A/N: So I don't know if you have "wild beaches" where you're from - it's basically a beach with no buildings where you go camping; that's where the story is set. Also, this features a tiny cameo from Guy and the Croods.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Reviews and constructive criticism are highly appreciated. If you wonder about accents and lingual innacuracies, ask me, I'll explain (since I like everything to be as detailed as possible).
Inspired by my vacation at the best wild beach to ever exist (even if this took me a whole month to finish). Enjoy!
Four Fireflies and a Fortnight
The first day of the wild beach wasn't all that special for Jack anymore – he'd come so many times with his mother and sister. It was, however, the first time he'd taken here his college friends and he was kind of seeing it all through their eyes – the camp they set up in between those weird trees with silver leaves and thorns was a colourful almost-mess of tents, hammocks, sleeping bags, shawls put up to make shadow, made-up benches and shelves, plastic cutlery, long-lasting food and a real actual fireplace, not to mention the movable tap and gas cooker. (To their surprise, and much to Jack's delight and pride, it was extremely comfortable.)
After it was all ready, Jack wound up spending the rest of the day with Rapunzel – Eugene was dead-asleep in the first hammock he'd found (and rightfully so, he'd been driving non-stop for one and a half days!), Aster was far into the sea swimming and Tooth had ran off to collect shells and pretty stones along the bay's length; the petite girl, however, stuck with Jack. The two were very close, if unlikely, friends – they'd bumped into each other on the first day of college and remained the best of buddies ever since. By now they'd built a sibling-like relationship (given how protective Jack was when it came to Rapunzel's boyfriends and she was when it came to his sleeping pattern). So they swam and splashed each other, she helped him with the design of a sand castle and he watched her as she sketched the brunet sitting on the rocks not far away.
On the second day the two managed to get everyone else to help them with their sand Hogwarts (which only took them the whole morning). After lunch the others scattered while Jack and Rapunzel busied themselves with making the castle a fosse and a defence wall to protect it from the waves that became bigger and bigger the closer it got to night. All the while the same brunet was sitting in the same place on the rocks and watched them as they mixed fine sand with water and then piled it in a neat line.
On the third day the five spent the morning in a quest for mobile signal. (The beach, the entire bay, in fact, was a signal- and Internet-free are. "Complete relax," Jack's mother liked to say.) The quest took them to the top of a cliff that overlooked the sea – there, a hundred meters above sea level, they found one elusive dot of signal.
When they returned, Jack and Rapunzel hurried to check on their sand castle. The wall had held – only a bit of the staircase had crumbled; what interested them more was that the grounds had now acquired a pretty good makeshift Whomping Willow. Rapunzel claimed it wasn't her handiwork and Jack had an inkling of whose it might be – the suspect was once again sitting in his usual place upon the rocks, scribbling in a sketchbook. The albino raised his eyebrows at the concentrated brunet, but did nothing. (For now.)
On the forth day Jack rose an hour after sunrise with the intention of checking on their Hogwarts and then swimming, but as soon as he caught sight of the castle he turned around and lightly shook Rapunzel who'd decided on sleeping in a hammock that night.
"Hey," he murmured, making her awakening that bit easier, "guess who's there again."
He was – auburn hair tousled, sunglasses askew on his nose ("I'd never seen him wear sunglasses," Rapunzel mused), fiddling with the sand wall. Jack had half a mind to go and confront him, but decided against it. A breakfast later the brunet was gone. (They found a sheet of stones and shells covering the outer side of the wall, fixed in the sand like dragon scales to keep it from the crashing waves.)
Sometime before noon Jack and Rapunzel went to the beach to swim for a bit, then lay down to sunbathe and while they did so they watched the brunet on the rocks. (Surprise – he was there again!) This time he wasn't alone – a head full of red curls was appearing and disappearing in the water by the rocks he was sitting on. They bantered back and forth as he sketched; he sometimes quipped something sarcastic and she splashed him playfully. At one point she didn't answer for a long time, so he abandoned the sketchbook and went to the edge of the rock to look for her – and then she pushed him from behind. He tumbled in the sea with a shriek and a splash, then came up on the surface coughing up water – to the sound of the girl laughing.
"What the- Merida!" he hollered, a touch of Scottish to his accent. "For the love of-" Then a wave hit the back of his head and the redhead laughed so hard she chortled. Jack and Rapunzel giggled quietly and decided that if either of the two was there the next day, they'd go and make friends with them.
On the fifth day Rapunzel woke Jack so they could watch the sunrise. They sat on the beach bundled up in favourite sweaters and holding cups of coffee as the sun moved up, the sky became brighter and the sea – gleaming. (Jack decided they were doing it every day.) Then they started walking along the bay's arch, for Rapunzel wanted to see the whole of the wild beach. All of the places for camps under the silver trees, plus the small pine forests at the far end of the bay, were on a bit of a hill, with paths and staircases leading to the sea, so those camps couldn't be seen; but plenty of people put their tents on the very sand. The two walked by and saw as others crawled out of their tents and sleeping bags or meditated or did yoga or fixed fishing rods in the sand. They walked to the cape in the end of the bay (four kilometres from their camp) before deciding to go back. During the return journey they watched as other campers washed their dishes in the sea, had breakfast or simply moved about. The two tried to guess which camp was the brunet and Merida's, but it probably wasn't correct.
