STILL NEED A BETA READER!

Shoutouts to sebisosa33,The Codister,Slashxii,AveryDavis for the favorites/follows. Its all thanks to you readers who read this fanfic and give me all the motivation I need to finish no matter the hate or discourgaing opinions I get from it either now or in the future.

In response to reviewer pup:You're probably right and I might consider rewriting that chapter after finishing this arc that will likely only be 6 chapters long. And thank you for the review and opinion that it was a great chapter.

Also as for Anna's punch to his chest, I have to give the redhead credit where its deserved as she was able to knock a grown man off his feet and over a railing of a ship with a quick punch to his face.

Plus Gerda and Anna at the time wasn't in his crosshairs for his fit of anger which made him more reprehensible. Elsa put herself in a position where he was pissed at her and in those moments, he wasn't going to stop just because she stared at him. Plus as a person, Edward is more controlled by his emotions as well as fear like Elsa. he is more likely to bend to people he generally likes unless its in a dire situation. Like when Envy offered the deal to let Elsa go in exchange for him staying, Edward didn't entertain Elsa's protest and promptly knocked her out to end that argument. As regards to the character's being more human I thought I was doing an adequate job showing people there personalities, particularly Stonewell who unwittingly is becoming my favorite character. But to appease you I will say that my character arc for Elsa has barely begun and I have very large plans for her, in fact Edward's is isn't even remotely done and I hope that the readers will see him in a way I wish you all to truly see him and hope that I can maintain the balance of having such power but not being some all powerful Mary Sue character. COUGH rey from star wars COUGH (I'm not hating on the new star wars movies, I liked them, I really did, but come on, they really beefed her up compared to Kylo Ren who actually received training and struggled when fighting back to back with her while she just mowed those guys down).

In the end, I should probably rewrite chapter 59 to better show that while physically he is more than a match most people and have faced things that make a redhead and an old maid nonthreatening to him in the slightest. He still has a great deal of respect for them and would bend to their will because of him wanting their approval or them being the closest thing he had to a family. One that he would be greatly disturbed to see them write him off or be disappointed in him.

Walter Stonewell opened his eyes with his usual groan as all at once the pains his body pulsated with on a daily basis assaulted him. It wasn't unbearable as it was more annoying due to it being a constant reminder that he was running out of time. He stared up at the ceiling of his room yet not actually looking at it. He was thinking about his life, his very long and violent life that led him to where he was today. The many things he has done that would give normal men nightmares.

A lifetime of war, battles, deaths, and all manner of horrible things.

It all led him to a sleepy kingdom where the monarch was one of the most powerful forces in the world and she was completely harmless. The younger him wouldn't have been able to stay here, he would've wanted a fight, one in which he could really let out the beast that dominated the majority of his young life. His wife met that beast and succeeded in taming it while giving it a family. A daughter that he would do anything for and could be content with looking at her eyes.

Unfortunately life didn't go the way he hoped and he lost almost all of it. A dead wife, a daughter who wouldn't consider him a father, and the complete destruction of his home. He had no one to blame for the course of his life but himself, every decision he made led to the outcomes he endured. It was almost ironic that after being born in war, he was going to die in a peaceful kingdom where he would've liked his family to live.

It was even more ironic when he met a runt that had his own beast inside. He could see himself in Edward quite easily, both were warriors that had lost much and would fight to the bitter end and beyond if they needed to. Stonewell at first didn't think much of him except he might be a potential threat but after coming to know him, the old man couldn't help but wonder if he had a son, would he had been like Edward?

That line of thought would've made the Captain scoff if he was already up and about but when he was lying in bed, his mind wandered quite far. Edward was an interesting topic to think about, the old man knew that he would fight and kill the young man if he had to. Such a thought wasn't what one would think when they thought of their children but Stonewell was always brutally honest.

When he learned the full truth of the young man, Stonewell instantly started to consider the security risk and thought of contingencies just in case as a Captain should do. However, when the old man was leaning toward a mentor rather than the Captain, he knew that Edward would rather die than cause harm to anyone in Arendelle. His guilt still haunted him despite the old man's attempts to get him to let go.

Edward's belief that the past shouldn't be forgotten and rejecting Stonewell's method of attaining peace by not regretting any of his decisions spoke volumes of his character. The young man would shoulder his sins until the day he died, the old man was certain of it, but he would also try to make up for his deeds. It was a noble goal, one that Stonewell slightly wished that he had the same when he was younger but it was hard to see if the runt really could pull it off.

