A Frozen Family

Chapter 6 - Nightmares

Chapter 6
Nightmares
(Anna's POV)

"It's so cold out here! How can you guys stand it?!" Anna exclaimed, hugging herself tightly in attempts to keep warm. It was nearly nightfall, and they were still traveling up the mountain, weaving inbetween trees along the way. Babytooth was fast asleep on her shoulder.
"I told you. You'll get used to it." Kristoff said, rolling his eyes again.
"How long will that be?!" Anna exclaimed again, "And doesn't it get colder the higher up we go?"
"Yes." Kristoff sighed.
"I feel so sorry for people that live high in the mountains." Anna said shivering.
"Thank you. Your sympathy has been noted." Kristoff said sarcastically, tightening his hands on the reins as Sven took a sharp turn left.
"I wonder how Elsa stands it?" Anna wondered, ignoring Kristoff's comment, "She must be freezing! But then again she might be immune to the cold, because she has snow and ice powers. But if that's true is she still able to feel the cold, but not be affected by it?"
"And here we go again." Anna heard Kristoff mutter, but she continued talking,
"Or, does she not feel the cold at all? But then what does she feel? Warmth? Nah, I don't think so. But then does she feel nothing? That would be a bit odd. Is that what all of you in Arrendelle feel like? Since you're all used to the cold what do you feel? I'm guessing you feel the cold, but you just ignore it. Is that right?"
"Uh huh." Kristoff said vaguely.
"Is that just how you feel, or how everyone feels in the cold?" Anna asked, more to herself, "I wonder how all the villagers feel. I wonder how Hans- Oh I just remembered! I've been meaning to ask you...why don't you like Hans?" she questioned, looking at Kristoff curiously. He didn't answer and continued staring off into space.
"Hey! Kristoff! Snap out of it!" Anna nearly shouted, clapping her gloved hands in front of Kristoff's face.
"Huh? Sorry what?" Kristoff said, blinking a couple times, then turned to look at Anna a little confused.
"You weren't even listening!" Anna exclaimed, feeling slightly offended.
"Yes I was!" he said indignantly, shaking his head a little, "Sorry, you were saying something about...hands?"
"Hans." Anna corrected, stressing the s, "Why don't you like him?"
Kristoff opened his mouth, then closed it again, as if thinking over what to say, "Well first off," he started to say, "The people here aren't exactly the best and the brightest. And secondly, he's costing me my job! He's going to shut down my business if I don't-" he suddenly stopped mid-sentence realizing that he was revealing too much.
"If you don't what?" Anna asked, still curious.
"Nothing. Never mind." Kristoff said quickly, turning back around to face the front.
"Well, anyway, if he is going to shut down your business," Anna continued, "I'll convince him not to."
"You'll what?" he snorted, in disbelief, glancing at her.
"I'll convince him to not shut down your business." Anna repeated.
"You're joking." he scoffed, "There's no way you'll be able to do that! I sell ice for a living....in a place that has had heavy snow and blizzards for the past eight-teen years! I'll be losing my job sooner of later."
"No you won't!" Anna said determined, "I'll convince him...in some way or another, but you won't lose your job!"
They were silent for a moment, then Kristoff finally said, "Well....thanks."
"You're welcome." she replied grinning, "Why aren't people here the best and the brightest? What's wrong with them?"
Anna felt Kristoff tense up beside her, and his expression hardened, "Why should you care?" he asked harshly.
"I'm just wondering..." she responded, taken aback at his sudden change in behavior, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"No, something's wrong." Anna countered, "What is it?!"
"I said, it's nothing!"
"Is it because I asked why you don't like the people here?"
"Stop talking."
"Is that it? Why, what happened? Why do you hate-"
"No seriously, stop talking." Kristoff said concerned, putting a gloved hand over Anna's mouth. The moon was shining down brightly upon them, as Sven suddenly slowed to a stop, "Do you hear that?" he said softly, removing his hand from Anna's mouth, and grabbing the lantern attached to the front of the sleigh, looking around suspiciously.