The brunet didn't appear until after six o'clock, when the sun was beginning to hide behind the hill and shadows were creeping on the beach. Jack had looked at the rocks out of stubbornness more than anything else and had seen him.
"Punz," he'd called immediately, "he's there!" A minute later they were marching to where he was sat in his usual place.
"Hello!" Rapunzel called when they climbed by his side; he looked up and smiled at them as a greeting. "It's terribly intrusive of us, but what are you drawing?"
"No, sure, have a look, it's no problem." And he gave them his sketchbook, revealing a striking picture of the bay.
"This is incredible," the girl gushed over it, "and all in charcoal? Outstanding! And those strokes here – my, so intricate… What technique are you using?"
"Slow down, Punzie," Jack laughed, "let him breathe!" He grinned at the brunet. "You're really talented, extremely so if she's that impressed. Am I right in assuming that the Whomping Willow is your handiwork as well?"
He nodded. "I hope you don't mind it – and the stones on the wall. That Hogwarts must be protected at all costs, it's a work of art right there!"
"Haha, thanks, Rapunzel here's the chief architect, I just put sand where she told me to. I'm Jack, by the way."
The brunet shook the offered hand. "Hiccup, nice to meet you both."
Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "That's your name?"
"What?"
"Hiccup."
He raised an eyebrow. "Rapunzel?"
"Hiccup?"
"Okay, touché. You can't tell me it's the most ridiculous nickname you've heard."
"He can't," Rapunzel suddenly agreed, "how would you rank Tooth and Cottontail? Or better yet – Kangaroo?"
"It's not my fault he's the best bloody basketball player!" Jack defended himself, making the other two laugh.
"In all seriousness, though," Hiccup spoke after a bit, "why Rapunzel?"
"I used to have this really long, golden-blonde hair when Jack and I met. But then some stuff happened and I needed a change, so I went in a hair-dresser's and said, 'Cut my hair and dye the rest brown.' The stylist's face was so horrified!"
"Oh yeah, and it was quite freaky for a while, she and Tooth had the exact same haircut, were the same height, they looked like twins!" Jack added.
"Then, of course, she dyed her hair all the colours of the rainbow, so we're not twins anymore. Why's your nickname Hiccup?"
"Honestly? I don't even know anymore, I think I've had it since I was a 'wee devil', as my cousin Merida would say. Come to think of it, it was probably her who came up with it, like the rest of our gang's nicks."
"Is she that red-haired girl who pushed you of the rocks yesterday?" Jack questioned.
"Hah, so you saw? Yeah, that's her." He chuckled fondly. "She can be a pain, but she's my pain. You know she actually came yesterday to see the castle? Everyone in my camp knows about it. Some said they might drop by and see it for themselves. Following that train of thought, if you see twins with long blond hair, take my advice – run to save your Hogwarts or, better yet, run away."
Jack laughed. "Okay, we'll have it in mind."
"You're laughing now," Hiccup waged his finger at him with a grin, "but just you wait – they're worse than a herd of sugar-high yaks!"
"Oh no," Rapunzel giggled relentlessly, "are you really serious?"
"Yes, I'd gladly stay and prove it with countless tales of horror and random explosions, but the sun's low, I must be going."
"Well, it was really nice meeting you," Jack smiled. "Would you mind coming tomorrow as well? We were planning on building a sand Minas Tirith, we could use a hand."
"If your cousin wants to, bring her along, I'd love to meet her," Rapunzel smiled.
"Sure, we'll come, I think it'll be fun. In the morning or in the afternoon?"
"Whenever you feel like it, we'll probably be on the beach the whole day."
"Okay. Well, once again, it was great to meet you." He shook hands with them both. "See you tomorrow!" With that he hopped off the rocks, his sketchbook tucked under his arm.
On the sixth day Jack and Rapunzel woke up early again (true to their promise to watch the sunrise) and by eight were already sunbathing, having eaten and swum before that; when their new friends came an hour later, the two were just exiting the sea for the second time. When he saw them, Hiccup laughed.
"Well, aren't you up early! I only just managed to wake Mer and you're swimming already!"
His cousin punched him in the shoulder good-naturally. "Stop it, ye're paintin' meh in da worst light!" Her accent was far more prominent than his. "Ah jus' donnae like early mornin's an' here ye are, makin' meh inta some lazy bum or somethin'!" As soon as he snickered her face bloomed into a grin and she turned to the other two (who were also giggling). "It's very nice ta meet ye both, Hiccup hasnnae shut up 'bout ye an' yer sand castle. ("Oi!") Ah'm Merida."
They shook her hand with the biggest smiles. "I'm Jack and that's Rapunzel."
"Punzie, it's a pleasure! Glad you like our Hogwarts."
"Ye bet ah do, it's incredible! Are ye serious 'bout us helpin' ye with a Minas Tirith?" The two nodded proudly.
"Have you finished the sketch of what it'll look like?" Hiccup butt in.
"Not quite," the other brunette answered, "I wanted you to have a look at it first, I'm not sure where the tombs ought to be…"
"Somewhere 'round the back, I think, or was it on another hill behind the city…"
"While they're figuring this out," Jack turned to the redhead, "I heard you too were awful at nicknaming people…"
She burst out laughing. "How dare ye!"