The Captain had no doubt in his mind that Edward's power is more than enough for whatever he might face but his unwillingness to let go of his fears of losing control and stop watching his every movement held him back. Wrath was made to kill, there wasn't any disputing that and no reason to deny it. While he could change that purpose, he shouldn't forget his most dominant traits, instead of suppressing them, he should embrace them.

Stonewell knew he was a beast and whenever the situation called for it, he would let the beast out and do whatever he needed to do. Edward was reluctant in letting the beast out. It wasn't Wrath himself that Edward feared letting out, it was the beast that killed so many people with no remorse or thought whether they be man, woman, or child. He wanted to know that he wouldn't hurt anyone by accident and that he would be in complete control at all times.

Problem was, he still feared the possibility of being controlled by someone else, which in turn made him extra cautious about how much power he used.

The young man had a very sharp killer instinct, it was his first reflex whenever he engaged someone in battle. He would analyze his opponent, find their weakness or extent of their attacks, counter in the most efficient way possible, then go for the kill. In the beginning when he was just starting to teach his class, he had each of them fight him one on one. During those bouts, Stonewell watched him passively stave off his opponent until ending the battle when he felt he knew enough.

During each battle, there was a slight moment where he would position himself in a perfect spot to kill his opponent if he dealt his blow. During that moment, his body tensed in preparation for said attack but then he would hastily retreat to fight that reflex. Stonewell experienced this for himself first hand and tried to interrupt his mental war with his initial reflex. This resulted in that killer instinct adjusting to his efforts and readying a finishing blow that he would not be able to dodge.

Having that kind of killer instinct was a blessing in the old man's opinion but Edward's emotional state of mind essentially negated it. Thus was what caused Stonewell to tell the young man over and over that he was fighting with basically one arm behind his back.

That being said, the Captain felt that Edward's desire to hold himself back was reminiscent of Elsa's same desire. He respected that the two of them wished to be responsible with the power at their fingertips but was adamant in his opinion that if it really came down to it, they would do what needed to be done. The blonde wasn't expected to be put in situations that would require such use of her abilities but Edward was.

Despite not being an official part of Arendelle's military, he had placed himself between Elsa and those who would wish her arm. Stonewell already explained what would happen if he falls or hesitates in battle which pleased him when he learned that the young man had actually used Wrath to his fullest. Conversely though, the Captain knew that it was in a reactive manner.

Rahim had already expressed his desire to kill Elsa and had neutralized his opposition. It was very clear what his intentions were and Edward dealt with him as he should. However, that was after the avenger had dropped down into the same room she was and ran through a good number of guards. Anna had told him that Rahim first attacked Edward at the Valley of the Living Rock and escaped when they came to help him.

The two of them faced one another and Rahim got away.

That shouldn't have happened, thanks to him getting away people were dead.

Stonewell didn't blame Edward for their deaths, God knew that Edward already did, he just felt that the young man was a force to be reckoned with and if one faced him, they had little chance to walk away.

The old man sighed as he sat up.

He needed to get up and start his day before his thoughts went darker than what they were about to. As powerful as he knew Edward could be, he was thinking of the young man as a weapon and not a person. The runt had been through a lot, enough to leave hardened men in mental wards. The Captain knew he had a duty to make sure Arendelle stayed safe and tying Edward here was a tremendously effective move toward that goal but the part of him that was a mentor to the young man told him that he shouldn't push too hard.

Growing up, Stonewell never received a single complement or acknowledgement for his skills, he was only given the next expectation. Even his beloved Commander kept his opinions to himself and only told him when he did better than his deceased father. It was an effective tactic for the younger him who wanted nothing but to prove he was more than what his senile father had constantly told him. He remembered always pushing himself to better and pushing away any doubt in his mind as it was instantly labeled as weakness.

That was likely the reason he was so abrasive as an old man.

While he had no intention of trying to act otherwise, he guessed that it wouldn't hurt to give the runt some slack. Even if Edward knew that the Captain was impressed with his abilities, it was still nice to hear it.

He could hone the weapon that was Wrath all he wanted but he knew that he still had to look out for the person Edward was and guide him the best way the old man knew how.

Stonewell quickly got dressed and was already out the door in his wheelchair and began his morning rounds. The guards all saluted as he wheeled by, none of them thinking any less of him because of the wheelchair. Most who saw an elderly man in a wheelchair would have some modicum of pity but in the eyes of his guards he saw nothing but respect.

