A/N Yep, this is dedicated to Brave and all it's awesomeness. Also to Merida, who is a HUGE inspiration to me. I took the liberty of adding Hiccup, Rapunzel, and Jack Frost to this story just because I couldn't resist. Hope you like it! ;)
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, just the idea for the story and whatever goofiness you are about to witness. :)
Merida never really thought all that much about birthdays. Sure she liked the gifts and the day off from all the studies her mum made her do, but she was usually more preoccupied with getting a good ride on her horse Angus and a decent round of archery in the forest. For others', she hated having to dress up and go to a place she knew would be boring, but for her family's and hers, she enjoyed it. But now she was getting older, and the older she got, the more boring the birthday seemed to be. All in all, she rather considered it like any other person would a day off from work. Which is what led to this fine morning.
A particularly raspy rooster cawed it's loudest to greet the morning sun and the wild-haired princess growled a complaint into her fluffy pillows. No, she did not want to get up yet thank you so much for asking. She had already found out the day before that it really wasn't the best idea in the world to start a prank war with her brothers right before bedtime. She would never do it again. Ever.
And she thought she was tired on a normal school morning. Pppbbbbfffffttt to that!
Merida sighed and slowly drug the blankets off herself. She might as well get the day started if she wanted her schoolwork to be done quickly. Maybe today she'd be done with it in time to do some archery in the evening. Even if it was just inside the castle walls, at least it was archery, and for that she was truly thankful.
She sat up and took in all of her quite familiar surroundings. She sleepily eyed everything in the room from her closet, to the trunk at the end of her bed, the wooden desk against the wall in the corner, and then the beautiful view of the town outside her window. "Wot on earth...?"
Confused, the redhead shoved her covers the rest of the way off and ran over to the window to see if the sun was where she thought it was. Sure enough, it was just high enough in the sky that the mountains at the edge of the land didn't cast much of a shadow like they did earlier in the morning. That meant it was at least 10 am; the princess of Dunbroch had officially slept in. On a study day!
Just the thought of no archery later made her want to bang her head on the wall. "Just perfect..." she muttered to herself.
But then why didn't her mother wake her up earlier? Even after the bear incident the queen would never let her sleep in this late. So why hadn't she come to bang on the door and make her tidy up her room already?
Merida sighed loudly and hoped she didn't have any stupid surprises waiting for her downstairs. At least she knew her mum wouldn't try to get her married again. Not that it was a comforting thing to think. She looked outside through the glass panes some more at the still world below her and noticed something else that was strange. "Why is everything so quiet? Ah don't see anyone movin' around out there!"
That got her moving. Determined to find out what was going on, she quickly dressed into her usual dark green dress, haphazardly made the bed, and dashed out the door, not giving her stubborn red curls a second thought. She was on a mission this morning and nothing would stop her.
The first few stone halls and stairways she went through, Merida noticed, were just as quiet as the streets outside the castle and looked so empty that a stranger would think it abandoned besides the occasional lit candlestick or torch hung on the wall. She didn't even see her younger brothers chasing a maid for bannocks. That only served to strengthen her curiosity and she was just a few paces from running indoors. If her mother only saw her now.
After a few minutes of searching her enormous home with no luck whatsoever, the now somewhat-hungry princess (on the way she dropped by the kitchen and ate an apple; something in her gut told her it would have to hold her off for some time) made it to the Great Hall of the castle, where she was sure everything would be revealed. She trotted down the last hallway keeping herself from the large room and shoved the giant door open. To her surprise it took more strength than usual to move, and she could've sworn she heard some whispering behind it when she did, but when she finally stepped inside...
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRINCESS MERIDA!" everyone shouted cheerfully when they saw her enter. A familiar-looking black dragon, which was sitting next to a table in the center of the place, roared it's approval and it's rider quickly clamped it's mouth shut before the thing could produce any unwanted fireworks.
Merida was in such shock she had to grab the wooden railings next to her to keep from falling over (she was on an indoor balcony of sorts with a view of the whole room). She looked out at the beautifully decorated stone hall packed with all the people she'd ever met and even a few unfamiliar faces with a smile and a wave as they laughed at her near-fall. A big smile graced her lips when she saw her best friends and she called out to them, as they were near the middle of the room and everyone else was already chatting loudly to each other.
"Jack! Rapunzel! Hiccup! Ye made it!" the birthday girl shouted happily as she ran down the stairs to meet them. The four friends (plus a grumpy looking Toothless) ran to meet each other and ended up crashing to the floor in a heap of arms, legs, and best buddies. Laughing, the small group got back up on their feet and greeted each other with warm hugs.