The four talked animatedly the whole time it took them to build the fantasy city (only two hours, surprisingly) and they just seemed to click – like long-lost siblings, soulmates even. Jack and Merida bantered back and forth just like she did with her cousin, Hiccup and Rapunzel gushed over various forms of art with the same enthusiasm, the two girls shared music and hobby preferences, the boys exclaimed over crazy stunts the other had pulled, and it was like the four of them had known each other forever. They sat on the beach conversing long after the sand city was finished, long after the summer sun formed beads and rivers of sweat on their skin, long after Tooth called Jack and Rapunzel up for lunch. (They tried to invite the other two to join, but they declined. Instead, it was decided that the four of them would hang out again in the afternoon of the next day.)
Neither the mild nausea from the heat, nor the grumbling stomachs mattered – they all felt they had Found and were Found.
On the seventh day Hiccup and Merida turned up with a whole backpack of stuff.
"It's equipment for scuba diving," Hiccup explained while Jack and Rapunzel marvelled over their almost professional swimming masks, snorkels and flippers.
"It's jus', da sea's so calm an' clear, we knew we had ta explore 'round da rocks a wee bit," Merida put in with a sheepish smile. "Hiccup's even taken his waterproof camera ta document it all fer his mother!"
He nodded. "Yeah, I have. We hoped you'd join? We've taken stuff for you too."
"Oh, you didn't need to, we have our own equipment," Rapunzel assured.
"It's nowhere near as pro as yours, though," Jack said, "those masks look like you could explore Titanic with them, holy cow!" The two laughed.
"We go scuba divin' a lot, it's better ta have somethin' that'll last longer," the redhead explained.
"Where do you go?" Rapunzel asked as Jack went to grab his and her stuff.
"'Round the coasts at home, the water's far colder so it's not much use for anything else…" Hiccup rubbed the back of his head. "Plus, mum's a marine biologist, we've been tagging along since we were old enough to swim without supervision."
"Before that too," Merida chortled, making the other two boom with laughter.
"So you two grew up together?" the brunette questioned, "That's amazing!"
"Well, yes an' nae – ah live in a castle a hundred an' fifty kilometres away from his village an' ah've only ever spent da summers at his."
"But we come to the castle every Christmas Eve and we've always been close – not to mention there were only five other kids in the village and Mer's always been the coolest of them."
She grinned, pushing at his shoulder. "Shut it, ye! Ye're sayin' ah was even cooler than Astrid?"
He smiled lopsidedly. "Well, at least with you I could talk…" She chortled at that.
"That's da girl he likes," she told Rapunzel who was very much enjoying their banter.
"Okay, first of all," Hiccup had trouble keeping a straight face, "first of all, shut up, and-and second, does she even count as "the girl I like" if we're going out?"
Merida feigned shock. "Ye mean ye donnae like her anymore?!" Then, at his dry expression, she lost it and burst out laughing.
"Oh, you're going out, that's so cool!" Rapunzel gushed, earning a sheepish smile from the brunet.
"Who's gong out with who?"
The three turned to Jack, who was looking at them with a somewhat perplexed grin, and, at the prospect of having to explain it all over again, doubled over in uncontrollable laughter. (Jack called them ridiculous, laughing himself. Eventually he did learn who was going out with who.)
The entire afternoon they explored around the rocks Hiccup liked to sit on. They saw cancers and tiny hermit crabs, and oysters and elusive fishes, and ethereal transparent jellyfish, Rapunzel even spotted a sea-horse. They also saw shells and pretty stones, and weird caves in the rocks, and algae and anemones, and corals, and sun beams through the blue water. (Jack claimed that it was like NatGeo in 4D. Merida insisted it was far better.) And they jumped and somersaulted from the rocks into the turquoise depth, bringing hoards of bubbles after themselves; stayed underwater until they had no more breath, surfaced for a moment and then dived again, and Hiccup caught it all on the camera. And the late afternoon sun gleamed on the sea surface and in their eyes as they laughed and splashed each other, and light got caught in the little droplets of salty water that flew everywhere, and the memory of that day was forever bright in their minds.
On the eighth day the four played a few friendly matches of volleyball (that weren't friendly at all). As it turned out, while Hiccup and Rapunzel just enjoyed it and were generally a good sport, Jack and Merida were both overly ambitious and played for victory and victory at any cost, which brought the games a certain competitive air. Needless to say, when the two wound up on the same team their brunet friends were thoroughly destroyed. (They were super chill about it, though.)
On the ninth day Hiccup and Merida joined jack and Rapunzel two hours after sunrise ("Ungodly early," as the redhead complained) to go searching for signal. It took them no less than forty minutes to make it to the high cliff where they spent the next two hours checking emails, making calls and laughing at each other's parents. (Rapunzel had bid hers goodbye twenty times, but one of them always remembered something to add. Merida joked with her mom and dad for ten minutes, and then spent just as much answering serious questions. Jack had put his little sister on speaker and she'd had an animated chat with the four of them after which she'd hung up, so her brother had had to dial again to hear his mother. Hiccup had had himself put on speaker on the other side of the line, answering at least a dozen adults that yes, their children were all still alive, yes, they had had all their limbs when he last left the camp, no, he wasn't responsible for their antics (they were grown adults, Odin darn it!), yes, he was going to try and keep them out of trouble, Merida would help him with it and "Yes, mom, I'm great, thank you for asking". That call had left him with a headache and Jack – in breathless laughter.)