He was an asshole to be sure, but he earned the respect of the men under his command.

The Captain said nothing and saluted back acknowledging them.

After completing his morning rounds, he wheeled in the direction of the castle and spotted a certain redhead and her husband in a wagon. The Captain of the Guard part of his mind instantly wondered where they were going with a wagon and why they weren't accompanied by any guards. Yet the pseudo grandfather side of him knew they could take care of themselves.

It didn't take long for the two of them to notice him and the reindeer instantly trotted over in his direction. Stonewell frowned slightly when Sven got close to him and tried to lick him but was stopped by a cane pushing his jaw up. While he had nothing against the reindeer, the old man didn't like to be licked.

"Hi Stonewell, how's your morning going?"

Anna's bubbly greeting had the Captain putting away his cane and shrugging. "Same as the day before that and the day before that, ok until the next headache reveals itself." The rather blunt and pessimistic answer from the mouth of her grandpa made the redhead chuckle as Kristoff extended his hand for a handshake which the old man accepted.

"Good morning sir."

"Counting on you to watch out for your wife Bjorgman."

"Always."

"And that's why you aren't dead when I tested you on your wedding night."

Stonewell actually had a somewhat softer spot for the mountain man than most. With their similar stations in life and experiencing what it was like being a commoner with royalty all around them, the old man refrained from his more choice words to the harvester as he was sure that others with pompous attitudes supplied them to his face or behind his back.

"So where are you two going? You just returned from your honeymoon, don't tell me you haven't gotten your fill of each other on your trip."

Kristoff blushed and scratched his head while Anna just laughed.

"It's funny you mention that, as it turns out, I'm pregnant."

The Captain's face didn't change as he blinked once then twice before turning to the mountain man with an almost sorry expression.

"You poor bastard, I hope you truly enjoyed the peace that was in your life before this point because you won't ever experience it again."

The ice harvester nervously laughed at the joke but the more he stared into the old man's deadpan expression, he could tell that it was anything but a joke. Stonewell then turned to Anna and had a considering expression on his face.

"In any event, I guess congratulations are in order but you've yet to answer my earlier question and now that I know you're pregnant, I ask why aren't you accompanied by guards?"

Anna noticed that the old man's eyes had a slight glint of concern in them and put on a reassuring expression. "We're only visiting Kristoff's family, we'll be back in no time."

Stonewell however, did not look so convinced and his face began to morph into his customary frown that signified that he was about to take a stand and hold his ground. The ice harvester's family was an unknown to him and only the royal sisters had actually met them. He once tried to trick that snowman into giving him details or where to find the mysterious family but the little guy was quite insightful to his efforts despite the childlike personality. Which left the Captain with no idea who or where the mountain man's family was and with the recent threats that have been plaguing the kingdom, he didn't want to send his psuedo pregnant daughter somewhere out of his sight.

"Regardless of its family and they aren't far away, you are still at risk and are also carrying an heir to the throne. I will call for men to escort you to ensure your safety."

Anna wasn't too surprised at the protective actions that the Captain proposed as she knew that deep down he had a heart and a soft spot for Elsa and her. In fact, there had been times where she thought about introducing him to Grand Pabbie as she knew he was a trustworthy man. He usually was too busy to indulge in a little field trip to meet Kristoff's family and now with him in a wheelchair it seemed like a good opportunity.

"Why don't you come with us? It'd be nice if you could finally meet Kristoff's family."

The Captain's refusal was quick and left no room for argument. "Can't do it, I have other things to attend to."

Anna looked like she wanted to try and convince him but the flat stare he gave her had her giving up on that idea. Besides, she still needed to convince him of there being no need for guards since the trolls liked to keep their existence secret.

"Ok, but really we don't need any guards will be there and back in no time. Four hours tops."

The old man's stare turned into an irritated frown. "A lot can happen in four hours, I can do a lot in four hours."

The redhead foolishly tried to put on her puppy eyes to get him to agree but foolishly forgot that Stonewell was completely immune to such tactics. Kristoff, seeing this would get nowhere dismounted his wagon and crouched down so he could whisper in the old man's ear without his wife hearing.

"The reason why we don't want any guards is that my family is very selective of who sees them. I can promise that they aren't that far away and we'll be ok. I personally guarantee that no harm will come to Anna, you have my word."

