She moved off, sticking around would only cause more problems.
"Where exactly are you planning to go?" Hans asked.
"Somewhere not here," Anna said. The truth was she had no idea, she knew going back to her house was a waste of time. This was all a stark reminder on why she decided never to settle, stay in the same place long enough and bad situations find you. She had just started to like it here but once more it was time to hit the road. All that had happened just confirmed she would have to stay on the move indefinitely. She did not see that as a problem until recently, being cooped up in Arendelle for so long meant she welcomed a mobile lifestyle, but over the years she got increasingly tired and mentally fatigued by it. Now she knew never being able to stay still was an unpleasant way to live but it was the only option available to her outside of Hans' offer. Perhaps it was just bad luck but the string of unfortunate events that plagued her life suggested being discovered would be more of a trend if she did not actively try to avoid detection. For now she decided to go back to basics, pick a direction and keep going until she could find work. She would head to the farm she worked for earlier today, might be able to convince the owner to give her some supplies and even a place to stay as it was starting to get dark. With a purpose now in mind she upped her pace.
"So you'd rather just move on than come with me?" Hans said.
"Moving on has better survival odds," she said.
"Just give us a chance," he said, still choosing to follow despite only vocalising a lack of interest in his cause.
"You said something earlier about pointless stands, well your little resistance is taking one. Besides if you think I trust you enough to give you the benefit of the doubt then you seem to be conveniently forgetting the time you tried to kill me," she said.
"Oh get off that high horse of yours, I just watched you kill a man," Anna tried to interrupt but Hans was determined to finish what he had to say.
"And don't tell me you didn't have a choice, you'd have been long gone by the time he could have reported seeing you at that tavern and for it to be followed up on," he said.
"I do what I must to survive," she said.
"Believe what you want but don't go around thinking you're any better than I am," he paused. Grabbed her shoulder to stop her from walking, she turned to him and batted his hand away. Now they were facing each other she could see this sombre expression.
"What happened Anna? The girl I once knew was so innocent and compassionate"
"Yeah well I learned the hard way how that attitude was a waste of time," she said. She opened out her arms, beckoning to the snow on the ground and the clouds above.
"You think I stood idly by whilst all this happened? Whilst Arendelle was causing all this, the very sun itself is a rare sight now. I pleaded and begged Elsa to stop in my oh so compassionatemanner and I was brushed aside and ignored. It was like that damn door when we were kids was back. No one cared until I started looking out for myself first, that's when people took notice and that's when I stopped living in the shadow of Elsa. Along with everyone else taking notice who previously saw me as nothing but some child to be looked after," she said.
"I don't buy it, people don't just change that drastically," Hans said.
"Elsa did." Anna said
"That's different. Elsa was always scared of her power, of what she might do. That's the fear that drove her to this, but you? I don't know where this has come from," he said.
"Well let's just say I've been through a lot since you last saw me and leave at that," she said.
"What happened Anna?" Hans said.
"I said leave it at that." She had already slipped into revealing more about herself than she wanted. She was not sure if having Hans' around to talk too was having a positive or negative effect. She had not intended to reveal so much to him and made a mental note to watch what she said more carefully. To make it clear she was done with this conversation she turned her full attention back to the journey. The wind was blowing against them making it a tiring endeavour so she decided that stopping this conversation to focus on walking was the appropriate thing to do.
If there were another set of imperials around they would have too little information to track her to this farm so quickly, the swirling winds removed the footprints in the snow at a quick rate. Besides the farm was one of the few areas where Elsa allowed the sun to shine through, any ice-warriors would melt if they entered the region so it would only be incompetent officers they would face should she be tracked down. The farmlands were coming into view, as they closed in the snow was becoming slush and the air gradually got warmer. The fields covered a large area but the buildings themselves were quite small, consisting of only of some stables, a barn and a cottage. The lack of light coming from any of the buildings and the lack of a guard to check on these intruders raised alarms in her mind.
"Something isn't right," Anna said. The cottage was in clear view now.
"Their door's already open," Hans pointed out. It was banging back forth as the wind threw it around effortlessly. They let themselves in to investigate, the place had been ransacked and there was no obvious sign of life.
"Hello?" Hans said.
Anna punched his shoulder to get his attention and put her finger over her lips. There was no telling what had happened here just yet and there was no reason to assume whoever did this was gone. Hans whispered "ow" sarcastically before staying quiet. The cottage was empty.