They somehow managed to get lost on the way back - even though Jack knew the path like the back of his hand – and wandered through forests and fields of sunflowers for what felt like ages. At one point they found a river that seemed to flow in the right direction, so they followed it; it was nearing four in the afternoon when the group finally found themselves on the beach (in the very middle of it, no less), hungry as a pack of wolves, tired as hell and in desperate need of a swim to cool them off. After that swim they hastily bid each other goodbye and hurried off to their respective camps, hoping their friends would've left them something to eat – "Or ah'll eat them," Merida threatened. (Jack and Rapunzel honestly prayed her campmates were considerate enough.)
On the tenth day Jack left the camp right after sunrise to call his sister again – he'd come up with a gift for their mother's birthday and he needed her to set some things in motion. Despite his protests, Rapunzel made and gave him three sandwiches for breakfast. ("You said you might walk around a bit – what if you got lost again, hm? Take them and shut up, I'm older than you.") Upon his return around three hours later he found his brunette friend on the beach with Hiccup and Merida, the three of them taking photos of their sand masterpieces, for they were starting to crumble down.
"Done with the photoshoot?" he called to them with a grin by way of greeting. They looked up and smiled as well.
"Jack!"
"Haha, hi!"
"Wotcher, Jack!"
"It's a great thing you thought to take a photo of them," the albino commented, walking down to them. "If you're finished, though, I found a great place for swimming."
The three looked at each other slightly puzzled.
"Ye did?"
"I thought you'd gone to find signal?"
"Yeah, I did so too, that's what you said to me this morning, did you change your mind?"
He laughed at their expressions. "No Punz, I did speak with Emma. But on the way back I saw this path and decided to follow it and voila! A secret place. You'll all like it, I promise."
The others shrugged, grinning at the prospect of what looked like an adventure. "Lead the way then," Hiccup urged – and off they went.
At first they took the pathway to the place with signal, but halfway up the hill Jack swerved into a smaller, more overgrown path and the four of them walked in between briers and brambles black with berries as the late morning sun slowly scorched the backs of their necks. It wasn't long before they found themselves on a smaller cliff, ten metres under which lay a calm clear pool of dark blue water and a tiny beach of smooth, polished stones, and a path lead from the beach to the cliff.
Hiccup, Merida and Rapunzel stood rooted in one spot, mouths agape and eyes wide with wonder; Jack felt as proud as he had when his college friends had first seen the wild beach. He smiled softly. "Told you you'd like it."
"'Like' is… nowhere near strong enough," the brunette murmured enchanted.
"It's incredible," Hiccup agreed, "so peaceful… Yet I can't not do this." He looked over the edge once more, nodded and shimmied out of his green T-shirt.
Merida raised her eyebrows at him. "Are ye doin' whut ah think ye're doin'?" He just grinned at her and with a running start and an exhilarated shout jumped off the cliff and into the water below. This startled a laugh out of the others and not a minute later the rocks around echoed with three more yells and a loud collective splash.
They spent hours there, cliff-jumping, floating around and splashing each other, and swimming underwater with their eyes wide open, for the little pool was clear and deep. (They all missed lunch again, but oh, was it worth it!)
On the eleventh day the four (the Big Four, as Eugene had dubbed them the previous evening while listening about the secret place) sat in Hiccup's usual place upon the rocks for the entire afternoon, talking about anything and everything. The flow of their conversation was steady and calm, each – at ease with the others. (Guess they really were soulmates after all.) Unnoticeably and somehow naturally, they bared their souls and were immediately accepted: Merida shared about her past quarrels with her mother and (for the second time aloud) admitted she too was at fault for them; slightly teary-eyed, Rapunzel recounted how she'd found out her 'mother' had actually kidnapped her long ago, how she'd ran away and told the police and how Jack and Eugene had found her true family; Jack himself quietly spoke of his father who'd just walked away when it'd become too much and of a little boy holding his baby sister and watching through the frosted window, vowing to never do the same; Hiccup murmured of loneliness, of a pet that changed him to the better and which was more than worth a coma and a broken leg. They huddled closer after that, offering as much physical comfort as they did through words, and, perhaps lost in their own little world, didn't notice the change of wind and the clouds rolling in from the west until it was too late; when Tooth flew down the path, calling for Jack and Rapunzel and that it was about to rain, a fat raindrop landed on Merida's nose, then another two on her cheek and on Hiccup's hand. She looked at him worriedly.
"D'ye think we'll get ta da camp before it starts?"
Her cousin glanced up and frowned when yet another droplet almost fell in his eye. "I highly doubt it, looks like it'll be pouring before we reach the caravans… You have something to change into once we get back?"
"O' course," she went to answer, but Rapunzel interrupted them.
"Wait, are you two actually considering walking back to your camp – the one that's on the other side of the beach – when it's about to rain? No, no, no, that is not happening, you'll stay in our camp till it stops."
The two immediately started protesting. "Oh no, we couldn't-"
"That'd be-"
The petite brunette raised a single eyebrow at them, her eyes gleaming dangerously. (This effectively shut them up.) "I don't know what brought you here," she stated, "maybe it was fate, or destiny-"
"A migraine," Hiccup mumbled to Merida, making her snort.