The old man shifted his gaze toward the mountain man and leveled a considering glance at him. Honestly he didn't care if the man's family was uptight on who met them or not, his main priority was the Princess's life and that of her child. Anna always had a positive outlook on life and was essentially fearless which led her into trouble many times. That was why the Captain was pleased that Kristoff was an offset to her. His time in the mountains had given him grit and a sense of suspicion that the old man felt was needed in life.

He made good calls in bad situations and always put his friends and families first whenever danger showed its ugly head. Stonewell was confident that as long as the mountain man was alive, the Princess would be fine as her husband would die before letting anything happen to her.

Which was why the old man was more inclined to grant the mountain man's request as they both had that sense of suspicion that something could go wrong.

"I know that, the problem is you can't plan for everything. What's to say that there aren't some enemy soldiers waiting just out of our gates for anyone to come out and use you two as hostages?"

"You're right I can't plan on everything, but I know to stay within the checkpoints you made and my family is also aware of the recent happenings and have branched out a little farther than they are comfortable to. When I get past your last checkpoint we'll already be with them and they made sure no one knows where they live, which is why we can't have guards tailing us."

The mountain man was beginning to win the Captain over as he already thought about the worst case scenario and had a plan where they would be watched at all times. The only hiccup was that some of the men from the checkpoints could've been killed and replaced with imposters again but Stonewell already had men check in with each checkpoint during his morning rounds to combat that possibility. So far everyone checked out and nothing was sighted outside the village.

The old man didn't like it as he started to shift his gaze between the married couple before he sighed. His usual legendary stubbornness was beginning to wane, he mentally blamed the runt for making him consider being nicer. The surly grandpa turned to Anna with a stern glare and pointed at her.

"Three hours. If you do not come back in three I will send every guard out there to drag you back and I'll have his head." Stonewell pointed at Kristoff but in between his legs to illustrate the rather horrible threat. The true meaning of his threat seemed to go over the redhead's head as she nodded her head enthusiastically while the mountain man's face blanched. The ice harvester glumly mounted his sleigh and the couple went on their way, waving at the Captain who watched them turn a corner.

Note to self; when I get to the castle, have scouts ensure they passed the last checkpoint and have them followed at a distance.

The married couple should've known better, Walter Stonewell had been around for a long time and he knew there was more than one way to get a job done.

Off the coast of Arendelle were seven ships patrolling the waters; four frigates, one schooner, and two ships of the line. They were deployed in a three line formation with the frigates being the first line to repel any forward ships, the ships of the line in the second line to bombard them from a safe position and finally the schooner to warn Arendelle of any immediate attack if the first two lines were breached.

While Arendelle didn't have a tremendous navy, they did have more ships that were in groups of three running patrol routes far out of sight but close enough to where a smoke signal would alert the ships close to home. Admiral Richard was in charge of the defense formation close to home and was residing on the left ship of the line. He remembered sending word when the Southern Isles delegation had attempted to sail past him and he was tempted to order his ships to fire but was told to stand down. He had his men on high alert expecting a fleet to follow behind the delegation but fortunately no such thing happened. When the delegation left, he was tempted to follow them but remained steadfast and trusted that the ships far in the ocean would warn them if anything happened.

So far the day had been just a regular one, nothing out of the ordinary, his formation was slated to be replaced in a week by sailors back on the mainland. The men were rotated out monthly and his current crew were ready to go back home to their families. There wasn't much to do out on the sea, some took up reading, writing, or even placing bets on fight clubs between the crew. News back in Arendelle was scarce but some made its way out here.

The current hot topic was that the new instructor managed to fight off an unstoppable intruder that took on the entire castle guard at once. While the Admiral knew that word got carried away with the dock workers bringing supplies out here, it was still impressive that one man accomplished two great feats in his relatively short time in Arendelle. Richard actually met this Edward once and couldn't see anything special about him, he was nice and polite, but according to Stonewell, a vicious fighter if it came down to it. The Admiral didn't doubt the word of the stalwart man and took his word for it even though he himself didn't see it.

The men heard about it and some of them wanted to actually fight Edward to see if he really was all he was cracked up to be. Richard didn't mind their zeal and thought that as long as they stayed focused on maintaining a sense of readiness, he didn't care what they did when they got back.

Today, he was reconfirming the distance between the formations that would allow maximum coverage and effective range of their cannons when he heard a shout from the lookout.

"Sir, we have smoke on the starboard side!"

