Cold air burned her face as she hurried through the woods, woods that smelled of pine needles and iron. The snow gave way to Anna's feet. It was hard to see without the torch, but she could feel the deep imprints of Volco's footsteps. She used them to guide her through the black and blue trees. It got easier once the forest began to thin out.

A particularly drawn-out roar echoed somewhere beyond the trees, giving her a fright. She stumbled and rolled, grasping handfuls of snow as she tried to still herself on the ground. With a shiver, she wiped her cheek dry and launched herself back up. She scurried toward the end of the trees, where the moon and starlight made her surroundings more visible.

The land dropped as a cliff a dozen feet beyond her. She skidded to a halt, panicking as she registered the dead-end. But she eyed the trail of giant footprints, her gaze following them all the way to the cliff edge.

Anna's eyes widened.

"Hans?!" she cried, rushing to the cliff edge. She yelped and hung back as Kirsten's torch suddenly catapulted up over the edge. It landed near her boots, rocking with leftover momentum.

A hand snaked up over the cliff next, following by Hans's slow, climbing form. Anna fell to the ground to help him up. Her head swam as she eyed the twenty foot drop into more forest beneath him. Far below, she thought she could make out a large, crumpled mass lying still.

"What... happened to Volco?" she asked as she watched Hans.

He fell against the ground and rolled over, panting. His cloudy breath blossomed over his face as he worked on catching his breath.

"Hans...?"

"I tricked him. Led him running off the cliff..."

Anna thought of what could have happened to him had Volco caught up to him...

The impulse was like an open door. She leaned toward Hans and threw her arms around him, glad to be alive and glad he was alive. A part of her, less than half, knew it was strange to hug him of all people. But the thought was snuffed out when she felt Hans hug back.

She winced, still sore from Volco's crushing hold on her. Hans must have felt it, for he immediately dropped his arms.

"Is he...dead?"

Hans glanced at the edge of the cliff. "I think so."

Anna frowned. "If not, he's going to look for blood when he wakes up."

He retrieved the magic torch and started to rise. "I'll make my way down to make sure."

"Wait!"

She caught his arm holding the torch, panicking at the thought of him climbing down the treacherous cliff face. Hans raised his eyebrow, waiting for her to speak up.

"I'll go with you," she offered, thinking of the terrible possibility that Volco would spring on Hans once the prince made it down there. And that was only if Hans made it safely.

He pried her hand off his arm. His fingers were gentle, but the message was clear.

"It's too dangerous," he said with a shake of his head. "You should go back and check on the princess."

Anna stood so that she could look down at him, as though that would somehow overcome her sense of rejection. She readied all her counter-arguments. What if Hans slipped and fell? Volco could still be alive. Would Hans have the energy to climb back up?

None of those problems would necessarily be resolved by her presence, she had to admit. In fact, she would probably complicate things with her clumsiness. There was also the fact that her body was still weak from Volco's attack. But she couldn't believe that Hans would be much better off on his own.

Hans watched her changing expressions. "I don't want to leave," he said, standing up. "In case he walks off. We need to know for certain he won't come after us."

Anna frowned.

"I'll be fine," he assured her.

"I'm not going to be able to change your mind, am I?"

At that, he smiled. "You're catching on."

"Fine," she relented. "Just... be careful."

Hans hesitated, looking from the drop below back to Anna. He nodded at her and moved, examining the line of the cliff, gauging the best place to descend.

Anna turned away from him, knowing that if she stayed a moment longer, she would only object again. She stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"Hans?"

He was crouched at the edge when he looked back towards her, the torch tucked into his belt now.

"Thank you for saving my life."

His shoulders moved—it wasn't a shrug, not exactly. She couldn't read his face well, but he looked to be searching for his response. Finally, after seconds of silence, he chuckled.

"Well... thanks for saving mine."

"—about ready to kill him for wasting my time like that," Anna overheard as she exited the trees and entered the clearing.

"You understand? Oh, don't sit up so quickly, Your Highness. You'll probably make yourself dizzy." Hansel was addressing Kirsten. Neither one of them spotted Anna upon her return. "I finally had to threaten him to get him to take me to the right place. Even now, I'm not even sure he would have done it. We were overtaken on the road."

Anna realized he had to be referring to Hans. So... did that mean Hans hadn't planned to lead the king's men to the troll lands?

"That bandage, on your neck..." Kirsten's voice brought Anna back to the present. "I didn't notice it before."

"From the fight. Mostly healed thanks to that Pabbie fellow. Figured he couldn't be all bad when he did that. Even if he did shut us up in a dark cave."

Anna immediately noticed that the band of Volco's followers had gone. She trod up to the troll hunter and princess, stretching her arms out and turning in a semi-circle to ask the question.

But Kirsten looked to the empty space next to Anna and asked, "Where is Hans?"

Anna stopped in her tracks. "He... sort of tricked Volco into running off of a cliff."

"What?" Hansel and Kirsten asked in unison.

"I know. He's lucky he didn't get himself killed. But what happened to the rest of the trolls?"