"But listen here, and listen well." She looked at them both with a gaze of stone and a voice of steel. "You could spit every excuse my way, every single one, but while I'm here there is no way you're walking to your camp in the rain."
The cousins exchanged a look – who would've guessed kind Rapunzel to be so fiercely protective! She smiled at them. "Also, they never would've let you either." And she turned to Jack, who'd ran off to meet Tooth and the two were now speaking. "Jack? They're thinking of going to their camp."
"What, in this weather?" the Indian girl gasped incredulously. Jack shook his head.
"No, no way, you two are staying with us, period."
Rapunzel giggled at the other two's gaping expressions. "There you go. Now let's get up there or we'll catch a cold."
The cousins huffed – bloody keepers, those three. (They wouldn't change a hair on their heads.)
Once the five entered the camp Hiccup and Merida helped the others cover or hide everything that could get wet; when they finished the rain was beginning to thicken, so Jack ushered them all in his tent.
The camp consisted of only three tents – Aster had one, Eugene and Rapunzel shared the other and Tooth insisted on sleeping in a hammock, but Jack's was the biggest. It was the tent his family used for going camping, so the sleeping area could accommodate four people and there was an 'anteroom' just as big; the seven fit in perfectly. Another good think was that most of the luggage was in that same 'anteroom', which allowed Jack quite the supply of sweaters and blankets to hand out.
Once they were all warm and comfortable, a small lamp lighting up their faces and the rain drumming on the outside of the tent, Hiccup and Merida were officially introduced to the other campers. To Jack and Rapunzel's delight, they fit right in with their group of best friends, making the evening the exact opposite of cold and dreary – warm and bright, full of animated discussions and laughter. (It all got even better once Eugene pulled out half a dozen packets of cookies and waffles and a bag of candy from somewhere – whoever says food isn't linked to happiness is either wrong or starving.) And when it was near midnight and it was still raining cats and dogs, Jack dug out two more sleeping bags for the cousins and also T-shirts for them to wear to bed. Rapunzel, Eugene and Aster said their 'goodnight's and hurried to their tents, huddled under jackets, but Jack and Tooth made sure their guests were comfortable and cosy before snuggling into their own sleeping bags.
They fell asleep listening to the pitter-patter of the rain over the tent and trees, Merida's head resting on Hiccup's shoulder.
On the twelfth day Jack still watched the sunrise with Rapunzel, although for the life of him he couldn't figure out how he managed to sneak out of the tent without waking either of the three inside. The beach looked a little bleak with all the wet sand and lack of umbrellas, but the clouds were long gone behind the horizon and the warm sunlight promised to dry it all, so the two were quite optimistic. When they got back up in the camp, they found Aster who was heating up water; the three of them had coffee together (even if Rapunzel opted for a mint-flavoured cocoa) and then started tidying up around – putting up the hammocks and shawls that made shade, uncovering the food, all that jazz. By the time the others had woken up, which was about an hour later, the camp had regained its initial look of a colourful and cosy almost-mess.
Still sleepy, Hiccup and Merida gratefully accepted a cup of coffee each, but refused the offer of breakfast.
"We'd better go back, our friends are probably worried," Hiccup apologised.
"There must be someone sensible enough to know that you've stayed here," Rapunzel insisted.
Merida nodded, turning to him. "Astrid's sensible."
"Look, I love her and all, but she always goes for the worst case scenario, at this very moment she probably imagines how we were eaten by wild boars or whatever!"
"But Eret has some common sense, right? Fishlegs has, if he doesnnae panic immediately, mah brothers arennae brainless an' Heather's there as well, she'll have kept da guys in check, donnae ye think?"
He sighed. "I just hope the camp isn't a complete wreck when we get there, you know the gang can be like chickens with their heads off sometimes."
"True," she conceded.
"So you are leaving without breakfast after all?" the brunette asked.
"Yeah. Thank ye for yer hospitality, all o' ye, but we really have ta go."
"Oh, don't say goodbye yet," Rapunzel protested, "we'll send you off! We have to clear any misunderstandings, right?"
"Yep, plus we never saw you guys' camp, I'm curious," Jack grinned.
Hiccup laughed. "Okay, but can we please go now? I really am worried."
"He's kind o' da leader o' our gang," Merida informed Jack and Rapunzel when he went looking for something in the tent. "He looks out fer everyone an' keeps da more unruly ones in check an' honestly, ah get his concern, some o' our friends are, ah, explosively wild."
The two friends shared a look. "Now I'm really curious…" Jack muttered.
The four waved Aster, Tooth and Eugene goodbye and headed south along the bay's arch. After about half an hour, when they were close to the middle of the beach, Merida squinted in the (very near) distance. "Hiccup, ah think ah see- yes ah do, better brace yerself, lad!"
He looked at her. "Mer, what the-" Then he saw the blonde running towards him and before Jack and Rapunzel knew it she was punching him in the shoulder.
"Son of a half-troll!"
"OW, Astrid!"
She then hugged him. "I thought you'd drowned!"
"I told you you were being overdramatic," a new, southern-sounding voice stated; a black-haired girl was grinning in front of them. "Wotcher Hic, Mer! And you two must be Jack and Rapunzel? I've heard a lot about you, I'm Heather." They shook her hand with a smile. "I'm sure you must've guessed so, but the impolite emotional wreck over there ("I'm not!") is Astrid."
