Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; the elements taken from Frozen are obvious, and while this version of Zorro is taken mainly from Mask and Legend, I've incorporated elements of his history from other adaptations. Even the original idea for this fic was inspired by the artwork of shishyoukai on DeviantArt, although I have created my own narrative for it; the artwork only inspired the idea of a certain sister becoming Zorro.

Feedback: Always appreciated

The Frozen Fox

The more Anna explored of Arendelle, the more she came to appreciate how everything came together regardless of Runeard's interference. The kingdom's current rules might be extreme in terms of how they were expected to treat magical beings, but she had to acknowledge that she could see what about Arendelle made her mother feel that it was worth coming back to help the people, even if Iduna hadn't been able to do it herself.

Unfortunately, from Anna's lessons with the de la Vegas, she knew that would just make it all the more challenging to deal with Runeard's presence. When his kingdom was basically operating smoothly aside from his more prejudiced policies, simply trying to kill Runeard wasn't an option for more than the obvious moral reasons. Just as Diego de la Vega had avoided killing Don Montero until the other man had committed too many crimes for Zorro to tolerate, her goal had to be to expose Runeard's crimes and essentially inspire his own people to turn against him on their own.

The challenge facing her now, of course, was finding something that could actually turn people against the king without basically causing Arendelle society to collapse. The fact that Runeard's forces had taken a body wearing traditional Northuldran clothing to the bridge they had been intending to blow up at least suggested they were trying to frame the Northuldrans as the aggressors in this situation. Anna wasn't ready to make direct contact with the Northuldrans- Alejandro's experience with the Pinkertons had been proof on its own that the enemy of your enemy wasn't always your friend- but it gave her further ideas about the state of affairs in the kingdom.

With that in mind, Anna had decided that her next move would be to attempt to talk to some of the older residents who at least might have some knowledge of what things had been like in the castle before everything began to change. Talking with Princess Elsa seemed to suggest that the young woman didn't know the full extent of her grandfather's schemes, or at least chose to adopt a more ignorant approach to the matter, but there had to be someone she could talk to. Her search of newspapers had still failed to turn up any clear reference to her mother's departure from Arendelle, but she had been able to find reference to some former palace servants who had been sent to prison since then for undisclosed reasons. She guessed that the king was open about that to show that he would always acknowledge when a 'crime' had been committed, but at the moment it gave Anna people to question.

She had already identified the prison that was most likely to have the most long-standing prisoners in it, so all she would have to do was check prison records once she was inside and make sure she was going after the right people. She took the time to take her horse out for a run in the outer fields the night before to let the animal exercise. The situation in the city was still dangerous enough that she didn't want to take him out for a ride here until she was sure everything was ready, but she could still get around the city in her own rights so long as she didn't have to get anywhere fast.

That night, as she discreetly departed her shop by the roof exit, Anna made her way to the edge of the building and jumped over the edge, launching her whip to help her swing from a chimney to land on the other edge. Satisfied that she knew what to do, she continued to make her way across the rooftops, alternating between running jumps or finding points to swing from using her whip, always taking care not to go down to the ground. She spotted the occasional patrol of soldiers on the ground, but nothing that seemed like more than a token effort to 'reassure the people' that they were safe rather than any kind of attempt to impose a curfew.

Eventually Anna reached the large, blocky building that served as Arendelle's prison, located on the city outskirts. Judging by the building style, this place looked newer than most of the houses she'd seen, and she wondered if Runeard had set this place up on the edge of the city to make it harder for others to break in or to distance himself from whatever might go on here. In any case, once she had taken a reasonable look at the outside it wasn't hard to find a flagpole she could use to swing over to the building. Once up against the wall, the large brickwork made it easy for her to find a few suitable handholds to make her way along to a suitable window.

Once inside the building, Anna confirmed that she had arrived in some kind of storage closet, which at least assured her that she hadn't accidentally tipped anyone off to her presence. She carefully opened the door to confirm that there was nobody outside and then walked out into the corridor, making her way carefully into the prison. With no better ideas, she made her way downstairs to the ground level, where a further search of the available rooms soon led to her finding the prison records. She had to pick the locks on a few rooms to find what she was looking for, but she always took care to re-lock the other rooms, and she had enough time to do the job so long as she was careful. Keeping the records in one place might be questionable by some standards, but Anna could guess that Runeard justified it as it ensured that only the 'right' people would truly know what everyone had been arrested for, effectively giving him control of the prison system. She had a feeling that if asked, Runeard would claim that the records were secure and available if anyone wished to look at them, but he'd find ways to deter more determined people from actually going to see them.

