"Keep it down!" Elsa whispers, turning around to make sure that no one is following her.

"How did you... what happened?" Rapunzel squeaks. Elsa crosses her arms as three pairs of eyes stare at her.

"I... uh," she stammers as she tries to find the right words to explain, and fails. "Forget it. Let's just get you guys out."

Elsa lifts a finger and the handcuffs and chains explode into a thousand pieces. The others stare in awe, almost horror.

"I-I didn't know you could do that." Merida says, her usually loud and cheerful voice now a whisper.

Elsa motions them to move faster. They follow her out of the room and down the hallway.

After a few turns, they are standing just feet away from the exit of the dungeon. Outside, the moon peaks behind silver coated trees, reflected by the blue frozen pond, which looks inviting despite its frozen water.

Hiccup gazes at the moon and swallows. "That was...easy."

Until a shadow falls over them and a puff of black smoke blurs out the moon and the frozen pond.

Rapunzel chokes and coughs, dragging her hair over her nose to block out the thick black smoke that starts to sting her eyes. Merida scans her eyes around in an almost panic state as Jake materializes in front of the exit, blocking it entirely by suffocating it with blinding black smoke.

"I see that you don't listen to my orders properly," says Jake in a low voice, eyes darkening.

"I don't recall any orders saying that I shouldn't help innocent people," Elsa replies in a flat voice. "You know what? You should listen to Jack. Keep the fight between you two."

She feels the sudden drop of the temperature around them and shudders.

"Nobody's leaving," Jake hisses dangerously.

"Then I'll stay here. Let them go," says Elsa. "I'll stay with you as long as you want."

Jake tilts his head to one side. "Even if it means forever?"

"Even if it means forever." Elsa nods firmly, her eyes glaring at him.

"Fine. Don't you regret what you said." Jake waves his hand to clear away the black smoke.

"Elsa! We can't just leave you here!" Hiccup argues, stepping forward and reaching out for her. Something rolls across the stone floor, glittering in the dark. It bumps into Hiccup's foot and he picks it up. It's a round glass ball that looks strangely familiar.

"Tap it three times and call the Guardians. They'll take you to a safe place," says Elsa, her voice desperate now. "I'll be fine. Go."

"We'll come back for you," Hiccup promises. He tucks the glass ball into his shirt and pulls both of the girls towards the exit. As soon as the three of them are outside, black smoke crowds around the exit again. Elsa feels something cold hits her back, and she collapses to the ground, until she's no longer able to keep herself awake.

Hiccup forgot how cold winter can be. It's a terrible mistake to run out into the cold without an extra layer of warm clothes. The girls are shivering, especially poor Rapunzel, who's bare-footed. She tries to wrap her golden hair around her body to keep warm.

"Come on, girls. I remember Jack said before that there's a village somewhere around here," says Hiccup, leading the way. "We'll have to find that village as soon as possible before we freeze to death."

Merida and Rapunzel nod weakly and they stay close to each other as they follow behind Hiccup.

After walking for a few minutes, Rapunzel sees smoke rising from behind a row of trees, and what seems to be fire lighting up the dimming sky. "Fire! T-t-there's f-f-fire!" she blurts, teeth chattering.

Hiccup turns to the direction Rapunzel pointed. "Looks like it. Let's hurry up," he said, looking back at the girls and sees Rapunzel lagging behind, barely able to walk. He quickly reaches her side. "I'll carry you on my back," he says, gently clasping her shoulders. "Quick, get on."

Rapunzel is shivering so hard that Merida has to help her to get on Hiccup's back. Hiccup walks as fast as he could, noticing his foot sinking into the thick snow on the ground every time he takes a step forward, now that there's an extra weight on his back.

Soon, a small village comes into view. Merida rushes past Hiccup, calling at a man who's carrying a bunch of firewood. "Uhm, excuse me," she asks. "May I know if there's a place to stay for the night? My friend is freezing to death."

"There's an old barn at the end of this lane," says the man, pointing. "Should be warm enough if you could find some firewood in there."

"Thank you, sir," Hiccup nods at the man and hurries down the lane, Merida following behind.

The old barn is empty and dark, lined with dry hay and smelled of damp wood. Hiccup finds some firewood at a corner of the barn, and tries to light up a fire. Beside him, Rapunzel and Merida huddles together for warmth. The firewood is slightly damp, and it takes quite some time before a small flame sparkled. Rapunzel violently fan her hands at the small flame, desperately trying to make it burn faster.

"Calm down, girl," Hiccup smiles a little. "Cover yourself with some hay. Will help you feel warmer."

Rapunzel gathers some dry hay into her arms and lies down tiredly. Merida does the same.

"So," says Merida, her voice rough. "What now?"

Hiccup stares at the fire and is silent for a long time. He looks up at Merida, who's looking at him too with hopeful eyes, full of confidence that he is able to think of a good idea even in situations like these. He then shifts his gaze to Rapunzel, who's usually cheerful and positive, and sometimes stronger than any of them. But now she just lies there silently, her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth set in a straight line.

After a moment, Hiccup lies down too, although he doesn't feel tired. He frowns when he feel something hard poking at his spine, making him uncomfortable. He tries to shift to a more comfortable position, and suddenly his eyes widen.

"The glass ball!" he exclaims, hands fumbling for the round object he tucked under his shirt earlier. He holds it in his trembling hands, and mumbles frustratingly. "Oh no... I don't really remember how to use this."

Merida props herself up on her elbows and shuffles closer to him. "I think we should tap it three or four times. I'm not sure either," she says, her fingers reaching out and caressing the cold surface of the glass ball. "Three," Rapunzel's voice cuts in, quiet but firm. "It's three times."

Slowly Hiccup taps the glass ball three times. Icy patterns the shape of snowflakes crawl across the inside of the ball. Merida gasps as a shadow appears on it, the blurred lines melting into the features of a bearded man. Even through the small glass ball, they can tell that the man is enormous.

"Who are you?" The man's voice booms, so loud it makes them wince.

"I... uhm... we ...Jack-" Hiccup stuttered for words, not quite sure who the man is either.

"Oh, North, how could you not remember?" A clear, unfamiliar female voice interrupts. "They're Jack's friends!"

A few moments later, a bright, cheery face appears next to the man's. Rapunzel sits down next to Merida and the five of them just stare at each other until Tooth breaks the silent. "Hi, I'm Tooth. Tooth Fairy," she says, waving a little. "And this is North. Santa Claus."

Tooth and North smile as the other threes' eyes visibly widen at the statement. They've heard of Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy as Jack's friends before, but they're seeing them for the first time.

Hiccup introduces themselves with a small smile. "Hi, I'm Hiccup. Merida. Rapunzel," he says, pointing at the two girls sitting beside him. All of them exchange nods and polite smiles.

"Is everything alright? Why are you holding Jack's snow globe?" North asks, eyebrows furrowing like they always does when he's deep in thought.

"It's Jake," Hiccup utters, his voice dry and rough. "He locked Jack away and we don't know where. She...Elsa, she helped us to escape."

"Elsa?" North repeats, the name sounding foreign on his tongue. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know how to say this. She...changed."

Hello my lovely snowflakes! It's been a year T^T
I'm so so so sorry to keep you guys waiting. The fact that I have school exams every few months is really frustrating, and I barely have time to sit down and do what I want. Thank you for your support despite my lack of updates, it's pure miracle that I can even post this chapter.
I hope I can update after my school exam next month! Love y'all!