"It's nice to meet you," the blonde mumbled, probably ashamed a bit. "And sorry I kind of ignore you, Mer." The redhead waved her off.
"No worries. We havennae drowned, as ye see, we crashed at Jack an' Punzie's camp ("Told you so!" Heather sing-songed. Astrid rolled her eyes.), but ah'd really like ta get back ta ours an' see mah wee devils. Did da rain surprise ye?" she asked as the now six continued walking.
"No, not really," Heather replied. (She seemed to do all the talking since the blonde had glued herself to Hiccup's hand.) "The boys put the canvas over the wood and we piled all the food there, took down the hammocks… Only a box of grapes went to hell, we'd forgotten it outside and the rain made it a right mess. Oh, and Gustav's shoes too, but his mother knows him, she's packed him three more pairs." Hiccup and Merida burst out laughing, together with Jack and Rapunzel. The black-haired girl smiled. "So it was all fine – the evening though, was terribly quiet."
The brunet rolled his eyes. "The horror."
Thus in talking and laughing the six reached their apparent destination and turned right to climb the path into the camp. That's when, however, Jack froze in place. "Your camp is that forest? How'd you manage to get Raven's Point?!"
The others turned to him surprised. "Raven's whut?" Merida asked.
"This forest is the forest – it's the only pine tree one directly above the beach, where you can hang as much hammocks as you'd like, have wood and shade effortlessly… It's almost a legend among campers and never vacant, just… how?"
The girls from the apparently legendary camp turned to Hiccup who shook his head wide-eyed. "I'd no idea it was such a big deal, honestly – it's our first time coming here."
"Then how'd you even find the beach?" the other boy asked.
"One of my friends from mechanics class comes here every summer with his foster family, he said it was pretty amazing-"
"Oh, you mean that guy?" the black-haired girl cut in with a grin, earning herself a bark of laughter from the brunet.
"You and your puns, Heather, honestly… Anyway, they always come as early as May or whatever, probably how they got hold of the camp, and Guy said they'd save it for us."
"Oh, that's really nice of them," Rapunzel smiled while Jack snickered, having gotten the pun.
Astrid rolled her eyes. "C'mon, you punny people, let's go up before the camp's razed to the ground."
Merida narrowed her eyes. "What do ye-" And then it dawned on her. "Nae, ye havennae. Tell meh ye havennae left da twins an' mah brothers with no control."
Heather and Astrid shared a look. "Well…" Merida gaped at them in disbelief; Hiccup had already took off up the path.
Jack glanced at Rapunzel. "Um, what's… going on?"
"Pranksters unitin', that's whut's goin' on," Merida replied grimly. (Was it that bad?) "Let's get up there." So they did - and the instant she saw that camp, Rapunzel knew why the brunet had said migraine had brought them to Jack and her.
It was a beehive, there was no better word for it; and a messy one at that. Eight tents and a dozen or more hammocks cluttered the forest, a makeshift kitchen occupied one of the far ends, a pile of firewood sat in another, various objects and clothes were strewn everywhere and a whole lot of people were moving about, tidying, running, searching, arguing, laughing, throwing, fighting, mocking, pranking, filming – and was that a chicken?!
"Hiccup wanted ta take his Labrador, but Dingwall's allergic to dogs," Merida informed her two friends, who were gaping at the scene. "An' despite Toothless bein' da best-behaved and overall best darn dog in existence, da mess would've been even bigger." She then, apparently, decided enough was enough and yelled: "SHUT IT!"
Immediately the entire camp went quiet (which told the two newcomers that if Hiccup was the leader, Merida was his second in command). Speaking of him, only he was still speaking, obviously giving some sort of a lecture. "… for the fiftieth time, no boar pits, someone could fall in and that's not worth the hypothetical opportunity of training a wild boar, okay? Thor's sake, wait until we're home and hunt whatever you want!"
"Oi, Hiccup!", the redhead called, "Come over, ah want ta do introductions!" A few seconds later he showed up from in between two tents, blond twins his age at his tail, and joined the rest of his friends (which by now basically meant the entire camp).
"Another pit," he recounted, "as for the triplets, there are no waffles left. We've dodged the bullet this time. Sorry for the delay."
"No worries," Merida grinned. "Now that we're here, everyone – Jack an' Punzie. Those're mah brothers, Hamish, Hubert an' Harris, that's Eret an' Fishlegs, mah cousin-in-law Snotlout, da twins are Ruffnut an' Tuffnut, those three're Macintosh, Macguffin an' Dingwall an' that bugger over there's Gustav."
"Nice to meet you all!" the brunette smiled.
"I'm sorry, cousin-in-law?" Jack asked puzzled. Hiccup stepped in to explain.
"My and Mer's mums are sisters while dad and Snot's father are brothers, so Mer and Snot aren't really cousins except through me and mom and dad's marriage."
The albino shook his head. "Wow. It's like you're trying to make stuff complicated."
"Good morning to you too," Astrid quipped with a smirk.