The Admiral looked to his right and could see a billow of smoke coming just above the clouds. Pulling out his looking glass, he followed the plume of smoke and could barely make out a structure of some kind in the distance. Going back to his map of the navy's formation and calculating the direction and approximate distance, he confirmed that one of their patrols was in that general vicinity. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to see much from his current vantage point with the equipment he had, the Admiral called up to the lookout.

"Mr. Mason, keep your eyes on the smoke and tell me what color signal they fire!"

He received an affirmative from the man and then ordered his formation to go on alert. The crew moved quickly to unstow the guns and made ready to set sail should they be ordered to. Richard waited with baited breath for word from the lookout on what color signal was fired.

While planning the long range formation of ships that would patrol Arendelle's waters, the military realized that it would be ridiculous to put the capitol on alert every time pirates tried their hand against the navy. Most of the time, the patrol ships were able to handle whatever came their way, so the heads of the military integrated colored smoke signals for communication.

If it was a regular pirate attack that would require no assistance, a green smoke signal would be fired. A red one would be fired to call for assistance if it was clear that the patrol ships had needed help. Then there was a dark blue smoke signal that signalled an invasion force.

However before any engagement, a yellow smoke signal was fired first.

As they all waited for the lookout's word, none of them paid attention to the cloud of smoke coming closer to their position.

Greed was high above the burning wreckage of the ship and searching for any other ships that would intercept or notice the invasion fleet's approach. He spotted two more patrols before the defense formation in their path before sighing loudly. Taking out the first escort before they could warn the others was tedious as he had to kill the lookout then take notice how everyone moved and find the signal flares. Luckily for him, most Arendelle ships were ran the same and they stored most of their gunpowder and smoke signals in roughly the same place.

He used the smoke for cover during his approach before he swooped down on his next victim, and slit his throat before the poor man could say a word. The Sin was like a silent wraith, hovering just above their heads and taking their lives one at a time. After killing the lookout, he waited until he could float off the crows nest and off to the side so he could slip in below decks. With the hull being darker as it was blocked off from sunlight helped him camouflage and slip past men who were readying themselves for battle.

None of them noticed him reaching their gunpowder storage, killing the men guarding it before setting the barrels on fire. When he achieved that objective, he grabbed their smoke signals and burst through the doors, not caring they saw him as the barrels burned until finally they ignited and the ship went up in splinters. Greed dumped the signals into the water but kept a few on him as he circled the ship looking for any survivors.

He was about to move on when one man swam to the surface and clung to a floating piece of wood. The Sin flew down above him and floated just above him then leaned down so they were eye level. He could see the fear in the man's eyes as he looked into the golden mask that was his real face. The cloak of darkness that floated from it swayed gently in the seabreeze. Greed could tell that right now, all the man wanted was to see his parents again, how easy that made this.

"If you tell me which smoke signal means everything is all clear, you can see them again."

The Sin watched the man consider his options before he pointed to one of the smoke signals offered to him. Greed looked at the color then looked at the man before a dagger shot out of the darkness and embedded itself in his lower back. The man's face scrunched up in pain as the Sin wrenched the blade out and tossed the gestured color in the ocean.

The first time he blew up one of their ships, one of the men tried to fire off a red smoke signal which he killed before they could do so. Which left green, yellow, and blue. He went through the other two ships in the patrol and was able to gather that yellow was a preparatory signal so it was all down between green and blue. The survivor picked the blue one and maybe it was just a gut feeling but Greed didn't believe him.

That's ok.

The two patrol ships next to the one he just blew up were closing in looking for survivors.

I still have two more tries to figure it out.

Admiral Richard was able to make out two more ships being blown to bits but couldn't tell whether they were friend or foe due to the distance and smoke cloud. His formation was ready to open fire on any who came their way and the schooner ship to the rear was on standby to sail back to the capitol to warn the Queen.

With all of that done, all he could do now was wait and hope that a green signal would be fired into the air to signal the all clear.

"Mr. Mason can you see anything more from your position?"

"No sir! The wind is blowing the smoke in our direction and is starting to block my line of sight!"

The lookout continued to look through his spyglass for any sort of signal or distinctive marking of a ship to identify if their ships had been sunk or not. As he continued to look, the smoke kept getting closer and closer to his position but raised over his head as well and into the clouds. It had blocked the sun a bit and casted a faint shadow over all of them but he kept his eyes sharp at the source.

As he continued to look, he could make out a ship coming through the smoke. He focused his eyes on the flag of the ship and was dismayed to see that it was a pitch black flag with no insignia on it at all.

