A/N: Here it is, chapter 4! Apologies for the long wait, I lost momentum in writing, and I had an idea for another fic too. Many thanks to cupcakesplease for proofreading :) Enjoy!

The duo ascended, gradually climbing the steep slopes of the mighty North Mountain. It was bitterly cold, even for Elsa's taste. Fortunately, for them both, they had purchased suitable attire at Oaken's Trading Post.

Anna was frozen, her small form hunched over in the saddle, shivering uncontrollably.

"Maybe this journey wasn't such a good idea after all, Anna"

Anna sat up straight, frost adorning her nostrils. "No, Elsa! It's fine, I'm enjoying myself!"

Elsa quirked an eyebrow.

"More like...I'm enjoying being with you"

Elsa smiled. Oh Anna. When did I ever deserve you?

"We should quicken our pace, though, Anna. There's a storm not far away."

"How do you know?"

Elsa frowned. "Honestly, I do not know. It's as if I can sense it in some way. As if I were there myself, feeling the cold against my skin, but in my mind instead."

"You can feel that?"

"Yes. To the south, I can feel the heat over Arendelle. It's much warmer there than here. It feels like a heavy blanket wrapped around me...almost cloying in nature. It's hard to describe really"

"That...is amazing, Elsa"

Elsa was about to reply when she heard something. A deep, almost otherworldly rumble, coursing through the earth, through their bodies, and through their souls.

"What was that?"

"Thunder. Probably." The storm was to the north, and not the kind to produce any thunder.

Anna shifted in her saddle. "You're right. Let's hurry."

The rumble came again, stronger and louder this time. Growing closer and closer, it filled the girls ears until it was a deafening roar. Looking toward the source, they saw the mountain to their right. Only...mountains didn't move. The entire west slope was sliding downwards, an imposing white cloud of snow at its leading edge, the ground shaking in its presence.

"RUN!"

The girls spurred their horses, speeding aimlessly through the snow, the avalanche descending rapidly upon them. The roar in their ears was unbearable, surely nothing in the Nine Worlds could be so powerful. Here they were, racing away from the white fist of certain death, the sisters stealing frightened glances between themselves before urging their horses on even faster.

A scream.

Elsa whipped her head around. Anna was at her side mere seconds before, but now there was nothing. No sign of her beloved Anna. Elsa twisted around in her saddle, frantically scanning the white ground with her eyes.

Nothing.

"Anna!" Elsa screamed. She whirled her horse around, and, sparing no thought to her own safety, plunged into the wake of destruction the avalanche had left.

It was freezing. Elsa rode through the waist-deep snow, her body weary, her mind hazy. She could barely see. The entire world was white. She was hopelessly lost, and Anna, her dear Anna, was missing. Cold, injured, possibly worse. She needed her.

The effect of the avalanche had on the forest was staggering. It had swept down the mountain at incomprehensible speeds and plunged into the trees. Some still stood, though more had been uprooted, unable to stand against the onslaught of ice and snow. A great chasm had been carved through the sea of trees, and it was this chasm that Elsa was now searching for her sister.

If only there were some sign, anything, that would give a hint as to her sister's whereabouts, but nothing. Everything was white. There was so much white, it invaded Elsa's very soul. She couldn't think; she could barely function. The Snow Queen, outwitted by snow. How very appropriate.

"Anna!"

There was no reply.

"Anna, please! Where are you?"

It was growing dark, and Elsa was grateful. The white was less intense, less invasive. She could think now. She straightened in the saddle, a new sense of determination setting in, until she thought…

Anna will not survive the night.

Nights in the North were bitterly cold, and Elsa doubted that even she could alter the weather enough to warm the winter. She reached her mind out, the presence of utter cold was all encompassing now.

She had to find Anna, and she had to find her soon.

Hours had passed since the avalanche separated the sisters. The moon was high in the sky, the aurorae were blazing, and the temperature was sharp. Elsa was exhausted, her horse even more so, yet she couldn't stop searching.

Elsa was deep in thought, trying to conjure reasons as to why this catastrophe had happened, why the Gods had seen fit to strike the pair down in icy wrath. Elsa was not certain of her beliefs regarding the Gods, and she knew Anna never placed much faith in them. Her people did, as did her late parents. Many believed that the freeze Elsa had caused was the Fimbulwinter, and Ragnarök was soon to follow, where the Gods would do battle in their great halls, and the world of Men would end.