"Hear what?" Anna asked, whispering, confused. She didn't hear anything suspicious.
"Exactly," Kristoff replied, still whispering, "You can't hear anything. Not even the sound of the wind."
Now that he mentioned it, she didn't hear anything. Not the howling wind, or the rustling of the trees....everything had suddenly gone silent.
"What's doing that?" Anna whispered back, suddenly growing terrified.
"Well, I have a vague suspicion," Kristoff whispered, squinting into the darkness behind them, "But whatever it is, isn't good."
Immediately after he said that, Anna heard the distant neighing of a horse, and the sound of hooves pounding against the fallen snow.
Kristoff's eyes widened in realization and fear, "Sven go! GO!" he shouted, turning back around, and hanging the lantern back on the sled, as Sven suddenly shot forward at full speed.
"What?! What are they?!" Anna asked worriedly, as Kristoff grabbed a torch from his pack on the back of the sleigh.
"Nightmares." he responded, lighting the torch with the lantern, standing up, preparing for an attack.
"Nightmares?!" Anna repeated fearfully, quickly turning around while standing up too, to find hundreds of pairs of yellow eyes gleaming in the distance, slowly getting closer.
"Yes Nightmares." Kristoff agreed, "Big horses that are made of black sand that are responsible of everyone's nightmares. They're quite common around here."
"I know what Nightmares are!" Anna remarked, as the Nightmares slowly came into view. They were about the size of regular horses, but were made of black sand, which was trailing behind them as they ran towards then. Their yellow eyes were staring menacingly at them.
"Right," he replied, barely taking notice at what Anna just said, gripping the torch tighter, "Just stay out of trouble, don't touch them if you have an injury, and don't fall off."
"But I want to help!" Anna contradicted, reaching over the back of the sleigh to grab another torch, but Kristoff held out his arm stopping her.
"No!"
"Why not?!"
"How could you possibly know how to fight- them?!" Kristoff questioned as one of the Nightmares leaped at them, waving the torch in front of it as it shrieked in fear and protest and instantly backed away, but continued chasing them, from a safe distance away from the flames.
"Nightmares are common in Corona too!" Anna said indignantly, "My dad taught me how to fight them if I ever come across one!"
"Oh really? How then?!"
"Like, THIS!" she yelled, quickly pulling off the glove, and sticking out her hand in front of one of the Nightmares that leaped at her. The minute her hand touched it, it shrieked in pain. Golden sand was spreading from Anna's hand, until the Nightmare was completely covered in it, then it drifted away, swirling in the wind.
"Woah," Kristoff mumbled, staring at Anna in shock, "How did you do that?"
She grinned, taking off her other glove, and putting them in her pocket, "They fear hope and belief." she replied, "If you are a believer, and touch them, they turn into dream sand and just drift away-"
"Yeah, yeah I can see that." Kristoff interrupted her, "But a believer in what?"
"The guardians." she said simply.
"The what?"
"You don't know who the- KRISTOFF LOOK OUT!" she suddenly shrieked, her eyes widening. While they had been talking, a small trial of black sand had started to encircle Kristoff, slowly getting larger and larger, until it was covering his entire torso. Anna tried to touch it, but she was too late. It jerked him backwards and he flew off the sleigh, wildly looking for something to hold onto. He quickly grabbed and entangled his hand on a piece of loose rope hanging off of one of the packs in the back. Anna snatched the torch out of the air, and watched in horror as Kristoff was dragged through the snow, the black sand quickly spreading throughout him, while the Nightmares quickly advanced on him. His face was filled with terror as he tried to climb up the rope back onto the sleigh, but the black sand was weighing him down. It was now covering his entire body, except his head, starting to slowly creep up his neck. The Nightmares were onto him now, one on either side of him, and hundreds more behind him, steadily closing in on him.