Actually reading through the records was difficult, but Anna's mother had taken care to teach her how to read the native language as well as speak it, even if Anna knew she still had an accent from her time in California. She was able to dismiss any records discussing how someone had actually committed murder so long as there was sufficient evidence, but there were a few cases where it was specifically stated that the King had spoken as part of the prosecution. The courts clearly did their best to present it in the best possible light, but from what Anna read here, it seemed as though these people were expected to treat the word of their king in such cases as though it was basically gospel. She liked to think that the de la Vegas had established a good reputation as Zorro over the years, but Alejandro and Joachim would never just expect people to take their word for anything without at least double-checking it.

If someone demands that kind of 'respect', it basically just proves there's something to hide, Anna mused, continuing to study the pages until she found a likely-looking prisoner. This man had been locked up for the last fifteen or so years on alleged charges of treason, and there was something in his arrest record about him having previously worked in the royal household (the handwriting for this section was surprisingly terrible). It might be a long shot, but at the very least this man might be able to give Anna some insight into the palace itself.

Making a mental note of where the man's cell was located, Anna put the papers back where she had found them, left the room, and began to make her way through the prison again.

Tracking her way through the prison wasn't too difficult once she identified the pattern to the doors, even if she took care to stay on the opposite side of the corridor from each door to avoid anyone spotting her. She had faith in her stealth abilities and her dark costume to avoid drawing attention to herself, but everything she could do to make it harder for someone to spot her was just a sensible additional precaution. Walking through the dark corridors was unnerving at times, but the prison had a few basic torches set up along the walls that made it easier for her to keep track of her location.

Finally, after going up a couple of levels and making her way through some disturbingly thin corridors, Anna found herself standing in front of the door she had been looking for. As she'd hoped, the cell door had bars and a hatch in the middle of it, presumably to allow the guards to pass in meals and make sure the prisoner was still there. The cell was even on its own corridor, distinct from the rest of the prisoners, which Anna chose to assume was another way they kept this prisoner isolated.

Satisfied that she was alone and nobody was close by, she knocked carefully on the door, waited a few moments, and then raised the hatch. From what she could see through the hatch in the dim moonlight, she had found the man she was looking for. His frame was far thinner than it had been in the accompanying sketch from when he was originally brought into the prison, but there was no mistaking that haircut.

"You are Kai Valdshot?" she said, keeping her voice low while remembering the required depth.

"Y… yes…" the man said, a slight tremor to his voice as though he didn't speak very often any more. "W-who… are… you?"

"You may address me as Zorro," Anna replied, fighting down the urge to smile as she used the name once again; she had to wonder if she would ever get used to the title. "I have heard about your imprisonment, and I wished to speak with you on the matter; if King Runeard does not like you… that leads me to at least speculate that I will."

"You are… opposed to the king?" the man said, looking more confident as he stood up. Anna noted that his clothes hung slightly loosely on his body, as though they had been purchased while he was a larger man and he'd never been given a chance to get something more suitable.

"To be clear, I am opposed to Runeard's policies and Runeard as a person; I do not seek to target his family for anything," Anna said, hoping that the man wouldn't interpret her questions the wrong way. "What I have seen of his son and granddaughter suggests that they do not share his desire to prosecute that which is different, but Runeard himself…"

"Indeed," Kai said, smiling tentatively at her. "Prince Agnarr at least wishes to be a good man despite the example set by his father, and Princess Elsa…"

"She is a good woman with great potential," Anna nodded in agreement, before she looked regretfully at the older man. "I should mention in advance that I cannot release you from here-"

"And I would not ask you to," Kai said. "If I am to leave this place, I would do so with the knowledge that I have been declared innocent and absolved in the eyes of the law."

"Thank you," Anna smiled at him before she continued. "In any case, if I am to act against the king's policies, I need to know more about the palace and the kingdom itself. I recognise that is has been a long time since you lived there yourself, but if you can tell me anything of significance…"

"Would secret passages be a good place to start?" Kai smiled.

"That…" Anna began, raising her eyebrows with a thoughtful smile, "…would be of great use."