Anna had told Olaf and Kristoff to wait outside, so they had waited...for a minute. Olaf was much quicker to burst in on the two sisters than Kristoff was, and the ice harvester had lingered outside while he could still hear the energetic snowman's voice. By the time he'd finally edged into the great ice palace, Kristoff could see Anna chasing up a massive staircase of ice, Olaf trying to keep up with them, but ultimately failing do to a lack of friction on the icy steps.
Kristoff had a...bad feeling about this. That was the only reason he went up after Anna - it really wasn't his place or his business, but his gut was telling him something wasn't right. After all, he was the only one up here with Anna, he figured he had a duty to keep her safe, right? She was the Princess, after all...
As soon as he got up that winding staircase, it was like a blizzard up here - he could barely see through it, but Kristoff caught Anna's bright cape through the ferocious flurry.
"Anna!" His shout was muffled, but Kristoff figured that may have been a good thing, considering what happened next.
Kristoff had managed to get in front of the redhead, just as Queen Elsa unleashed a frigid blast of energy. It didn't hurt, at first. It was like getting punched in the chest by a fist of ice - cold, and momentarily numbing. Once the miniature blizzard started to die down, that's when he felt the pain - a cold-hot sear in his chest.
He kept his feet, though, and once all the snow was gone, no one was none the wiser. "Anna...Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah...I'm fine," Anna replied, sounding shaken at first and then steadying her voice, her gaze fixing on her sister. "Elsa, please, come back with us! We can fix this, I promise-"
"No, Anna...There's no fixing this - there's no fixing me. I'm not leaving here...but you are," the Queen stated, making a frantic gesture with her hands - a swirl of dark snow forming into a monstrous creature.
Anna and Kristoff - and Olaf, who had finally made it up the stairs - had to crane their necks back just to look at the hulking monster's pale face. Kristoff had his hands anchored on Anna's shoulders, starting to pull her away. "Okay...Now we're leaving!"
What followed was a mad dash out of the ice palace, a slow - but very angry - snow monster chasing after them. They had managed to make it down the staircase with no problem - something that big couldn't go full throttle on such a delicate structure - but the ice golem caught up with long strides as they tried to force open the large ice doors.
"Go away!" the great creature rumbled, kicking open the door and tossing out the two people he had caught - along with the smaller snowman at his feet. After seeing that they had successfully tumbled down the stairs, he turned back and slammed the doors shut.
Groaning, Anna and Kristoff regained their footing, rubbing at now sore areas. Olaf worked to put himself back together, Sven trotting over happily.
"Well...That coulda gone better," Kristoff grumbled, stooping down to pick up his hat and plopping it back onto his head, stubbornly ignoring the feel of snow clinging to the inside of the cap.
"Yeah, that...went poorly," Anna sighed, absently dusting snow off herself. Suddenly, the realization of just how bad it had gone dawned on her, and the redheaded Princess slapped gloved hands to her cheeks. "She threw me out! What am I going to do now? How can I go back to Arendelle with everything still frozen over like this?!" she panicked, pacing awkwardly in the snow.
Kristoff rubbed at his neck, watching her for a moment before hesitantly stopping Anna in her tracks. "I don't know...But right now, we should find a place to rest for the night. We can think of what to do next after that," he said, trying to ignore the deep chill that seemed to crawl up his spine. He knew what had happened, knew that the cold he was feeling wasn't natural - and Kristoff also knew that the trolls could help; at the very least, they'd have shelter from all this snow in the valley.
"Come on, I know somewhere we can go..."
Kristoff hadn't intended to ever bring anyone back to the Valley of Living Rock, but these were...out of the ordinary circumstances.
"So, your family lives here?"
Kristoff let out a breath, barely even feeling the heat of the valley as they continued to wind through the thermal hot spots. Anna had been asking questions nonstop, and he had been answering to the best of his ability without saying too much.
"Yeah, they do."
"But they've never been down to Arendelle?" Anna asked incredulously.
"Uh...No, not that I know of," Kristoff replied, trying to keep himself moving at a steady pace to combat the cold that was slowly crawling through him. Damn, this magic sure worked fast...
Before Anna could blurt out another question, though, they had reached the little outcropping of rock that the trolls resided in. Of course, to Anna and Olaf's gaze, the outcropping was filled with nothing but moss, rocks, and more moss and rocks. To Kristoff, though, this was his family - albeit, they were currently dormant in resting.