Hansel took the question as a cue to rise after making sure the young princess could sit up without his support. He looked displeased about having to explain himself to a young girl.

"I sent them home for now," he said. "I want to tell King Olaf myself about this night... and his daughter. If it hadn't been for her, Volco would've attacked Arendelle by now."

Anna had to agree with that. She'd have never made it to the Valley of Living Rock without Kirsten's help. "Yes... King Olaf will have to listen when he hears that."

"I wouldn't have even left the castle if it weren't for Anna though," Kirsten admitted. "So, most of the credit for tonight should go to you."

Anna let out a tired laugh. "We don't need to mention that part. I'm not sure the king would appreciate it."

The younger princess tried to smile, but she winced, leaning over with her head resting on her knees.

"Your Highness?" Hansel reached to put a hand on her shoulder, but he stopped himself.

Anna knelt down in front of the other royal, casting aside the fact that both of her companions thought she was a commoner. She put one hand up to Kirsten's forehead and, for comparison, her other hand up to her own.

"Is she with fever?" Hansel asked.

Anna shook her head. She had thought being out in the cold might have made the princess ill. But she didn't seem feverish. The cold shouldn't have bothered her, anyway.

Kirsten groaned and hugged her dress around her knees, hiding her face. "I just feel weak," she explained. The effort it took for her to speak was obvious.

Anna thought of suggesting that Hansel go ahead and start carrying the princess back to Arendelle as she was in no condition to walk herself. But then Anna considered that moving Kirsten might make her feel worse.

"Just... rest for now. We'll figure out what to do when Hans gets back," Anna said, softly petting the girl's hair. "Does it feel like you're going to be sick...?"

Kirsten shook her head a little. "I just... need to close my eyes."

Anna exchanged a worried glance with the troll hunter. She tried to keep calm. It could just be exhaustion, right? They'd been out all night, after all. Kirsten was probably used to going to bed by a certain hour.

Yes, that's probably it. Just let her rest, Anna thought, taking a seat across from them.

The three sat in silence for a time. Anna did not want to wake Kirsten, who seemed to have fallen asleep minutes after she closed her eyes. She wouldn't have known what to say to a troll hunter anyway, so the silence suited her just fine.

Anna wasn't sure how much time had passed when a glowing light approached and Hans walked out through the trees, his hand holding up the silvery white torch. Anna was the only one to jump up and go to him. She sprinted up to him, relieved he had made his way back to them. She'd have thought that he would look happier about it. But his expression was oddly cold as he stopped in his tracks to look at her.

"Well...? Was Volco...?"

"Dead," Hans confirmed. Without another word, he stalked past her to approach the princess and the troll hunter.

Stunned, Anna stood there, staring into the forest.

What's with him?

She turned to find him knelt before Princess Kirsten and overherad him gently wake her to inquire about her state. Kirsten did feel nauseous now, as well as dizzy.

"We should let her rest more," Hansel said, his face wrinkled with concern.

Hans nodded, looking equally serious although it resembled less concern and more something else. "We passed over a friend's cabin on our way here. We can take her there. Judet had medicine, didn't she?"

Anna blinked several times before realizing the question was directed at her. She didn't think Judet had treated Hans with any medicine, but she had not stayed in the room with them the entire time Judet looked after him.

"I-I'm not sure... but I'm sure she would give us a place to rest till morning," she said.

Hans kept a blank face as he looked at the troll hunter, gesturing toward the princess.

"Princess, can you stand? I can carry you so you don't have to walk," Hansel offered.

Anna rushed to Kirsten's side to help her stand. The trembling of the younger girl's hand, as she took hold of Anna's supporting arm, worried her. She encouraged Kirsten to lean against her as Hansel crossed in front of them. He crouched low with his back toward the princess.

Kirsten moved to climb onto his back, but she held herself back, holding her head.

"You can do it," Anna cheered softly, eager for Judet's warm hearth and a place to rest her eyes.

Kirsten made a second attempt, this time able to hold herself up.

"You can hang onto my shoulders, Your Highness," Hansel offered. "If you start to feel sick, let me know. I'll set you down."

Anna glanced away from them, looking at Hans in the corner of her eye. He paid no attention to any of them, apparently transfixed on a certain direction in the trees. She wanted to reach toward him to ask what was wrong. Maybe it was foolish of her to start thinking of him as a friend. For all she knew, his sudden mood could be that of a brooding villain deep in his own mind, building his next scheme.

"Are one of you going to lead the way or are we just gonna stand here till dawn?" Hansel snapped.

Anna jumped to take the forefront, but Hans beat her to it. She lingered, frowning as the troll hunter followed.

After a moment, she sprinted to catch up to the others.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Sorry for the delay. I was on vacation and then playing catch-up at work. I'm going to expand my usual turnaround time for chapters to 10-15 days from the old 7-10. Things are just getting too busy for me. Of course, I'll post sooner than later whenever possible. :)

This chapter was one case where writing from Hans's POV would have been pretty interesting. Alas, I'd already decided not do to that. I'm still considering doing a Hans companion piece once this story is completed. We'll see. ^^ Thanks for reading!