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Kristoff rode Sven, following Ryder on his reindeer through the woods and open meadows. Kristoff had only met Ryder a few hours earlier, but he had rarely found someone who was so easy to talk to. At first, the talk was about reindeer, and, as Ryder began showing him around, to some of the spots the reindeer liked to gather, they began talking about more personal things. Aside from never having been outside of the mist surrounding the Enchanted Forest, Ryder hadn’t had anything particularly exciting happen in his life, so he was eager to hear of Kristoff’s adventures, encountering the princess chasing her sister the queen, and being invited to live in the castle, and this prince that Princess Anna had married, who, at least in Kristoff’s telling of things, seemed both a looming presence and frequently absent.
In between bits of conversation, mostly Ryder pressing with questions about the outside world, they briefly came to a stop on a ridge. Kristoff looked out, trying to find the horizon, and he realized that it was, at best, fuzzy and indistinct. That was the direction of the Dark Sea, but the mist made it difficult to tell the difference between sky and sea out over the water.
“How far can you see on a clear day?” Kristoff asked without thinking.
“What do you mean?” Ryder asked. “That’s about as far as anyone can ever see.”
“Sorry, right.” Kristoff shook his head, remembering that the mist was always there, and had always been there for longer than Ryder had been alive. “So, where were we heading?”
“If you ever want to go to the lichen meadows, they’re over there along that path,” Ryder said, gesturing one way. A moment later he smirked a bit. “But I’m going to take you over here.”
They started on their way again. The night was blending into the day.
“Here we are,” Ryder said.
Kristoff looked around the clearing. “What’s this place?”
“It’s a place people come when they need to… I guess you could say, sort things out?” Ryder said.
“What do I need to sort out?”
“This Hans, the one who’s back in Arendelle, why did he stay behind?”
“I suppose he likes to be in charge,” Kristoff shrugged. “Plus, if anything happens to us, he’ll be Regent for his son.”
“And what about if you do make it back?” Ryder asked. “I don’t think anybody knows how that will happen, but you seem to have a lot of trust in Elsa.”
“Anna will want to get back to her son,” Kristoff said.
Ryder looked at him, then grabbed a flask and handed it to Kristoff. “Here, have a drink of this.”
Kristoff eyed it skeptically. “What is it?”
“It usually helps you to see things more clearly.”
Kristoff took a sip, swallowing a bit before the full perception of the taste hit him.
“Ugh! What is that?” Kristoff exclaimed, shoving the flask back into Ryder’s hands.
“Yeah, it’s terrible, isn’t it?” Ryder laughed. “So, is Anna looking forward to seeing Prince Hans again?”
Kristoff paused. “Here, give me that flask again.”