After a bit Jack and Rapunzel excused themselves – they hadn't had breakfast yet (and neither had Hiccup and Merida) and besides, their friends would worry. They did promise, however, to join the bonfire the Raven's Point campers were organising on the beach the next evening, and were more than happy to know the rest of their camp was very welcome too. (As they walked to the north Rapunzel was already planning on which songs to sing.)
On the thirteenth day Jack, Rapunzel, Eugene, Aster and Tooth swam and sunbathed the morning away, and played volleyball, and dumped each other underwater; they cooked the last two packets of rice with corn and almonds and conversed pleasantly, snuggled in hammocks or stretched out on blankets, lunch all but forgotten and left to get cold. As the burning sun of midday moved westwards Rapunzel read aloud from her favourite book and all teared up when Jonatan died to save his brother and again, a few pages later, when the two reunited in Nangijala. Then they swam again until shades started creeping on the beach and it was time to go to Raven's Point. (Jack pretended he hadn't noticed how Eugene stuffed his satchel full of sweets for Merida's brothers.)
When the five got to the other camp, they were shocked to see Eret and Fishlegs carrying an entire small tree, with branches and all, to the beach where the triplets, Macintosh, Macguffin, Dingwall and Gustav were digging a hole in the middle of a bigger one.
"What on earth…" Aster murmured. Eugene turned to Jack.
"You sure that's the right camp?"
"Yes…" He looked around and spotted the twins, so he rushed to them. "Hey, if I may ask, what's that tree for?"
"Well, that's the base for our bonfire," Ruffnut explained. "We put the tree in the small hole so it stands upright, then pile the rest of the wood around it in the bigger one and bam! A giant bonfire. Pretty genius, huh?"
"Isn't it a bit dangerous though?" Tooth asked. Tuff waved her off.
"Nah, not if our fearless leader allows it, and he does. We're fine."
"Now if you'll excuse us," his sister interjected, "we've got a little something to prepare. See ya!" And the two were off. The five shrugged and went up the path to find Hiccup and Merida.
The one hour from their arrival to the sunset they spent helping the other campers with carrying stuff down to the fire – wood, food, blankets, sleeping bags, more wood, drinks, Rapunzel's guitar, Merida's violin, Tuff's tarabuka, towels (for whatever reason), more wood… Except for Jack, that is – he'd disappeared somewhere without a word. (Rapunzel was reluctant to tell Hiccup and Merida about his elaborate and practically foolproof pranks. When she eventually did, they both paled as neither the twins nor the triplets could be found.)
Finally dusk fell and the group of twenty-one gathered around the still unlit bonfire to dine together. (Rest assured, Astrid hadn't cooked.) They talked away the last light of the day and, when other bonfires blinked awake along the bay's arch, brought theirs to life. Small, fragile flames cracked and danced as they expanded, reaching more and more sticks. That's when Merida got out her violin.
The redhead had told Jack and Rapunzel how she'd despised the instrument her mother had made her take up before taking inspiration from Lindsey Stirling and making it her own. Now she and Ruff, who was an impressive beatboxer, performed the same artist's rendition of 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams', then continued with more pieces, all contemporary. At one point Rapunzel couldn't sit still anymore, she got up and started dancing, dragging Eugene, Heather and two of the triplets with her. The redhead grinned at that and seamlessly switched to a folk melody she'd known from a young age. The rhythm accelerated, the melody became richer and suddenly Tuff joined in with his tarabuka, Hubert pulled out a flute, Dingwall started clapping along and more and more people got up to join the dancers, creating a ring around the fire. All followed Rapunzel and somehow their feet synchronised and their bodies knew what to do; Fishlegs and Macguffin grabbed Hiccup under the arms, forcefully adding him to the circle, and the same fate soon befell Jack and Aster. The dancers moved faster, Gustav almost fell in the flames but Tooth was there to catch him; they stomped louder and louder, clapped in rhythm with the music, the ring dance curled around itself and only the three musicians were still seating. Eret and Ruffnut were dancing by the very bonfire in a pair, their feet lively and nimble, and Merida's bow flew tirelessly over the strings until her fingers couldn't move any faster, the dancers couldn't spin around anymore and with a sudden high the melody ended.
After lengthy applause and many paths on the musicians' backs Rapunzel pulled out her guitar and asked what song the rest wanted. Piece after piece she played and sang, half the group joining her, and before long Merida, Ruff, Tuff, even Hubert occasionally, were harmonising with her, enriching the melodies. Sometimes these turned out solos, or duets – no one interrupted as Rapunzel and Tooth, who was a ridiculously talented rapper, slayed a Paradise Fears song, or during the brunette's duet with Eugene; other times almost all the campers sang, as was the case with their passionate rendition of 'Happy'. Even Hiccup relaxed and, in a slightly out-of-character behaviour, asked to sing a song – fortunately, all the musicians knew it and it actually turned out quite great (despite his claims that he couldn't sing – which, to be fair, were half-true, but the song about freedom and friends and flying brought out a side – and voice – of his that no one would've expected).
When her fingers started to hurt, Rapunzel left the guitar aside and enthusiastically spoke about 'the greatest a capella band ever' before bribing, tricking and blackmailing her campmates into singing their song 'Sing' with her. It turned out almost everyone was familiar with the group and all instruments were abandoned as they engaged in recreating their songs. (Macguffin astounded them all with his mean rapping skills and surprisingly high notes in 'Can't Hold Us'.)
