(This chapter has been edited on 6/29/2024)

The Search Goes On

"What makes you think she could be out there? How could she have managed to get that far to begin with?"

In the deep woods outside of Arendelle, a search party for Anna was its inhabitants. It consisted of Kristoff, Captain Storstrand of the Royal Guard, and several others. They were currently resting. Earlier, Kristoff had the idea to expand their search even further. Most agreed, while some had different opinions. At the moment, Kristoff was having a spat with one of the soldiers.

"The blizzard was a complete whiteout. Anna could have wandered out here," Kristoff pointed out. "There was no trace of her near the kingdom. It makes more sense to look further out."

"Assuming she was still alive at that point to do so," The soldier said.

"Bjorgman does make a good point, Johnson," Another guard spoke up. "That blizzard was hard to see through. It could be possible that the princess couldn't see where she was going and ended up out here."

"Unless those wolves dragged her bo-"

"Enough!" Storstrand bellowed with a commanding tone, having enough of the petty squabble. "I don't want to hear any more of that kind of talk, Johnson. Understood?"

"...Yes, sir."

"Then you go and rest up. We'll be moving again soon."

The soldier walked away from the captain and sat near a tree. The other soldiers who watched the squabble quickly resumed their own business. Storstrand looked over to Kristoff.

"I'm sorry about that," Kristoff apologized to the captain.

"It's alright. I think all the searching has made some of us a little tired. Resting here was a good decision. Speaking of which, I recommend you do the same.

The ice harvester nodded and went to his reindeer. Storstrand went to tend his horse. As he did, he observed the other soldiers in his group. Some of them looked pretty weary from the searching. If Storstrand was being honest, some of these soldiers treated this more like Search & Recovery rather than Search & Rescue, even though it felt like the former as much as the captain hated to admit. The trail seemed cold, and the tracker dog started losing the scent. But the captain was not going to give up on the princess yet.

Storstrand had been in the service of the royal guard for about two decades, half of which as the captain of the guard. He had joined the same year Princess Elsa was born. Just three years later, she vanished. It was a no-brainer to almost everyone that she was kidnapped. He couldn't fathom the pain the king & queen went through. While Storstrand didn't have children, nor was he married, his brother had two sons. His nephews meant the world to the captain. If anything were to happen to them...that was something Storstrand prefer not to think about .

The kidnapping of Princess Elsa had broken the hearts of everyone in the kingdom, including the guards. Storstrand could remember how several guards, including his predecessor, felt afterward. The looks of guilt on their faces had never left the captain's memory. Some of those guards even quit in the months afterward because they believed they had failed. Of course, that wasn't the end of it. Several years later, the previous captain had unexpectedly resigned. No one knew why, but Storstrand had a good guess. There was also 'The Incident,' which he would prefer not to remember now.

And now history seemingly repeats itself with Princess Anna vanishing, albeit under different circumstances. While the odds of the princess being alive were getting lower and lower as the days went on, the captain wouldn't give up quite quickly. Storstrand wasn't like the soldiers who had left those years ago. He had already failed to protect one princess; he wouldn't fail another.

On the other end, Kristoff was with Sven. Kristoff looks to see Sven happily munching on his carrots. The ice harvester would usually share them with the reindeer, but he didn't have the appetite. Sven took notice of this, and he nudged his friend to get his attention.

"What?" Kristoff barked annoyingly. Seeing the hurt look on his friend's face made him realize what he did. "Sorry, Sven. I didn't mean to lash out at you. It's been a rough few days."

That was a statement the reindeer understood. "We'll find Anna. Everything will be fine. You'll see."

"I hope so too, bud."

If the King was the most eager to look for Anna, then Kristoff would come into a tie, or second at least. Aside from Sven and his family, Anna was the most important person in his life. Ever since they met, they've been the best friends. They both got into all kinds of mischief as kids. While some might disapprove of such friendship, Anna and her family didn't care.

Before he met Anna, Kristoff had lived a very lonely life. At a young age, he had lost both of his parents. He remembered some things about them. His father was an ice harvester, and his mother would often like to help him out. One day, his parents went out to do their usual ice harvesting but never returned home. That night, several ice harvesters came by his home and told the boy that there was an accident and that it had taken both of his parent's lives.

From there on, the group took the boy in. They weren't close, but they at least fed him clothed him and gave him shelter. But Kristoff didn't have the same bond he shared with his family.