"Sir, we have an unknown ship sailing through the smoke! I think it's the enemy!"

Admiral Richard was almost certain that it was indeed an enemy combatant. They have yet to receive a signal from their ships so it was possible they got caught off guard. The formation was still a ways off from the ship and would have ample time to send warning to Arendelle in case of how the situation escalated.

"Mr. Turnbuckle, fire off a yellow and red signal to warn other ships in the area and have them converge on our position." The mentioned sailor went quickly to follow his orders and fired the two signals prompting other signals across the water to be fired as well. The single ship on its own was still sailing straight toward them and the Admiral could now see through his spyglass that it was roughly the same size as one of their frigates. All the cannons in the formation took aim at the lone ship without having to give the order.

In a few moments they would be in range…

"Use the long range armament to fire in front of their ship to warn them to change course."

His men quickly relayed his orders to the formation and soon the first line of ships were ready to fire. He gave them the signal and watched as three cannons fired and impacted the water in front of the approaching ship. The Admiral looked through his spyglass again and waited to see if they would turn around or not. To his dismay the ship did not change course.

He didn't want to get superstitious but the incoming ship was beginning to worry him. Their reinforcements that responded with the green smoke signal were approaching them from a farther distance away but effectively cut off the lone ship's route of escape. The Admiral could see a great number of allied ships coming from every direction. With them the ship's path and their reinforcements arriving, the ship was completely surrounded but that ominous feeling still persisted.

"Admiral! Our reinforcements, the men on the ships have the wrong uniform!"

Richard whipped his spyglass out and scanned the incoming ships that were supposed to be reinforcements and could indeed see that they had on maroon uniforms instead of green. He looked up at the flag and could see that it was an Arendellian flag which added dread to his stomach.

If those men on that ship were wearing a different uniform from the one of Arendelle's royal navy and had their flag, that meant they had taken the flags from their reinforcements.

Which meant there was a sizable number of ships close to the coast of the village.

He needed to warn Arendelle, as he was about to bark his orders, the schooner ship behind them exploded from the inside out. The crew all turned to see the burning ship with them all asking the same question.

How did the enemy sink it?

Their answer appeared in the form of a black mass shooting out of the smoke and zooming over their heads in the direction of the imposter ships. The Admiral shook off his wonder and assessed his position. His formation did not have the firepower to stop the incoming wave of ships that were on the horizon. With their schooner blown to bits, he didn't have a fast enough ship to reach Arendelle and warn them of the nature of the attack while giving them time to prepare.

He couldn't order his formation back to the capitol as it would bring the ships behind him and they would be endangering lives. On the other hand, he knew that if they stayed they would assuredly be destroyed trying to buy time. With those grim thoughts in mind, he took a breath before he began to speak.

"Men, we face a difficult task ahead of us! It is logical to assume that our reinforcements are enemy disguised ships trying to slip past this blockade and hit our home. We cannot allow this and are duty bound to stave off their advance. In addition, we need to warn Her Majesty of the exact nature of the threat and give her time to prepare. To accomplish this, we will split up our blockade, two of our frigates will return home and make her aware of our situation. The remaining ships will hold out here and buy as much time as possible."

His voice carried over to the entire ship and his crew all looked at him with grim faces. They all agreed with what he said, the problem was, they knew exactly what he didn't say. The men who stayed behind were likely to be killed as the two frigates escaped to Arendelle. If one looked inside each of their minds, they'd be overwhelmed with the amount of repetitions of the sentence, 'I don't want to die.'

While they thought this, they also knew that people had to stay and only a few could leave. The Admiral hadn't relayed his plan to the other ships so the others didn't know yet, which meant right now, nothing was stopping them from rushing to the evacuating ships. All of their knee jerk reactions were to ask their Admiral if they could go on the evacuation ships but they knew that doing so would take a spot away from other sailors on the other ships.

So they kept quiet, silently hoping their Admiral would order them to escape.

"With that being said, the ships that remain here will likely be sunk and the men killed. You all swore an oath to protect your kingdom and the people in it. I could order you all to remain here and die staving the enemy advance but I won't."

A few of them bit their lip when they heard that, the choice was being put in their hands.

"I will relay this plan to the other ships, we don't have a lot of time so I suggest you ask yourself; are you willing to die?"

With that the Admiral dismissed them and began to order them to signal the other ships to come closer so he could relay his message. As this happened, each man on the ship kept thinking on what they should do. Each one had a family and friends waiting for them back home or brothers here that they were considering abandoning to save their own lives. It made even the saltiest of them shake as they could only think of the impending unknown death that was approaching them.

