the waves crash against the side of the ship. Wherever they were going, he was sure it was better than this.

Or he could be wrong.

As Hans made his way back up to the deck, he was approached by one of the Duke's men.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Were you listening?" Hans demanded. The man shook his head. Hans had a feeling he was lying, after all, the Duke was not very trusting and had to go back to Weselton for "diplomatic purposes". Hans knew he just didn't feel like hanging around with them anymore, but he didn't care. That was the Duke's problem.

"Whatever you say. Get down there and get our prisoner ready. We're nearly there." Hans commanded. The man nodded and made his way downstairs.

Kristoff looked over as he heard the cell's door open and saw one of the Duke's men heading towards him with the black hood again. He tried to squirm away, mumbling in effort into the gag, his words getting lost as the man grabbed him and forced the hood over his head, slinging him over his shoulder yet again, disorienting Kristoff.

"Don't you worry, ice boy. You'll be back to laying around sooner than you think." the man said. Kristoff felt sick, either from being tossed around like he was nothing or from what the man had said. Were they going to kill him?

He tried in vain to get his hands from behind his back, but the ropes around his arms and his wrists rubbed against the sores and burned like hell and made him feel even more sick. He didn't want to just let them toss him around, but what else could he do? Feeling helpless was something he wasn't accustomed to. All his life, no matter the situation, he managed to have some sort of control over the situation, no matter how bad. This time, all of his control had been stripped away. His ability to fight back, negotiate and even comfort his best friend. All of them were gone.

And it made him sick.

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