Amber and Taeyeon had spent their days plodding forward endlessly until their legs ached from all the exertion. They talked and chattered like old friends, regardless of the three year , for Amber was an easy person to get along with. They walked through fields of tall sunflowers, so high upon Taeyeon couldn’t even see over them – Amber relentlessly about her short height. They lived on fruits and whatever small creatures Amber could procure, roasted by the hot fires they made at night to keep them warm and any other hungry beasts away.

“You know, I wouldn’t mind living like this,” Amber commented as they nibbled away at the pieces of flesh provided by the critters the tomboy had caught before. “I can fend for myself, I don’t have to work for anything and best of all, everything’s for free!”

Taeyeon laughed at the way Amber perceived the situation – indeed, those were her thoughts about her life in the forest.

“But there is one thing though,” Amber frowned. “Don’t you get… y’know, lonely?”

Taeyeon let the bone dangle from her fingers as she looked upwards for thought. “Actually, I think that’s why I crave you and your family’s company so much.”

Amber acknowledged the honesty of the blonde’s words and threw away her bones into the fire before wiping her hands on the grass. “I think I’ll sleep now. Goodnight, noona.”

“Goodnight, Amber.”

---

The next day found them continuing their journey again, and the pair both awed each other by their skills in singing; it was merely to distract themselves from the tediousness of the mission. Even though Amber seemed so boyish, her voice was so strong and in tune, and Taeyeon loved it. Amber found herself staring at Taeyeon in amazement as the short blonde reached notes of unthinkable heights. They challenged each other playfully and amused themselves by trying to make up raps and lyrics on the spot.

When the sun had finally reached its peak in the sky, they saw a huge, circular cloud made up from black smoke, slightly pink in the middle as it was right above a mountainous volcano. The two girls looked at each other understandingly and walked on, feeling joy at the fact that they were nearing the completion of their mission; however, they felt apprehensive because of the unknown dangers that they could possibly face when they reached their destination.

When they were nearly up to the top, Amber suddenly slapped her hand over her nose and yelled. “Holy, noona-! Did you do that? I know it’s natural to pass gas and all, but you seriously have to warn me before letting one off…”

Taeyeon rolled her eyes before taking a sniff of the air. “No Amber, that wasn’t me. I think it’s brimstone… it means we’re getting close.”

“Brimstone, yeah right,” Amber mumbled to herself as she kept her hold on her nose. They finally reached the top and hauled themselves over before they could finally behold the awe-inducing sight that stretched out in front of their eyes. From the side of the volcano to the middle, there was a long, rickety, worn-out bridge that was suspended over the bubbling, fiery red liquid lava that volcanoes usually held. Their eyes slowly travelled upwards, and they could do naught but stare at the abandoned looking, yet majestic castle in front of them. Their gaze finally hit the tip, the tallest tower, and both shared a glance.

“Sure, it’s big enough, but look at the location,” Taeyeon laughed. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Amber stared at her as if Taeyeon had grown an extra head. “I don’t know about you, noona, but I wouldn’t wanna live here.”

“Oh yeah, it’s actually too hot,” Taeyeon said as she peeled her shirt off from her already perspiring skin.

As they neared the old bridge, Amber suddenly blurted out. “Um, noona, I have a confession to make right now…”

“What is it, Amber?”

“I don’t do so well with heights.”

“… Are you serious? You? Afraid of heights?”

“Well, I’m just a little uncomfortable about being on a rickety bridge over a boiling lake of lava!” she yelled sarcastically; she was unable to tear her gaze away from all that hot mass of red.

Taeyeon sighed. She wasn’t feeling too good about it either, but she had to stay strong for them both in this situation. “Come on, Amber. I’m right here beside you, okay? You can do this.”

She pulled Amber onto the first plank of the bridge; the latter surprisingly let out a little whimper.

“We’ll just tackle this thing together one little baby step at a time,” Taeyeon said soothingly; she placed herself behind Amber so that the tomboy couldn’t run back.

“That makes me feel so much better,” Amber groaned.

“Just keep moving,” Taeyeon ordered her. “And don’t look down.”

“Don’t look down, don’t look down,” Amber mumbled to herself as she kept her gaze directed upwards.  The bridge creaked with every step they took, like it was going to break if they applied any more pressure to it. Suddenly, one of the wooden planks snapped in half and Amber watched in horror as it sailed downwards into the lava with a splash.

“Noona, I’m looking down! Aaaaaaah!” she shrieked. She turned back towards Taeyeon, the panic evident in her eyes. “Let me go back!”

“But you’re already halfway!” Taeyeon argued desperately.

“Yeah, but I know that half is safe,” Amber whined as she gestured towards the start of the bridge.

Wordlessly, Taeyeon stared at Amber. Then suddenly, she gave the bridge an almighty shake.

“Yah! Don’t do that!” Amber yelled as she took a step backward.

Taeyeon grinned to herself. “Oh I’m sorry. Do what? Oh, you mean this?”

She violently jerked the bridge’s rope up, making the whole thing rock unsteadily from side to side.

“Yes, that!”

“Yes? Yes, do it. Okay!”

“No noona! Nooo!”

Taeyeon kept swaying the bridge back and forth until Amber had safely reached the end… backwards. The tomboy only opened her eyes once she realised that she was standing on a hard, stable feeling surface. She looked up to see Taeyeon grinning proudly at her.

“C’mon, llama, let’s go,” the blonde smiled before patting Amber on the head. Amber could only stare after the blonde, pleasantly shocked by her ingenuity.

The minute they stepped foot inside the castle, they were attacked by waves of cold air.

“What the hell?” Taeyeon mumbled, rubbing her shoulders with her hands to get the friction heat happening. “It was the hottest thing I’ve ever felt out there, and now I feel like I’m gonna be frozen in two seconds.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty… weird… Hang on, noona, what are those?”