"We stick together, there might be someone hiding out in the stables or the barn," Anna said quietly.
"You mean the person that lived here?" Hans said.
"Yes," she said. She actually meant that if it was raiders they might have claimed the place and saw them coming, they could be lying in wait somewhere and there was no way of telling how many or how desperate they were. However she could not be bothered to scuttle Hans' optimism.
They went to check the stables first. Her theory of someone raiding the place was confirmed when no sound of horses emanated from the stables, not even breathing. The only plausible reason the animals would have completely vanished would be if someone took them away. They checked the first bay, empty, as were all the others. They had checked them one by one, completely devoid of any evidence of life. The only obvious place left to check was the barn. Hans was getting unsettled by just how slowly she was moving. Her effort to make as little sound as possible motivated this slow pace and even the lightweight nature of her armour was not ideal for silent movement. Her efforts were in vein as when she pushed the barn door open it creaked loudly, the sound was amplified by the quiet surroundings, it almost seemed thunderous. She stopped, drew her sword and stood ready for something to happen. There was an air of uncertainty as she expected the worse, but there was no exterior movement or sound. For a few more tense seconds she stood ready. As nothing continued to happen she reluctantly sheathed her sword and opened the door fully, wincing as the creaking echoed through the large space of the barn. What little light remained in the sky shone through on the man lying face down in the centre, looking angelic as the light was exclusively on him compared to the darkness of the barn. Hans' moved over to check on him before Anna could warn him to be careful about moving into an exposed space. Her caution was unwarranted as this place proved to be truly abandoned.
"He's dead," Hans said as he rolled him into his front. She recognised him immediately; he had paid her once her shift to protect this place was over, it was only a few hours ago.
"Was he the only one?" Hans asked
"There was a wife and son," she said.
"He must have distracted the raiders, given his family time to escape," Hans said. Anna wanted to believe that, but she knew there was no way of knowing what events had occurred.
Despite conducting another, more thorough search of the whole premises the other two were nowhere to be found. Their search did turn up a hidden set of provisions and supplies behind a panel in the stables that had been untouched. There was no sign of anything or anyone else; once they were satisfied they had checked every corner they returned to the cottage.
"I asked before I left this place, I asked if there was someone coming to replace me. He said yes. Either he was too proud to admit they couldn't afford it or the one after me was working with whoever looted this place," she said. Anna moved over to one of the front windows, she stared out silently. Looking outside she could see where she had sat when guarding this place a mere few hours ago. The wife kept offering her food and drink, the son kept coming out to try and talk to her. He even asked to play with her sword and shield a couple of times. She had just told him to go inside each time and stay out of her way as she had a job to do. She now realised she had not even bothered to ask any of the family their names. Now the father was dead and there was no trace of the others, they were victims of desperate raiders stealing everything they could just to survive in the barren wastes. After some time just staring at her guard spot in silence she spoke up.
"Your resistance, I want to meet them," she said to Hans who was lighting some candles as the natural light continued to fade and night was setting in.
"Ready to join our club of misfits eh?" Hans said. She just gave him a look, there was no real expression on her face. Just an empty look as she failed to find any returning words for Hans' remarks.
"The nearest hideout isn't too far, maybe half a day's journey. Resting up would be pertinent," he said.
"We can take some of those supplies in the stables before we head out," she said, it's not like anyone else was going to use them.
"We'll see," Hans seemed reluctant to carry out this suggestion.
"Put those candles out, we'll need to sleep in shifts. Can you fight?" Anna said, she was too tired to take the first watch.
"I can hold my own but weaponry would be preferable," Hans said. She squinted, thinking on what she was about to do. If this was all some ruse by Hans it seemed too elaborate just for him to kill her in her sleep. She handed over her sword.
"And the shield?" Hans asked.
"No, this thing will never leave my side," she said. It was the only reliable companion she had ever had.
"Why exactly are we sleeping in shifts?" Hans asked.
"Just because they thought there was nothing left worth taking doesn't mean whoever did this won't return," she said.
"Or the wife and son might come back," he said. Anna did not respond, she just turned and headed to the bedroom to get as much sleep as she could for tomorrow. At the best of times she failed to sleep at night, this had been a trying day.