By the time their vocal chords felt strained the big bonfire had decreased to a handful of flickering flames. Snotlout threw in some more wood and they baked marshmallows as Hiccup animatedly described how his parents sung and danced to the same song every year on their anniversary. When Merida, Hubert and Tuff started playing it, he had no choice but to sing. Astrid took pity on him and joined, which led to them doing the dance too. (He later confided in Jack that he'd almost proposed at the end, like his dad did every time round.) Then they all spoke while all the wood burned out and the bonfire turned to embers. As the last sparks flew up Merida sang a lullaby from times long forgotten and they counted shooting stars till their eyes started drooping.
That's when Macintosh called: "Time for night swimming!" Two minutes later and with little to no reluctance all twenty-one of them rushed in the dark sea. It was a bit chilling in the very first moment, but the water was warm and the campers' thoughts were exchanged for utter awe when their every move revealed the flickering light of plankton – tiny specks of life that seemed like fallen stardust in the inky blackness around them. They explored this new, unseen world laughing and exclaiming all the while until they noticed they were missing six pranksters. That's when a firework lit the sky and multicoloured sparks fell towards their faces, burning out just before touching them; then another and another and another, flying up and bursting with a thunderous sound, blooming into snowstorms and fountains of stars and dragons and fiery phoenixes. (The pranksters had made these themselves and they'd worked hard to create the beautiful lights. Needless to say, they were very much appreciated.) After that they went out to dry themselves and it was time for Jack, Rapunzel, Eugene, Aster and Tooth to go. They bid their new friends goodbye and headed north as the others started cleaning around, preparing to go to bed themselves.
(When they got to their camp, the Raven's Point campers found all their stuff hanging from the pine trees. Merida and Hiccup immediately hollered "Boys!" and "Twins!" respectively; when he heard them from at least two hundred metres, Jack burst out laughing.)
The fourteenth day was the day Jack and his college friends had to leave. They got up early to watch the sunrise together, then collected their stuff. (It was a bit sad, to see an apartment-like camp turning into a simple clearing between the threes and bushes.) While the others were loading Eugene's van Jack and Rapunzel went to walk along the bay one last time and to bid their new friends farewell – they didn't know they were leaving today, it had never come up.
The two reached Raven's Point faster than expected and found all sixteen campers around the table, eating breakfast. Hiccup saw them first.
"Guys, hi! You're up early!"
Jack gave a tight smile – he really, really didn't want to have to say it. "Actually, we came to say goodbye."
It was as if he'd pulled the switch of all the noise. "Ye're leavin'?" Merida asked in a small voice. "Today?"
"But… I thought you'd stay at least as much as we will," Heather murmured surprised.
"There's so much stuff left to do!" Ruff exclaimed.
"Why didn't you tell us?" the brunet questioned, sounding just the tiniest bit hurt.
"We just never got round to it," Rapunzel apologised, "time passes so quickly here, those two weeks went almost unnoticed."
"Two weeks?" Hiccup repeated, taken aback. "Has it been that long?"
"But that means we'll have ta leave in three days as well," Hamish quietly spoke.
"None o' this matters right now," Merida butt in, composing herself, "da fact is, ye're leavin', right?"
"The guys are loading the van," Jack affirmed.
"Okay, then we'll come with ye – we'll send ye off, exchange contacts… I want ta keep ye as mah friends, darn it!"
A stone fell off Jack and Rapunzel's hearts – seeing Merida that confident in their uncertainty felt calming.
"You're right," Hiccup said, fingers running through his hair, "of course you're right, I overreacted a bit. No way are we losing you now that we've found you."
Rapunzel broke out into a smile. "I'm so glad you said that, both of you!" And she engulfed them in the tightest hug, making the four of them chuckle.
Astrid shook her head fondly at the sight. "Let's go," she urged softly, "these guys probably have a lot of way ahead of them."
The five's departure was prolonged by a whole hour because of the sheer amount of hugs, farewells, phone numbers and social media accounts exchanged, but it wasn't that much of a problem. And when Eugene started the engine and the stereo switched on automatically, blaring out the first song from the USB, Heather freaked out because "Oh my gods, Jónsi!" and Aster laughed, saying it was very fitting since they did go where no one went. After that they could only wave to each other; Snotlout did yell something, but no one heard it.
When asphalt replaced the dirt road and Eugene increased the speed, Rapunzel turned back from her place beside him to where Aster was trying to catch one last glimpse of the sea and Tooth had already dosed off on Jack's shoulder. "Hey," she called quietly, as not to wake the Indian girl, but still gaining the albino's attention. "Do you… d'you think it'll work out? That we'll remain friends?" He thought for a bit, then nodded. "For sure?"
"Oh, most definitely. In fact, I think we'll grow old together."
(They did.)
Fin
Song featured: "Kingdom Dance" from Tangled OST
Songs mentioned: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Lindsey Stirling (originally by Green Day), "Sanctuary" by Paradise Fears, "I See the Light" from Tangled OST, "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, "Into a Fantasy" by Alexander Rybak, "Sing" by Pentatonix, "Can't Hold Us" by Pentatonix (originally by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis), "For the Dancing and the Dreaming" from HTTYD2 OST, "Noble Maiden Fair" from Brave OST and "Where No One Goes" from HTTYD2 OST.