Taeyeon swivelled around to see Amber looking at what seemed to be a large block of ice.

“Ice, I guess? No wonder it’s so cold…”

“Yeah, but look at it more closely…”

Taeyeon squinted at it and was horrified to see that she was able to make out the face of a man within the ice block.

“Oh my god… are those humans in those blocks?”

“… I think so,” Amber replied. “That’s pretty freakin’ scary.”

Looking around, they were surprised to see that they hadn’t immediately noticed the many ice blocks littering the area all around them – they were everywhere.

“Reckon those guys tried to rescue the princess?” Amber asked in an undertone.

“Probably…”

“Then we’ll prove to them that we’ll be able to do it. Come on, noona!”

Taeyeon stared at Amber incredulously. “So you’re afraid of heights, but not scared of being turned into an ice-man?”

“Well, I can’t help my phobias,” Amber shrugged. “But seriously, we’re gonna have to progress more carefully now, noona.”

“Oh yes, because I’d really want to run around and get myself turned into an ice-man,” Taeyeon snorted. They kept walking forward at a constant pace; they kept their guards up, ready to run at the first sign of danger. Taeyeon found it interesting how every single ice-block they passed showed no signs of being worn down – each and every block was a perfect rectangular prism.

“How is it possible for each block to be so… so intact?” Taeyeon whispered. “You’d think they might have melted over time… we’re standing right on top of a volcano, for god’s sake.”

“I don’t know noona, this is kinda creepy…” Amber muttered nervously. They kept going, though they felt more scared than before. Aside from all of those chilling ice blocks, there were many knights in suits decorating the place; even though they were magnificently built, tall and held sharp weapons while posing in intimidating stances, they still made the dark space somehow look grander. Gruesome, yet impressive, gargoyle statues hung from the ceilings and the walls. Taeyeon, while inspecting ever corner of the castle minutely, noticed that everything seemed to be in immaculate shape. It was strange, really.

It had certainly been brighter outside – Taeyeon guessed it was still the middle of the day as they hadn’t taken much time to climb the volcano even though it looked rather large; there was an easy path the two girls had followed all the way up there. However, the castle was now filled with a gloomy light, courtesy of the heavy black clouds hovering high overhead the volcano. The light coming in from the scarce openings scattered throughout the castle walls doused everything in a dark, dull blue colour.

They finally reached a staircase that seemed to split off into two parts.

“Uh… you wanna separate, noona?” Amber whispered. Her breaths were visible, each exhalation coming out as a small white puff.

“No, I’m really scared right now,” Taeyeon confessed. “I think we should stick together.”

“Yeah, I was hoping you’d say that,” Amber said, relieved. “I think we should each grab a helmet or something, y’know, just in case…”

Taeyeon was a little incredulous at the idea of a bulky metal helmet covering her head, not to mention it would limit her vision, but it was a practical idea, she concluded. They both crept over to the suits and donned a helmet each. For good measure, Amber also slid a sword from the knight’s grip; she was comforted by the smooth grating noise it made, which meant that it was well sharpened.

They both decided to head over to the left of the stairs – the long corridor they faced slowly evened out from steepness; it became flat and easy to tread along. They kept walking cautiously forward through the long, narrow stone ground, feeling the cold air cover their bodies as they continued on.

“Is it me, or is it kinda getting colder…?” Amber mumbled, shivering.

“I don’t know how on earth it can possibly get any colder.”

Suddenly, she realised that the pathway seemed to be heading slightly downwards. In her mind’s eye, she suddenly had a flashback to her little fairytale that she’d read only about a few days ago, really. If that little novel was a guide to go by, then shouldn’t the princess be in a much higher area? They finally walked past one of the rare openings in the ceiling before stopping; the ground beneath them was illuminated a lighter blue for a few metres ahead.

“Amber… I think we’re going the wrong wa-“

“Wait, hold on, noona. Can you see something up ahead?” Amber muttered as she squinted into the darkness.

And then before she knew it, Taeyeon had every single breath of air she’d ever taken knocked out of her lungs in the form of a pained yell as a hard, cold object slammed into her with an impact that felt like the equivalent to the force of a large pole slamming into her. She had instinctively raised her arms up to defend herself, and felt the odd sensation akin the one she’d imagined to be like flying… though probably at around seventy degrees parallel to the ground, backwards. She whooshed through the air towards the sky, through the hole in the ceiling and opened her eyes to see that directly in front of her torso was an endless stretch of ice.

Suddenly, the pressure on the blonde’s thin arms was gone and she continued to sail through the air weightlessly until gravity decided to jump in and change her direction from north-east to north-west. She couldn’t see behind her, but coincidentally there was another huge opening right on the side of the tallest tower’s roof. She flew through it and crash landed heavily on something soft. The mattress gave an almighty boing as its springs creaked under the sudden weight and the elastic energy in it dictated that she should immediately get thrown right off it. She rolled onto the floor and groaned; she closed her eyes, uncaring of where she was, just trying her best to catch her breath after that amazingly breath-taking flight. She didn’t get to see the Princess being jolted awake from her bed as she lay there, breathing heavily.

---

A/N: Woot, update! It should probably be a little obvious by now, but this fic ain't gonna be a long-assed, 40 chapters plus fic. The movie is simply too short for that, and in that time taken to read all of this, you could have finished the movie by now...maybe. Unless you read really fast.

Btw, this chapter I sort of... cut in half. It would have taken up 4k words plus, and I know how people's minds wander when something starts to lose their attention. :/

On another note, thank you all so much for subscribing and commenting thus far. It's really awesome and I'm glad you guys did, and hope you will continue to support. I love you all!