"Well of course we're here!" Hiccup chuckled as he hugged the redheaded princess. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Happy birthday, Merida." Rapunzel smiled sweetly when it was her turn to greet Merida. The girls hugged and Merida thought about what on earth could have made the brunette princess's dress so silky soft.
"Happy birthday squirt." Jack Frost floated up and ruffled her hair with a cold hand. "I see you still like to sleep in and end up a bed-head, as usual." he smirked.
"Jack." Rapunzel chided good-naturedly.
Merida raised an eyebrow at the spirit and crossed her arms. "I see yer still makin' fun of everyone fer no obvious reason, as usual."
"Hey, I'm the Guardian of Fun! What can I say?" he shrugged with a grin. Jack laughed heartily before flying off to the other side of the room to cause some mischief. Both Merida and Punzie rolled their eyes, but couldn't help a smile. That boy would never change.
"Uh, Meri-" Hiccup started, about to point to something behind her. He was to late, though, and the princess was shoved from behind by his dragon.
"Oh!" Merida yelped and took a couple steps forward to keep from toppling over. She turned around to greet the friendly Night Fury and he crooned at her for some attention.
"No, ah haven't forgotten ye." Merida said, smiling as she scratched a hello to the heap of scales. Toothless crooned contentedly and leaned in for more scratches right by his neck. When she was done he shoved her again, not liking that she stopped rubbing him and Merida, Hiccup, and Rapunzel laughed at his stubborn antics.
Just then Queen Elinor walked up with her long brown hair done back in a braid, a dark blue dress donned with tartan covered gold trim, and a beautiful smile on her face. Spotting her daughter, she called, "Merida! There ye are!" she gave the redhead a big hug and a peck on the forehead. "Happy birthday, Merida."
"Thanks, mum." Merida smiled at her mother. Rapunzel cooed at the sight and folded her hands together by her heart.
"Have ye seen the tapestries up on the other side of the room? I made sure they were all yer fav'rite colors." Elinor said cheerfully, turning and pointing over the crowd of bustling people to the enormous cloth squares hung on the walls. All twelve tapestries were gorgeously crafted with elegant tartan designs and varying color themes of light blue, forest green, lemon yellow and deep royal purple to make them shine in their own way. One was almost all blue with snowflakes and a frozen lake in the middle, while another was a very green picture of the castle garden in full bloom, and one in the corner of the room was a portrait of a beautiful golden sunset with Merida and her family sitting on a fallen log to look at it near the bottom.
"Oh, mum...they're so beautiful..." Merida stared with awe at all the beautiful pictures.
"Splendid!" the Queen let a surprisingly unladylike squeal escape her lips and patted both of her daughter's shoulders in excitement.
"You and you're maids sure did a fine job on those tapestries, Your Majesty." Hiccup complimented, taking a few steps forward to stand next to the two women. Toothless and Rapunzel followed, both looking at the decorations adorning the stone walls.
"Why thank you, Hiccup." her smile became wider as she glanced over to a few tables that still needed to be set up for the birthday girl's breakfast. She scowled at the fact that they were not yet done and began walking towards them. "Och, those tables still need tablecloths! I'll be right back. Maudie! Mary! Cordelia! I need you!" Elinor called her maids and they all came running to help their Queen.
"Wow. She really pulled out all the stops this year, didn't she?" Punzie asked, in awe of all the decorations in the room. There were the tapestries on the walls, ribbons in all the ladies' hair, streamers and colored ropes hung from the ceiling (personally, Merida couldn't see how that could have been put up but liked it anyways), foaming beer for all the adults, and even face-paint for the younger kids.
"She sure did. Ah don't even think the Triplets' first birthday looked as colorful as this." Merida commented, also staring around the room.
"Aha! There she is!" King Fergus boomed when he saw his princess. He gave her a good slap on the back (she was nearly knocked over for the third time that morning) and laughed, a few of his friends trailing behind him. "Ya hungry, Merida?"
She nodded vigorously, not trusting herself enough to speak after her "pat on the back" so to speak, and rotating her shoulder to make sure it wasn't dislocated. Fergus laughed again and she greeted the few other adults that she knew, including Stoick the Vast the Hairy Hooligan Chief (to her he was just Hiccup's father), Gobber the Belch, Stefan, the King of Corona (Punzie's father), Delilah, the Queen of Corona (Punzie's mother), Eugene Fitzherbert (Punzie's new husband), a few thugs from some bar (apparently they were more friends of Punzie's but Merida couldn't see how), and also the gang of Viking teens that usually hung out with Hiccup. While she did that her friends waited patiently for her, chatting with each other, scratching Toothless, and talking with other people to pass the time.
