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Meltdown

by Concolor44

Author's Note: When my wife and I saw "Frozen" in theater, I nudged her and allowed that we were going to have to get it when it comes out on DVD (Alert! That would be on Tuesday 18 March 2014! Don't miss it!). As some of you may know, it picked up a few Oscars the other night.

I have been obsessed (obsessed, I tell you!) with the song "Let It Go" and have watched that video clip on Youtube probably 200 times. It is one of the few perfect pieces of music I am familiar with (Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings", Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", and Evanescence's "My Heart Is Broken" are also on the list) and I would love to wax rhapsodic as I go over each tiny facet of its awesomeness, but I'm not going to do that here.

My Muse laid this story on me a few days ago, and I just completed the outline last night (it ran to almost 6000 words, but a lot of that is research and necessary timeline/backstory for the OC). I am very excited about this project, this being my first-ever "Frozen" fanfic, and I hope I can convey that excitement to you, Gentle Reader. Also, you should note that if you haven't seen the movie, this will be just loaded with spoilers.

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Disclaimer of Standardness: I have no personal, financial or remunerative stake whatsoever in the Disney Corporation or its subalterns, designees or assigns; the movie "Frozen"; any of the characters that appear in "Frozen" (more's the pity, considering Elsa ... dammit); any of the thousands of people involved in the production, direction or distribution of "Frozen"; or any other person who might be legally connected, however remotely, with any of the entities previously listed. I realize no pelf from this work. The original and incidental characters belong to me, as does the plot. But that's it, folks.

Have fun! And remember that life is TOO SHORT to waste any of it drinking "Lite" beer.

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Prologue

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Thin branches of fir and beech snapped and stung at Anna's face as she ran, the agonized yells fading away behind her lending her reserves of speed she'd not suspected she possessed. She tried to use her bound hands to protect herself, but the short cord running from her wrists to her waist prevented that, and it took all the concentration in her terribly exhausted frame to keep from tumbling down the steep slope. Surely there was a path around here somewhere! She'd not been this far from Arendelle but a handful of times in her young life, but she'd heard enough stories to expect some kind of …

A rough curse behind her – much too close behind her – brought her back to the here and now. They were fast. Too fast. Frantically she looked right and left, taking notice of a fallen tree just up the slope. She struggled through the brush, trying to avoid the yellow-flowered furze for fear of its prickles, and almost succeeding. She picked up a thorn in her right heel and had to bite her lip to keep from screaming at the pain. What was left of her shoes didn't offer much protection; her feet were bleeding already. Quickly making herself as small as she could, she hunkered down and waited while the half-dozen men crashed by her hiding place. Once their sounds tapered off to the west, she popped up and headed back the way she had come, limping slightly from the wound in her foot.

"There she is!"

Crap.

She crabbed along as fast as she could over the rough ground, through the dense undergrowth, fighting the steep grade, and praying hard for a miracle.

But it was not to be. The men gained steadily and finally one of them grabbed her by a braid, jerking her neck painfully. She was spun around to face the seething countenance of the gang's largest member. He drew back his other hand and struck her across the face hard enough to break the skin on her cheek. Her world filled with flashing lights and the hollow sound of rushing water as she slumped to her knees, her final shreds of strength utterly spent.

The man dropped her braid and grabbed her by the neck. His huge hands easily circled her slim throat, and suddenly she couldn't breathe. Yanking her up until their faces were a mere hand's breadth apart, he growled, "My brother! That was my brother, you little bitch! You broke his knee!"

The gang leader came up then and noticed Anna was beginning to turn blue. He punched the other man's arm. "Don't kill her. She's no good to us dead."

His grip relaxed and Anna drew a ragged breath and coughed, tears springing to her eyes. She had told herself she wouldn't cry, that she wouldn't show any fear. She wouldn't give them that satisfaction. But it wasn't working out quite that way: she was terrified, and too tired to dissemble any longer.

"Yeah." He glared at the girl in hate. "Yeah, you're right." He grabbed her bound hands and nearly crushed them in his fist. She gave a gasp of pain and a low moan. "But y'know what? They'll want her back just as bad if she's minus a few fingers."

She looked up at him, crying freely now, and whimpered, "No. Please. Please don't do this."

He pulled a long knife from his boot, laid her hands over a nearby tree trunk, and raised the blade high …

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A/N: More to come soon.