Into the Unknown (A Frozen Fanfic)

Chapter Seventeen

ANNA'S EYES FLUTTERED open. It was dark and her vision was blurry as she glanced around, trying to figure out where she was. She slowly maneuvered her elbows up, allowing her to push herself upright, but a painful sting erupted throughout her side sending her flopping back down, crying out in pain.

"Shh, shh, shh. You're okay."

Her hand immediately drifted to the spot that ached and her fingertips dug through a hole in her dress to feel the coarse material of a bandage. She turned her head in the direction of the voice and found a young woman kneeling beside her; her vision was still too blurred to make out any features. She cringed and moaned as she rolled herself onto her side.

"Hey, take it easy," the woman said, her voice soft and tender as she gently pushed on Anna's shoulder to get her to lay back down.

Anna shook her head and fought through the pain to roll herself up. "I'll be fine," she said, her voice hoarse.

Sitting on the edge of the pile of animal pelt blankets on the ground, used as a bed, she settled for a moment to let her vision focus.

"Here." The young woman placed a cup in Anna's hand.

Without even looking to see what it was, Anna downed it. She was so thirsty and couldn't remember the last time she'd had something to drink. As the cold water rushed down her throat, the urge for more kicked in. Instead of asking, she simply handed the cup back and gave a smile. "Thank you."

The woman smiled and nodded as she lowered the cup to her lap. "My name's Poppy," she said. "I don't think you remember me, but I was the one speaking to Kristoff when you all showed up." Her smile dipped into a frown. "I'm the one who told him about his family."

Anna also frowned. "Oh. Yeah, uh. I saw you, but didn't catch a name." She winced. "So, speaking of Kristoff, how come no one ran to greet him when he showed up? He had been trapped for thirty-four years, and everyone continued on their day like he had always been there."

Poppy averted her gaze. "We're not supposed to talk about what happened that day." She chuckled. "I mean, I wasn't even born yet. A lot of us weren't, and the older folks get, the more wild their stories are. We honestly started believing that the frozen man was just a myth." She shrugged. "So, when he showed up in town, I didn't know what to think. We had always been taught that some day his curse might break, but no one believed the stories." She trailed off and looked around before lowering her voice. "We were told to continue on like nothing happened." She shook her head. "That, if his curse ever broke, the village leaders would deal with him."

Her last sentence alarmed Anna. "Deal with him how?"

Poppy gulped before she lowered her voice to a mere whisper. "They said they would kill him." Anna's eyes shot open. "They said that thirty-four years ago, Kristoff tried to kill the fifth spirit and that's why he was cursed. Killing the fifth spirit would send our world into chaos and even... utter destruction."

"Did Kristoff know?" Anna asked, scooting closer. "That if the fifth spirit died then it would destroy the world?"

Poppy shrugged. "Back then no one knew, and they intended to keep it that way, but after what happened with Kristoff, they wanted to make sure we all knew what would happen if we ever tried to kill him/her. So, they've told us to act like nothing's wrong and that they would take care of it."

"I have to stop them." Anna wrapped an arm around her stomach as she clambered to her feet. She winced and gritted her teeth, refusing to cry out in pain.

"No, you mustn't!" Poppy leaped to her feet, dropping the cup from her lap, and gripped Anna's bicep. "We're not to interfere."

Anna glared at her. "You want me to sit back and allow them to just kill Kristoff? He's been stuck in a curse for years. He doesn't deserve this. He deserves to live too!"