Elsa placed her faith in them this night. Gazing up at the aurorae above her, she said her silent prayer.

A mass of snow fell from a nearby tree, landing with a small thud on the frozen ground. Elsa yelped with surprise and whirled her horse around to investigate. There was something on that tree. Something dark, something wet…

Blood.

Elsa's heart dropped.

No, no, no. Not Anna, please not Anna.

Further, a streak of blood lay on the ground. Elsa rode over to it, and saw another a few yards ahead. Following the sanguine trail, Elsa scanned the forest before her, looking for any sign of her sister.

The trail went on for several hundred yards, until at last she reached an immense bank of snow. It seemed that the avalanche had met more trees than it could muster at this point, and snow had begun to back up.

The trail of blood stopped abruptly. Staring at the bank of snow, Elsa could not see anything, not at first. As she grew closer, a shadow cleared, and she could see the head of a horse.

Anna's horse.

Elsa's stomach tightened at the sight of the beheaded horse, hoping against hope the same fate had not befallen her sister.

"Anna!"

The only reply was the rustle of the leaves.

"Anna!"

The wind whispered through the trees, there was something more to it...a voice perhaps.

"ANNA!" Elsa listened intently for the voice she was certain she had just heard.

Nothing.

Elsa was about to turn around and search in the opposite direction when she heard it once more, ever so faintly, carried on the wind

"Elsa…"

"Anna!" Elsa kicked her horse into a trot, pivoting her head around like an owl, frantically looking for her beloved sister.

"Anna!"

"Elsa...help me."

"Anna! Where are you?"

"Help me…"

To her left. Elsa whirled her horse around and powered through the forest. The trees were becoming too dense, so she dismounted and continued on foot.

"Anna!"

"Elsa...help me…"

Elsa raced onwards, tangles of branches somehow untouched by the avalanche whipping at her face, but she didn't care. Anna was here, within reach. And she was alive.

"Where are you?"

"Els...please…"

She was close, very close. Her small voice came from somewhere around Elsa's feet.

A flash of red caught Elsa's eye. The beautiful auburn of Anna's hair.

"Anna!" Elsa gasped. "Oh, Anna, my dear, sweet, darling Anna! I found you!"

Anna gazed lovingly up at her sister. She had managed to crawl here and cover herself with branches and leaves for warmth. Her face was battered. Long scratches lined her beautiful features, blood leaking out. Her nose was broken, and her left eye was swollen shut.

"Oh Elsa. I knew you'd find me."

And with that, Anna passed out.

With all her strength, Elsa bundled Anna up in her arms and walked back to her tired horse. Heaving her unconscious sister onto the horse's back, Elsa mounted with difficulty. Making sure Anna was secure, she set off in the general direction of Oaken's residence.

Anna's body was bitterly cold. The pair wandered through the darkened forest on their weary horse, Elsa every so often checking if Anna was still breathing. She was, just barely.

"Keep going, Anna"

"Elsa...you found me…"

"I found you, Anna. And I'm never letting you go"

It was growing light again, and the forest was beginning to thin. The trail of destruction left by the avalanche was far behind. Anna was still unconscious, her head nestled in Elsa's chest.

Elsa could faintly see the thin column of smoke that heralded Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna, about a league away. Spurring her horse into a canter, she set off, the dawn sun lighting her way.

The terrain between Elsa and Oaken's was treacherous, and several times she was forced to walk her horse slowly around outcrops, gullies, and crevasses, with Anna perched precariously on the horse's back. Elsa was exhausted, having not slept for at least a day, and Anna was near death…

Finally, mercifully, they reached the front door of Oaken's cabin. Pulling Anna from the horse, Elsa carried her to the front door, and knocked twice, using her foot in place of knuckles.

Oaken opened the door.

"Queen Els-oh my. What has happened? Come in, come in! Put her by the fire."

"Thank you, Oaken". Elsa trudged into the main room wearily, and placed Anna in front of the flickering fire.

Oaken was placing more wood on the fire. "Please, my Queen. Allow me"

"Will she be all right?"

Oaken examined Anna closely. "It is difficult to tell, my Queen. I am no physician, the best I can do is keep her warm and clean her wounds. She may be, though she has suffered greatly. Her body has experienced a great trauma, and she is cold through to her very core. She may…" Oaken stopped at the sound of a single sob from Elsa.

"She'll make it, Oaken" Elsa said, tears streaming down her face. "She has to."

She's all I have