They wanted their Admiral to order them to stay or leave, they didn't want the choice, it made them question who they were as a person.

It made them wonder;

Could they live with the thought of leaving their brothers to die?

Or could they die knowing they gave their brothers a chance?

As they considered this, the Admiral had already made up his mind. Richard already knew that he would stay, if he didn't then the formation would crumble as men would wonder why he had abandoned them to save his own life while damning theirs. He needed to show them that he wasn't afraid, that he was ready to fight until the bitter end as a sailor should. His mind was made up but it also showed him what he was leaving behind.

A wife.

A son.

His home.

Those things would be lost to him if he stayed but he knew that if he stayed, he was giving others the chance to keep those things. His wife would be so furious at him if she knew what he was doing, how he would've loved to hear her scream at him at home where he was safe.

It took longer than he would've liked but everyone was aware of his plan and the two frigates were selected to leave. He watched a good amount of men leave his ship as expected, he didn't blame them. It was only human nature to preserve one's life. As he watched them leave, he noticed even more men come on to his ship. He could see their fearful faces as they assembled on the main deck of his ship.

Before long, they were all there awaiting his orders. The Admiral looked off to the side and could see the two frigates still being there almost ready to leave. He faced the men in front of him and spoke with a judging expression.

"Are you all ready to die?"

One of the men toward the back was the only who answered with a desperate yet strong voice.

"We don't wanna die sir! We'll hold out until reinforcements get here!"

Richard nodded before he signalled the frigates to leave. As they left, he could see them firing blue smoke signals to put Arendelle on alert. He would've hoped the wind would be with them but if the wind blew in their favor, it would also blow in the incoming fleets favor as well.

Speaking of which, the Admiral turned back to look at the approaching single ship that was well within their range right now. He didn't know how many ships he'd be able to sink before his was sunk but he knew he could get this ship that led the charge for the others.

"Aim all cannons at the forward ship and prepare to send her to the bottom of the sea!"

Hans could see the formation off in the distance as well as the billow of smoke that came from behind it. He waited a moment and saw a black mass fly above his head before landing behind him. Turning to see the black mass flowing out of a golden ornate mask was off putting as he knew who was behind that mask.

"How did it go?"

"Could've been better but nothing that hinders the plan."

The King looked back toward the formation and could see two ships peeling away while firing signals of some sort. Part of him worried that their element of surprise would disappear and make all that effort of sinking those Arendelle ships and taking their flags without being noticed meaningless, yet Greed seemed unbothered by the development.

"Do you plan on sinking those two ships that are running away?"

The golden mask shook his head. "Sinking them would be a waste of effort, besides, we're already close enough to the capitol that even if they prepared for our invasion, they won't have enough time to adequately do so. They couldn't evacuate and prepare their shoreline defenses with the amount of time they have."

"And if Elsa decides to freeze the ocean or wall off the harbor?"

"Then she'll be making herself a far easier target if she wants to put so much effort in a futile exercise."

Admiral Richard watched with a modicum of satisfaction as the ship was reduced to splinters. He had the remainder of his ships a single line formation with all of their cannons on one side to increase their firepower. Most of the men furiously went to work readying for the next assault while some watched the water for any survivors. Several minutes passed and none of them came up for air so the men assumed that they had all died.

How foolish that was…

All at once, the frigate erupted into fighting. The Admiral rushed over the railing to look down at the deck of the smaller ship and could see men all fighting on the deck. He could barely make out a decent number of unknown sailors that just appeared on the deck out of nowhere and watched them quickly pull up the anchor and make the ship ready to sail, all the while holding off the Arendellian sailors.

"To arms! Board that runaway ship stop them from escaping!"

His crew moved quickly in throwing hooks to get the ship but the lines were cut immediately after becoming taut. The frigate began sailing away toward Arendelle with his men still fighting on the deck.

Time slowed for the Admiral as he watched the ship get further and further away. He couldn't let that ship get away, if he did the enemy would be able to infiltrate with that stolen ship. He had around sixty men on that ship instead of the usual hundred as there were only thirty two cannons and he sent the others either on the runaway frigate or the larger ships to help improve combat efficiency. He could barely make out a small force on enemy combatants, at least being ten which wouldn't have worried him as they would be hopelessly outnumbered but couldn't ignore that somehow that small force had commandeered the frigate and were sailing away while fighting his sailors.