"So...Remember how I told you my family is...different?"
"Yeah, but they sounded like they were fine, Kristoff."
The harvester pulled a bit of a face. "Well, don't say I didn't try to warn you," he sighed, stepping in among the moss-covered boulders. "Meet my family!" he announced, gesturing to the still rocks.
Anna's expression had gone from excitedly curious, to downright confused and almost horrified in a matter of seconds. Olaf was stage-whispering something to her, and Kristoff almost had to run after Anna as she started to turn away to make a hasty retreat.
"Wait, Anna, hold on just a-"
And that's when everybody decided to wake up, and start rolling around.
Anna let out a surprised squawk as she was forced to dodge, hop, and dance around several rolling rocks to avoid getting hit by them. "Kristoff, what - they're...they're trolls...," she murmured out, still sounding confused, but with a touch of amazement. "They're trolls!"
Her exuberance, of course, caught Kristoff's entire family's attention, and they all swarmed around the Princess curiously. As everyone's focus was on Anna - and Olaf, to be quite honest; even the trolls hadn't seen a living snowman before - Kristoff sneaked off in search of Grand Pabbie. If there was any chance of talking to the elder troll about what happened without the others finding out or going into a panic, this was going to have to be it.
Anna, while vastly distracted and entertained by the trolls, looked up for Kristoff after a few minutes - only to see him wandering off to one of the caves that opened up near the rocky clearing. Leaving Sven and Olaf to entertain the rock beings with an over-exaggerated retelling of their journey so far, Anna trailed after the ice harvester.
"...I'm sorry, Kristoff, I cannot..."
Anna's eyebrows bunched together as she heard a low, gravelly voice speaking, the Princess ducking just outside the mouth of a faintly phosphorescent cave.
"So, it's...what, just gonna keep spreading?"
"My magic only spreads to this valley, as you know. The most I can do is slow it down while you remain here, but I cannot, ultimately, remove the ice that Queen Elsa shot into your heart..."
Anna blinked at that, leaning in closer. Wait...Elsa did what? When did this happen- wait...it must have been that storm she had created. I couldn't really see, but...but he must have jumped in front of me?
"...Right...Okay. So...is there nothing I can do to get rid of it - at all?"
"Kristoff, only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart..."
Anna heard a sigh, and had to scramble back to the group when she heard Kristoff's footsteps coming back from the cave. She didn't want to get caught eavesdropping - that was just rude - but it was a good thing she had heard! She knew all about true love! She could help him - and after all he had done for her, Anna was determined to repay the harvester.
After everyone was introduced - which took a surprisingly short amount of time, considering the sheer number of trolls - Kristoff was quick to remind them that they needed sleep. Of course, Olaf was already off and playing with the younger trolls, but the group didn't really think he needed sleep anyway. It was comfortable enough in the valley to just sleep out in the open; the air was warm, and the thick moss covering the ground was soft and didn't give way to the rock underneath.
Anna was facing Kritoff's back, on the edge of sleep, yet her mind wouldn't let her drift off. "Hey...Hey, Kristoff, psst! Are you awake?" she whispered, scooting a bit closer to him, so as not to wake up a snoring Sven.
"...No, I'm asleep."
Anna blew a frustrated puff of air at her bangs. "You just spoke, so I know you're awake!"
Kristoff let out a groan, his shoulders slumping, but he didn't roll over to face the Princess. "What is it?"
"You know, I'll bet - once we get this all sorted out, and Arendelle isn't, you know, buried under a bunch of snow anymore - that we could find you true love, too! Just like Hans and me!" she pressed, hoping it didn't sound too obvious that she'd snooped on him earlier.
Anna could see his whole body tense at her words, his head shifting a bit, like he almost looked over his shoulder at her. "...That's not gonna happen..."
"What? Why not? Everyone can find true love!" Anna refuted, sitting up a bit.
Kristoff hunched his shoulders, and shifted away from her. "Not everyone, so just...go back to sleep, Anna."
She was sorely tempted to argue her point - because she totally had a point - but she was suddenly overtaken by a wave of exhaustion, not even noticing the troll standing a few feet away from her, a glowing crystal in its stony hand.
As soon as Anna was fast asleep, Bulda let the crystal's glow fade. She made her way over to Kristoff, moving with the silent steps of a mother checking up on her child. Heavy, gray-toned fingers brushed through his blond hair, lingering over the stark white that was starting to creep in.