All of a sudden there was a thunderous crash on the other side of the room that definitely awoke any last sleepy part Merida might have had, plus the guard by the door with the chopped half-mustache. Merida, Rapunzel, Hiccup and Toothless all turned to face the noise, only to find a laughing Jack Frost flying out of the crowd up to the balcony-like hallway Merida had just been on, three little redheads on ropes swinging around like Tarzan to catch up with him. Below them was a pile of birthday gifts that had just crashed to the floor, but all were still in perfect condition with no dents or scrapes.
"That better not be wot I think it is..." Merida gaped, eyeing her brothers with utter horror and disbelief.
"What, the presents? The presents are fine, Merri." Hiccup assured the princess with a wave of his hand. Toothless nodded and snorted his agreement. The slight smell of fish cooking suddenly entered his nose and his attention was immediately drawn to the kitchens. Hungry and curious, he slinked cautiously away from the group.
"No, not the presents. Jack and mah brothers...ah think they're teaming up!"
Hiccup and Rapunzel both shared worried glances with each other before looking back at their anxious redhead friend.
"Oh, this can't be good." Punzie muttered to herself as she looked back up towards the group of pranksters, who were currently in a huddle. "Quick! They're planning something!" she pointed up at them suddenly.
"We've got to stop them before they destroy the castle!" Merida waved her arms around wildly. The two princesses and the dragon rider were instantly jammed in a panicked dash up the stairs and around the edge of the room to put a stop to whatever trouble her brothers were planning with the mischievous winter spirit.
No, this is not how Merida had wanted to start her day.
The threesome were just past halfway to the group of boys when Jack looked up and saw them running. He quickly alerted the boys and the tiny princes jumped down a secret tunnel while Jack flew away with a smirk and a laugh. Merida, who was ahead of her two friends, stopped to growl at Jack, leaving Rapunzel and Hiccup to crash into her and they all tumbled to the ground.
"What happened?" Punzie asked, sitting up and holding her bruised head. She hoped she wouldn't have a lump there soon and tried to smooth her short brown hair out a little so it wouldn't stick out too much.
Merida huffed and practically spat out, "They saw us and ran away. Simple as pie."
"That's it!" Hiccup brightened, jumping to his feet and grinning at his friends.
"What's wot?"
Hiccup rolled his slightly like it was obvious. "Pie! They love sweets!" Merida and Rapunzel glanced at each other with confused faces and furrowed their eyebrows at him, expecting a better answer. Hiccup slumped. "So where do all the sweets come from?" their eyes widened.
"The kitchen!" the girls said at once, smiling at each other.
In a few minutes the group made their way slowly to the slightly-open kitchen door, where they could already here Jack's muffled voice telling the Triplets what they would do next. Merida and the others scooted closer to the edge just enough to eavesdrop on their wintry friend's plan.
"...and then we'll need Hamish and Hubert underneath the table with the cake on top. If anything happens to us I want you two to jump out and give them a distraction so Harris and I can escape. Everybody ready?" Jack chirped, floating above the three boys which served as his minions.
Merida and Rapunzel glanced nervously at each other. They still didn't know what the boys were up to! Hiccup growled to himself about it and Merida peeked through a crack in the door.
Hubert raised a little hand and Jack looked at him expectantly. "Can me and Hamish make the cake explode?" he asked with a surprisingly non-Scottish accent. Sure, he grew up with hundreds of Scottish people in his life, but ever since him and his brothers began to believe in Jack, the spirit sort of became the Triplets' role model and they have copied his accent ever since. They also had another abnormally-accented (at least to them) role model in their lives: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. But, of course, since then they have met plenty of people with that accent.
"Uh, no, not today." Jack shook his head. "This is Merida's big day, and I'm sure she wouldn't want her cake to go to waste; her mother worked really hard on it. Especially after what happened to the one in the last celebration we had.
"What was that again?" Harris asked, scrunching up his face as he tried desperately to remember.
"Eugene and Punzie's wedding."
"Oh. That." the prince said, eyes widening.
Hamish looked back and forth between the two before asking, "What happened to the cake?"
"Don't you remember? The horse ate it." Hubert said flatly, crossing his little arms.
"No, the horse didn't eat it! Are you nuts? No, the horse and the chameleon lost the wedding rings, trashed the whole party while Rapunzel and Eugene said their vows, and when they finally got the rings again they snuck back inside the chapel covered in junk. Right before everyone went to eat, they lost the cake." Harris explained. Jack had already sat down on a nearby table and was munching on a cookie, amusedly watching the boys' argument.
"Uh, guys? The horse and the chameleon have names, y'know." Hubert said with a roll of his big blue eyes. His comment went unnoticed and Jack chuckled at them all.
"How the heck do you lose a wedding cake?" Hamish wondered aloud, rubbing his chin a little.