When he was 8 years old, months before his current family found him, Sven came into his life. It was a day Kristoff will never forget. While the ice harvesters rested from a tiring day, Kristoff had gotten bored and wanted to explore the forest. It was then he heard cries from an animal. He followed the noise, leading him to something he'll never forget. A reindeer calf was nudging what was presumingly his mother. The mother reindeer had wounds all over her body. It appeared that she had been attacked by wolves and succumbed to her wounds. While he knew it was weird, Kristoff knew the feeling the calf was going through. Losing your parent so unexpectedly. Kristoff befriended the reindeer using carrots, and they've been inseparable. Years later, they both would make friends in the form of a 9-year-old princess.

"I know she will. If I know Anna, she isn't one to give up without a fight." Sven reminded. "I'm willing to bet that right now she's in a cave safe and sound, waiting for you to find her."

"Y'know, sometimes I wonder what I would do without you." Kristoff petted Sven's snout.

"You be hopelessly lost."

"Oh, knock it off," Kristoff playfully nudged the reindeer. "We both know you go crazy without me."

Meanwhile, on the other end of the group, several soldiers sat near a small fire to warm themselves up. They were talking to pass the time.

"Hey guys, you know that night guard Peterson?" A soldier asked.

"Yeah," A second soldier spoke up. "What about him?"

"When I left to give our update back at the castle, I managed to bump into him before I left. He said he saw the king wandering down the halls close to 3 A.M. The king had this blank look on his face, almost like a zombie, according to him."

"You're bullshitting us, Falk?"

"That's what Petterson told me, Adams," Falk asserted. "I don't know about you guys, but I think the king is losing it."

"Poor guy." Spoke up a third soldier. "It must be hard not knowing whether your daughter is alive or not."

"You're right about that, Daniels," Falk agreed. "I don't blame him for pulling all his resources into finding Princess Anna, considering what happened years ago."

"What happened?" Another soldier younger than the other three asked, curious what they meant.

The three soldiers, Falk, Adams, and Daniels, looked at the soldier confusedly.

"You...you don't know, Hall?" Adams questioned.

"No, I really don't."

"Oh, that's right!" Falk said as he snapped his fingers. "You've only been in Arendelle for a few months."

"I'm surprised you haven't heard about it by now," Daniels expressed. "Everyone and their mother pretty much know the story."

"Would you please tell me what you're talking about?" Hall urged.

"Well, how do I start this?" Falk started. "Princess Anna isn't the only princess. Years ago, there was another."

"There was another princess?" Hall spoke up after a while after a small period of silence.

"Yes. Princess Anna's older sister, Princess Elsa. Nicknamed 'The Gift of Arendelle', since she was born several days before Christmas."

"What happened to her?"

The three soldiers' faces grew grim as if they were reminiscing about something awful from the past. Soon, Falk recomposed himself and continued with the story.

"About fifteen years ago, some creeps broke into the castle and snuck into the princess's room. They kidnapped and took her away from here. No matter where we looked, there was no trace of her. She hasn't been seen since."

"The poor lass was only 3," Daniels added somberly. "Lord knows what happened to her."

"My God. I...I honestly had no idea something like that had happened before." Hall was obviously stunned by the revelation. "Why would someone do that?"

"No one knows why. There was never ransom of some sort. Though there have been some speculations," Falk mentioned.

"One suggested it was done by the same person who had stolen Corona's princess," Daniels said. "That's what many believed for the longest time until it was disproven when Princess Rapunzel was found a while back."

"I heard a curse of some sort was placed on both families since both our king and Queen Arianna are cousins," Adams suggested.

"That's just some superstitious bullshit. There's no such thing as curses!"

"The point is...!" Falk voiced, ceasing the small argument. "...That we don't know what happened nor why it happened. And we may never get those answers." A grim silence fell upon the soldiers soon after.

"How did the kingdom handle this? I can only imagine it was hard on everyone," Hall inquired.

"It was," Adams answered with sadness in his voice. "Princess Elsa's disappearance broke the king's & queen's heart. Mostly the former from what I heard."

"How bad?

"He became somewhat of a recluse for a brief time. He would hardly step outside, even out of his room. Some say he grew somewhat of a cold personality, which was surprising considering he was said to be a kind man. Rumor has it, he almost went insane and nearly killed someone."

"D-did he?" Hall asked, slightly shocked at that last statement.

"It's only a rumor. I highly doubt that's true. People who have nothing better to do like to stir up all sorts of crap," Daniels brought up.