Anna knew exactly what was happening. Her dad had told her about these things. Kristoff was being sucked into a nightmare. The minute he was completely covered in the black sand, he would disappear, and drift away in the wind with it, forever trapped in his own nightmare.
She quickly looked around the sleigh for anything to help him. He was too far away to touch it, to make it disappear, and apparently Kristoff didn't believe so he couldn't do it himself. He was also too heavy so she couldn't just pull him back up by the rope. Her eyes landed on a woolen sleeping bag in the back, and an idea suddenly sparked in her head. She brought the torch down, lighting the bag on fire. She threw the torch aside, since it had gone out, and quickly picked up the burning sleeping bag...with her bare hands. Big mistake. Pain seared through her hands as they started to burn, her eyes watering. Anna bit her tongue hard to prevent herself from screaming, and raised the sleeping bag over her head, preparing to throw it, "DUCK!" she yelled, then threw it as hard as she could, straight to the Nightmares. Kristoff quickly looked up from trying to kick the Nightmares off of him, and saw the burning sleeping bag hurtling towards him. He ducked just in time, and it passed through the Nightmares, making them highly uncomfortable. They neighed in protest and slowed down.
"You almost set me on fire!" Kristoff yelled.
"But I didn't! Now what do I do?!" Anna shouted to Kristoff. She had run out of ideas. He was still covered in the black sand, so he couldn't pull himself up, and she couldn't do it either.
"I don't know!" Kristoff shouted back. The sand was now starting to trial up his cheek, making spiky patterns along the way.
Anna suddenly heard a fierce twittering coming from her left shoulder. Apparently Babytooth had woken up a while ago. She looked down to find Babytooth with a determined expression on her face, then she suddenly shot forward towards Kristoff.
"Wait! Babytooth! What are you doing?!" Anna shouted after Babytooth, but she ignored her, reached Kristoff and started pecking him in the neck and face ferociously.
"Ow! OW! Stop it!" Kristoff protested, shaking his head, trying to shoo her away.
But Anna started to notice that Babytooth was pecking at the black sand, and it was slowly ebbing away.
"Kristoff! Stop moving!"
"Stop moving?!" Kristoff said incredulously, "You're telling me to stop moving?! OW!"
"No listen!" Anna cried desperately, "Babytooth's pecking at you be-"
"Really?! She's pecking at me?! - OW! - I never noticed!" he shouted sarcastically.
"She's pecking at you because," Anna pressed on, "She is trying to get rid of the black sand! Some of it is already gone!"
Babytooth was now working on his shoes. His neck was already cleared, but now it was covered in tiny red dots.
"Is there any way she could do it without pecking me to death?!" Kristoff yelled, glancing back reproachfully at Babytooth as she continued to peck away the black sand on his boots.
"Never mind that! Can you climb back up the rope now?" Anna asked.
"It's still weighing me down!"
"Oh come on, it can't be that heavy!"
"You try being covered in Nightmare sand that weighs a ton, while being dragged through snow by a rope, that could break any minute, while a hummingbird is pecking you to death! See how you feel!" he shouted back angrily.
"Just try!"
He glared at her and then started to slowly inch forward on the rope while Babytooth continued to get rid of the sand.
Anna suddenly heard an enraged neighing coming from a distance. She looked up to find the Nightmares picking up their pace again, and they did not look happy.
"Faster!" she cried. She wasn't sure wether she was talking to Sven or Kristoff, but Sven picked up the pace anyway. Kristoff was halfway across the rope, almost to the sleigh.
Anna reached out her hand towards him as he got closer. His eyes flicked between her hand and her face skeptically.
"I know I can't pull you back up all the way!" Anna said reading his expression, "But I can get rid of the sand!"
His eyes lit up, and his hand shot forward grabbing Anna's. The pain in Anna's hand intensified, and she tensed up subconsciously gripping Kristoff's hand tighter. Golden sand had already begun to take over the Nightmare sand, until it was entirely replaced, making Kristoff seem to glow for a minute then it drifted away in the wind.