He had to do something.

He considered breaking up his formation and giving chase but the incoming fleet was just beginning to get in range, he needed to be focused on what happened ahead. He couldn't afford to raise anchor and give chase, which made him briefly consider another plan.

He could sink the ship to ensure it did nothing, sacrificing the men that were still fighting on the ship.

On a chessboard, no one piece was worth losing the game and it was a well used strategy to sacrifice pieces to preserve the game or gain an advantage. The Admiral had won off the strategy many times but Richard as a man and sailor could not give that order.

"Hop to, quickly! I want twenty men right now to get the lifeboats and pursue that ship. Hopefully our men will be able to slow it down so ya'll can catch up. Defeat the enemy and return to formation. The rest of you, the first line of ships are almost in range, prepare to fire at my command!"

The Admiral watched his crew move with speed and focused on what was ahead of him while hoping that he made the right choice, trusting the men to his rear.

Stonewall had made it to the castle and already sent his scouts after the Prince and Princess when he ran into Hector who was just walking away from Earl Edward. The old man didn't even attempt to hide his frown to the noble who returned it with one of his own.

"I was having a better morning than most but you completely ruined it by sucking that asshat's cock."

Hector rolled his eyes and walked past the old man in the chair expecting him to follow. "You already know why I'm still reporting to the council, Her Majesty asked me to keep tabs on them and report back to her."

The Captain snorted as he continued to roll alongside the noble. He was aware of Her Majesty's task for her personal guard and had it been anyone else, he would've been more understanding but with Hector, things were complicated between them. There was a strong sense of hate between them that was likely never going to change and the old man was cool with that. He trusted Bowman to do his job so he could tolerate his presence enough to work with him.

"Still though, I'm curious how it feels to pretend to be something you're not all the time just to exploit others."

"Why don't you ask your out of control protege? He does that on a daily basis."

"Because between the two of you, tormenting you is so much more fun and I already tried to kill him for a week and didn't succeed." The odd joke caused a short reluctant laugh from the guard who walked out the castle and onto the battlements to look out to the harbor. Stonewell had his fingers interlaced as he let the silence stretch out between the two. Despite their loathing for one another, they did have one thing in common.

"How is she?"

Hector didn't expect the soft tone that the coarse man next to him asked the question in, but he didn't show his surprise and only exhaled slowly. "She's been riding my ass a lot lately…" His eyes slanted over with a humorless look in them. "...Wonder who she got that from."

Stonewell said nothing but a small smile tugged at his lips.

"She also says she's been working with Her Majesty's guest and learning all kinds of things that sound like they came right out of a fairy tale. I haven't told her about Edward or Wrath for that matter because of that uproar in the throne room but she'll eventually figure it out. She's much too shrewd not to."

The Captain nodded and absently spoke to the view of the harbor in front of him. "She got it from her mother…"

Hector could tell that the usually stalwart man was temporarily stuck in some memories and decided to not say anything and only look out toward the harbor. It was a practice that considered taking up as he could sit here for a while and enjoy the serenity of the oceanview and of ships coming and going.

Except today, he spotted something in the distance.

"Hey Stonewell, do you see that?"

The Captain shook himself out of his trance and squinted in the direction of the noble's finger that pointed toward the two incoming ships. From this far away, the old man could barely make out what ships they were but the blue trails of smoke that shot up from them every so often confirmed they were Arendellian ships.

Stonewell's eyes hardened as his mind recognized what the blue smoke signal signified as well as the fact that the ships were firing them continuously on the way to shore, as if they wanted to be seen as soon as possible.

Arendelle was about to be invaded.

Wow this chapter has been rewritten and put off for TWO weeks BUT finally my maybe favorite arc has begun. THE WAR OF ARENDELLE :D. I hope you all enjoyed a glimpse into Stonewell's mind as he never had a chapter centered mostly on him even though he is a MAJOR character. Please stay tuned for the next several action packed chapters that I can hopefully knock out since for now, I'm packing up and going returning to the states within a month.

If you wish to speak with me please PM me or REVIEW and I will respond as soon as possible. Remember PM will be answered directly while reviews will be responded to in the next chapter.

ALSO, please do not pull any punches in voicing your opinions. I will likely not make any major changes from a singular opinion but I will definitely take any and all feedback into consideration.

Have a Good Christmas Eve cause tonight I'm partying ALL NIGHT LONG.