A/N: This is a much belated update. I have been so busy! Thank you for your patience. I'm actually breaking chapter twenty down into twenty and twenty-one just so that I can update. Oh, a couple of things...
No, this story's Sofia is not Sofia the First. She's just a servant.
There's another song in this chapter. I just italicized all the singing parts. Thanks for reading!
Anna stopped walking every time she turned to check for wolves through the trees; it was so she would not accidentally step in the blood on the ground. She and Hans had followed the bloody trail deep into the forest, far from any distinct trails and civilization. More than once she spoke; it wasn't to Hans—he did not answer anyway—but to herself. The silence was uncomfortable.
The red was not as thick on the ground as it'd been by the mill. But it was still enough to track.
"We may well be following a dead man," Hans commented.
Anna ignored the thought that he could be right. "In our time, there are no violent trolls… something must have happened to them," she said.
"Maybe they were killed off for causing all this trouble."
"By you, I suppose?" she scoffed. Hans made a remark about flattery, but she didn't fully catch it. When she took her next step, it was as if one giant cloud rolled over the sunlit sky above. Anna looked up to see the night.
"What…?" Hans stopped short too, looking up in puzzlement. "What kind of magic is this?" He reached for the axe at his belt, but Anna lightly touched his arm.
"No, it's okay… I know where we are," she said. Hans did not look reassured by that, but he gestured for Anna to take the lead.
A hundred thoughts competed in Anna's mind as she continued following the line of blood. It grew much thinner now, merely sporadic clusters of dark droplets on the leafy ground. Up ahead, Anna could make out an end to the trees.
"This way!" she called over her shoulder before she ran ahead.
"Anna, wait!"
No, she would not wait. The injured mill worker had somehow led them to the Valley of Living Rock. A hopeful picture filled her head now: a man escaped the attack on the saw mill and crawled into the forest to hide. There one of the trolls she knew came upon him to help.
Anna dashed into the valley and whirled around in a circle. Yes, this was the place! There was twilight above and earth all around her.
"Hello!" she called, eyeing several still rocks speckled across the land.
"There's no one here," Hans said as he came up behind her.
"Shh!" Anna hushed him. She pointed at the small, still boulders lying everywhere.
"Are you…afraid I'll wake the rocks?" Hans asked, not amused.
Anna scowled. "You heard when I called this place the Valley of Living Rock, didn't you?!"
"Yes. But these rocks don't look too lively."
"They're probably just scared," Anna explained. She cleared her throat once and raised her voice. "My name is Anna… and that's Hans. Please don't listen to anything he says; he's very rude."
"Hey!"
"We've come on behalf of Arendelle to ask for your help," she went on, unsure of what to make of the prince's frown. She hesitated. What else should she say?
"They don't seem interested," Hans commented. He had a point though. Not one of the rocks stirred.
Anna thought quickly. The trolls of 1749 did not know her. How could she get them to trust her? Memories of meeting with Kristoff's family came to mind. They liked…song. Anna grinned.
"What's the matter with you?" Hans asked when he saw her smile.
"We've come a long, long way just to meet you. Farther than you'd think. I hope you like the way we greet you. This little song should help your shyness shrink."
Hans actually cringed. "That's worse than the last song."
"My name is Princess Anna. I like chocolate, sleep and snow. I come from Arendelle, though it is not the one you know…"
"Not the one we know?" one of the little boulders sang back, wriggling on the ground until it took the appearance of a young troll. Anna's grin grew bigger when she heard Hans's startled yelp as the whole valley came to life. One by one, each rock shook itself to life. Little trolls now stood in place of what had been still groups of rocks.
Anna threw her arms out for effect. "Imagine… far away!"
"How far?" the baby trolls cheered.
"Years from now!"
"Did she say years?"
"We will sing… together."
"Really?! Wow!" the older troll children chimed in.
Then one of the tiniest trolls stepped into the spotlight. She had a cluster of dandelions on her head. "But papa says don't ever trust a human. They lie, destroy and cheat."
Another sang, "And mama said all humans want to eat you. So do not speak to any you might meet. Eek!" The troll covered his mouth when he realized they were ALL speaking to the two strange humans who had trespassed.
Anna jumped, startled when Hans joined in singing next. "Here's one thing to reassure you. I like salmon and hard rolls. I have never had the taste for eating any sort of trolls." He was singing on-key this time, much to Anna's amusement.
The young trolls whispered excitedly among each other for a second. When it seemed they had all reached one unified conclusion, they all jumped and danced, forming a circle around Anna and Hans.
"Imagine… far away! Years from here! Together, we will sing, dance and cheer!" they all sang, closing in with their hands clasped and raised before they skipped backwards and went back to circling the center two.
"What did they mean by years from here? Will we meet them again?" one sang.
Two trolls had somehow managed to climb up Hans's legs and back. One now sat on his shoulder, poking and lightly pulling at his copper hair. The other clung to Hans's belt, eyeing all the weapons the man had equipped.
"Are you some kind of hero? You have so many weapons!"
"As a matter of fact," Hans began to answer, but was cut short by Anna's sudden coughing fit and the emphatic shaking of her head. "They're just for self-defense from things that hunt here in these woods. And though you want to touch them—" Hans paused to pick the trolls off of him and set them gently on the ground. "Doesn't really mean you shoulds."
Anna snorted and turned away to laugh in a way that Hans wouldn't notice. She giggled so hard that her shoulders shook.
"…should," Hans corrected himself.
Anna suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder turning her about. The movement put her face-to-face with Hans, who took one of her hands into his. Anna's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she felt his other hand settle on her waist. The trolls cheered and started singing again.
"Imagine far from now… years from today." Hans sang with them as he led Anna in a casual dance at the center of the circle of trolls.
"What?" Anna said, glancing down at their hands touching.
"Together, you and I… dancing away." He lifted his arm to guide Anna under his, keeping his hand centered above her as she twirled instinctively.
"Damn!" she hissed, glaring at him as he moved to face her at the end of her twirl. Then he lowered his arm and drew her in.
"It seems the stories about people are not all true. Falser than you'd know. We really liked to sing and dance with you. But now you should probably go."
This made Anna and Hans pause. They looked away from each other as the circle of trolls disbanded. Anna finally snapped back into reality and broke away from her dance partner. Forgetting him for the moment, she watched the retreating trolls. For the first time, she realized that there were no adults among them. They were all young trolls.
"Wait!" Anna called, running after the nearest trio of them.
The largest of the three turned around and eyed Anna warily. Anna was taken aback by the mistrustful eyes. Hadn't they all just been singing and dancing?
"Did any injured person happen to come here? We saw a lot of blood in the woods."
The troll's gaze changed to confusion. Then the mist seemed to clear. "Oh! That was Pabbie. He got hurt when he went to the mill to warn the workers." Immediately after he said that, the little troll clapped his hand over his mouth.
"Did you just say Pabbie?" Anna asked. "Wait, what? He went to warn the mill workers?!"
The young troll groaned. "If you want, you can ask him yourself… he's resting in the caves."
Up to this point, the trolls' two companions waited a couple of feet away, intently watching the conversation their friend was having with the humans. At this point, however, one of them interrupted. "Hilco! They should leave before your father gets back!"
The troll named Hilco glanced back at his friends and shrugged.
"Wait," Anna said. "It's important that I speak with Pabbie. Can you please take us to him?"
"Who's Pabbie?" Hans asked. Anna ignored him, staring down at Hilco with all the pleading her eyes could muster.
Hilco let out a sigh. "All right, but we need to hurry. Follow me." He beckoned them and turned toward the caves.