"You never know," Falk pointed out. "They say the greatest tragedy is a father losing his child. A tragedy such as that can do all sorts of things to a person's head. After Princess Anna was born, King Agdar slowly started to act like his old self."

"Goodness ...Judging from what you told me, I can see why everyone wants to find Princess Anna so badly," Hall concluded.

"Wish Johnson shares that attitude. That guy is such a pessimist sometimes," Daniels commented, to which the others nodded & muttered in agreement.

Several moments afterward, there was silence. Not one guard had spoken a word to each other. The only sounds given were the crackling sounds of the small fire.

"Do...do you think Princess Anna is still alive?" Hall wondered.

"I don't know, Hall. We can only hope at this point," Falk paused momentarily. "If she isn't...the least we could do is find her remains and give her a proper funeral."

"I hope it doesn't come to that."

Half an hour later...

The group had resumed their search, going deeper into the woods. Their only source of light was their lanterns, which helped guide them through the dark forest. Each person had called out Anna's name.

"Anna!"

"Princess!"

With each call they made, silence was their only response. As this went on, the guards started to feel increasingly discouraged.

"So far, we haven't found any sign of her," A soldier commented dejectedly.

"Don't lose hope yet, soldier," Storstrand encouraged.

"I still think this is pointless," Johnson, the soldier who had argued with Kristoff earlier, expressed snarkily. "Unless there was some miracle, I don't see how the princess could still be alive."

"I told you earlier, Johnson, I don't want to hear more of that kind of talk,"

"Yeah, Johnson. Stop being so damn negative," Adams barked back.

"I'm not being negative. I'm being realistic," Johnson defended. "And it seems I'm the only one being realistic."

"How could you believe that the princess is dead?"

"Well, let's see...She's been gone for two days, almost three. We're in the middle of winter. And recently, there was a harsh blizzard. Excuse me for considering the circumstances and not being set up for disappointment."

"You don't know if she's even dead!"

"And you don't know if she's even alive!"

"Knock it off, you two!" Storstrand shouted.

As the captain tried to settle the argument, Kristoff noticed Sven acting odd. The reindeer's head suddenly jerked up, and his nose twitched. He started to sniff the ground.

"What's up, Sven?" Kristoff prodded his animal companion.

Sven ignored his friend as he quickened his pace and sniffed the ground. The soldiers took notice of the reindeer's sudden odd behavior.

"What's up with your reindeer, Bjorgman?" A soldier asked.

"I think he's looking for something," Kristoff suggests, though a bit unsure.

The ice harvester & royal guards watch Sven as he darts around, nose still on the ground. They watched as he moved side to side. Suddenly, he stopped and started grunting loudly.

"And I think he just found it."

Kristoff ran over to his friend, followed by several of the soldiers. Sven was simultaneously digging and pointing at the ground, indicating that there was something of importance. Kristoff helped his companion dig as the soldiers watched. Some waited in anticipation, unsure if they found a clue or Anna's dead corpse. Finally, the pair stopped digging. Kristoff reached for something in the ground and slowly stood up.

"Did you find something, Bjorgman?"

"Yes," Kristoff stuck out his hand. It was a mitten. "This is Anna's."

"Are you sure?" Storstrand contended.

"Positive. I gave her this mitten. Not a lot of people come around these parts of the woods. It's the only explanation."

"There's only one way to find out."

Storstrand went to a guard and got one of the dogs used to help track Anna. The captain gestures to Kristoff to let the dog sniff. Kristoff knelt before the dog and watched it sniff the mitten. After sniffing for a few minutes, the dog suddenly released several barks and started running.

"Get on your steeds, men, and follow that dog!" Storstrand commanded.

Everyone complied and got on their horse. Or reindeer in Kristoff's case. They commanded their steeds to run fast. Inside of the men, newfound hope and determination to find the princess had been restored.

"Don't worry, Anna. We'll have you back home soon enough," Kristoff thought.

The men keep on riding deep in the woods. In the line of direction was The North Mountain in the distance.

Yeah, I know its filler, but its been a while since we seen Kristoff & Sven.

Along in this chapter, we see the perspectives from the soldiers on Elsa's kidnapping. They have some interesting ideas on what happened afterwards. Who knows?

I know it may seem odd, but I do think soldiers do refer to others by their last name. I feel like that's something they would do, I may be wrong though.

I heard that reindeer can sniff objects several feet below the snow (don't remember where I heard that so I could be wrong).

Thanks for the favs, follows, and reviews. Happy Reading.