Anna immediately let go of him, letting Kristoff scramble up the rest of the way, and hop back into the sleigh. Babytooth zipped away from him, and landed on Anna's shoulder exhausted.
Kristoff looked up and nodded in thanks to Babytooth who slumped against Anna's neck, looking dazed.
Anna quickly glanced at Sven to find that Pascal was sitting high on one of his antlers, and seemed to be scouting ahead, warning Sven is something was coming up.
"What happened to your hands?" Kristoff suddenly asked concerned, looking down at Anna's palms. She looked down at the bright red marks.
"Well...uh-" before she could finish they heard the furious shrieking of the Nightmares who were a lot closer than before, "I'll explain later."
Kristoff quickly snatched the torch off the floor and relit it.
One of the Nightmares took a gigantic leap towards them, but Anna stuck out her hand and before it could stop itself it collided with her, and golden sand started spreading throughout it.
The pain in Anna's hand became unbearable the moment she touched it. A shrill screaming filled her ears. It took her a couple seconds before she realized it was her.
Kristoff grabbed one of her shoulders and wrenched her back as the Nightmare disappeared.
"I said, don't touch them if you have an injury!" Kristoff scolded, "The pain gets worse if you do! Problem is, I've never seen so many of them together before." he finished murmuring, sticking the torch in one of the Nightmares as it leaped at them. It shrieked, and jumped back, with the torch still stuck in it. "Shoot." he groaned.
"No! I can do it!" Anna contradicted, shrugging off Kristoff's hand.
This time, two Nightmares leaped at them, and Anna stuck out both her hands, prepared for the pain.
But the Nightmares jumped back, terrified, and started running in the opposite direction. It appeared that they had learned their lesson to not go near Anna. The rest of them had realized what was going on, and slowed to a stop as the sleigh sped away. They neighed in frustration, and glared at them menacingly, while slowly unraveling, until they flew away in the wind.
Kristoff and Anna stayed silent for a few minutes staring in the distance where the Nightmares were before.
"Well...that could have gone worse." Kristoff said, finally breaking the silence. Anna turned around, and plopped back down in her seat. Kristoff did the same, while taking hold of the reins away.
"I'm so tired," Anna sighed, slumping against her seat; she leaned back her head so she could see the moon, the stars, and the tops of the trees passing by. The moon glowed down on them, giving her a sense of comfort, "I think I might just go to sleep."
"You want to go to sleep now?!" Kristoff said incredulously, "After what just happened?!"
"Y-yes," Anna yawned, getting into a more comfortable position with the sky still in sight. The moon looked so peaceful, and it was making her drowsy, as if it were saying "Go to sleep Anna. You need to rest." In the most kindest voice, "Night Christopher..."
"It's Kristoff."
"Yeah...Christopher...that's what I said.." she mumbled. She was defiantly drowsy now; she could barely keep her eyes open.
She heard Kristoff sigh beside her, as her eyes fluttered shut, and she drifted off to sleep.

==========================
A/N: Hi! I hope you enjoyed! Sorry that I kept you guys waiting...school got in the way. Anyway, onto the next thing. Based on the majority of the comments, Merrida and Hiccup WILL be coming in the next chapter. They will most likely not be that big a role....I still haven't decided, but they are sort of necessary to the story. I AM SO SORRY TO THOSE THAT DIDN'T WANT THEM IN THIS! :( PLEASE FORGIVE ME!
Another question, do you guys want me to use the new version of Hiccup when he's older, or the other one? Thanks!
In the next chapter also, I will be adding 3 more characters which will be a surprise! I'm not sure whether or not you guys will like it, but I still hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for reading, voting, and commenting! :D
Sorry for any spelling mistakes!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own any of the characters, places, or objects mentioned in this story!
I only own the storyline!
The rest belong to 'Disney' and 'Dreamworks'!