The trolls didn't mourn like humans did. When one of their own passed on - which, naturally, took a very long time to happen - they were simply returned to the earth. It was a celebration of life, and, in a way, rebirth; for something that takes in life, must eventually give back in death. But Kristoff was different, always had been, always would be.
Oh, baby boy...If you'd just fight for your love. You can't just turn your back because she thinks she's in love with someone else...
If things continued as they were now, it would be the first time in their history that the trolls grieved for the loss of one of their own.
"Come on, I'm bringing you back down to the city, before every pass in the mountain in choked off by snow," Kristoff said, getting Sven ready for the ride back. Without the sled, they'd all have to pile onto the reindeer's back. He wasn't enthusiastic to put that sort of strain on his friend, but they didn't have a choice.
"That - That can happen?" Anna asked, letting out a surprised yip when Kristoff picked her up and sat her on Sven's back. Really, she could have gotten up by herself...Although, Sven's harness wasn't like her horse's saddle; there weren't any stirrups.
"Yup, it can, so we should get a move on," he replied, hauling himself up as well - and practically having to catch Olaf as the little snowman threw himself up at the reindeer's back.
They rode in silence, quite a difference from last time. It was bumpy, and not the best ride either of them - aside from maybe Olaf - had ever taken. They had to dig through some places, but they made it back to Arendelle before nightfall.
"Okay, all we have to do is find Hans, and we can figure out how to convince Elsa to come ba-"
"You can find Hans, I have to go back," Kristoff interrupted, helping Olaf down as Anna gave him a confused look.
"Wait...going back?"
Kristoff wasn't even looking her in the eye, ignoring the almost hurt tone in her voice. "Yeah, I took you up the North Mountain, I brought you back...Now that you're in the city again, you don't need me around anymore."
Anna was about to say that did need him here - and, well, she wanted him here, too! - but was once again cut off by someone else.
"Anna!" came a shout, the voice not quite as familiar as Anna would have liked it to be.
"Hans?"
Just at the mere mention of the name, Kristoff backed off even more, trying to look occupied with Sven's harness.
"Anna, I'm so glad you made it back safely," the foreign prince gushed, dismounting from his horse and going over to Anna. He had his hands on her upper arms, almost caging her in as he feigned looking her over for any injuries. "When the storm got worse, I was so worried for you..."
"Well, I - here I am," Anna breathed out, shrugging a little. "Hans, I tried talking to my sister...But things didn't work out. Obviously, I mean - it's still snowing - but I think we should try again! I know we can convince her to come back to Arendelle, and unfreeze everything!"
Kristoff could see the flash of irritation on Hans' face, but Anna didn't, so he said nothing.
"Of course, but I...would feel better if you stayed in Arendelle, Anna. I let you go once, and that was hard to do, my love. I couldn't bare the thought of you possibly getting hurt all because I was rash enough not to make you stay where it's safe."
"It's - It's fine, Hans, I've done it before! With Kristoff!" Anna smiled, turning to face the ice harvester, and pulling her fiance over with her. "Kristoff, this is my - well, Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, my fiance. Hans, this is Kristoff! He guided me to where Elsa is!" she explained, ignorant to the tension that sparked up between the two males.
"...Well, I thank you for bringing my fiancee back here safely," Hans stated dryly, nostrils flared like he smelled something bad - quite possibly wet reindeer. "But your services are no longer required."
"I've got to be going anyway...," Kristoff said in a low tone, bordering on a growl. "Good luck, Anna."
Hans cleared his throat, a thin eyebrow arching at the casualness being displayed.
Kristoff glowered at the prince, his eyes softening when he looked at Anna. "Good luck, Princess Anna...I hope the next time I come down to Arendelle, there won't be five feet of snow on the ground in summer."
Anna looked torn, and worried, hesitant to see her new friend leaving so soon. "I...I hope so, too, Kristoff. Will you - Will you think about what I said last night? About being able to find true love?" she asked, brow furrowing at the possessive grip on her am tightening.
Kristoff tugged on Sven's harness, a small smile on his face as he turned away. "Every single day, Feistypants."
In the end, the snows did not abate - not even when the Snow Queen's head was taken from her shoulders.
There was a new King and Queen, but there was no love to be had in a kingdom of eternal ice and snow.
And the Valley of Living Rock echoed with cries for the Reindeer King and his frozen heart.