"I dunno, the table it was on had wheels and I guess the floor wasn't level. But it still ended up a great wedding! Best one I've ever been to." Harris said with a smile.
"Alright!" Jack hopped off the table with a clap of his pale hands to get their attention. "Who's ready to pull some pranks?" he grinned.
Merida nodded slightly to Hiccup and Rapunzel and they nodded back, understanding the signal. The Scottish princess jumped into the doorway and shoved open the door, the other princess and the chieftain's son taking stances on each side of her. "Not on my watch, ye don't." all four boys paled visibly, even Jack, whom Merida thought it impossible for. "Get them!"
"RUN!" Jack yelled, flying up to the ceiling and staying out of reach. His three comrades scrambled fearfully to the fireplace, where their nearest exit was hidden. Hamish, to Jack's surprise, stopped to ask the spirit a question.
"Jack! Where do we go?" the prince shouted as he and his brothers were each chased mercilessly around the kitchen by their sister and two friends.
"Get outta here and go for Plan B! Hurry!" Jack ordered hurriedly. He quickly found and opening in all the running and crashing around and flew over to another door at the top of some stairs. "Over here! Quick!" the Triplets dashed in different directions across the floor and all ran under the table, successfully tripping their adversaries and making their way through the exit.
"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Jack commented, wincing at the sight of the pile of all his best friends on the floor. He smiled down at Hamish, Hubert, and Harris and said, "Good work, you guys. Very clever." the boys grinned at each other excitedly and left the room to pull off whatever silly prank they had to do, leaving Merida, Hiccup, and Rapunzel on the stone floor for the second time that morning.
"Ugh!" Merida growled at the fact that they failed again and pounded her fist on the floor. Rapunzel groaned and rolled off of the redhead, muttering something about a midday nap with Pascal, and Hiccup wobbled to his feet-er, foot and prosthetic, holding onto the table to keep his balance steady after their nasty collision.
"Och! This is not how I wanted to start mah birthday..." Merida groaned. She crossed her legs on the floor in an Indian style and stooped over to rest her head in her lap and Punzie patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"It's okay, Merida." Rapunzel said, sitting up. "We have you and Toothless on our side. If we put together all of our resources, I know we'll have the advantage."
"Where is Toothless, anyway? I thought he was near us the whole time." Hiccup said, looking around for his dragon and best friend.
"I thought so too..." Rapunzel agreed, furrowing her eyebrows. An idea forming in her head, she looked around the entire kitchen. From the heavy door Merida had shoved through, to the kitchen table set with plates of food for the party, at another entrance at the top of a small flight of stairs where Jack and the Triplets had just left, to a few cupboards full of food, dishes, and spices, at a stone archway that lead to another kitchen, to a third entrance (although typically used for an exit) that lead outside into the stables. On instinct, the brunette got up and walked through the stone archway and into the other kitchen.
"Where are you going, Punzie?" Hiccup asked, following her. He cringed at the pain his prosthetic suddenly caused him, but managed to limp slightly to see where his friend was headed. Merida got up and slung his arm around her neck and over her shoulders to help him.
"I'm not sure yet. I think there were some chefs in here cooking meat until Jack and the Triplets came in here; looks to me like they left in a hurry." Rapunzel explained, eyeing the second kitchen. Her theory seemed to be correct, seeing as there was some food and a greasy frying pan dumped on the floor and the oven was still going. She grabbed a pair of oven mitts that had been left on the counter and carefully took the pie out of the oven, set it down on the counter and shut the mechanism off. Then she walked over to a shadowy corner of the room and smiled, pointing at the shadow.
"Aw, he's just so cute!" she sighed happily, staring at the giant shadow.
Merida cleared her throat. "Ahm, Punz? We don't see it."
"It's Toothless; he's right there in the corner taking a nap! Isn't he adorable?" Rapunzel knelt down beside the shadow (which was looking more and more like a Night Fury) and rubbed it's head.
"Toothless?" Hiccup asked carefully. The dragon opened it's eyes and crooned to his rider. "There you are, bud!" he slid out from under Merida's arm and squatted next to Toothless and Punzie.
"Alright bud, listen up 'cause I need your help. Jack and the Triplets are causing all sorts of trouble today that could very well destroy the whole castle, considering their age-long history of pranks and demolition, and we can't have them running amuck like this on a princess's birthday. I need you to help me, Merida, and Rapunzel find some more people who can help us with this and beat them at their own game. Are you up for it?" Toothless nodded and got to his feet, wobbling slightly because of all the fish he had just devoured.
"I don't know 'bout you, but I'm startin' ta think that maybe the Triplets weren't the ones who scared off all the chefs..." Merida said, raising an eyebrow and pointing suggestively at the wobbly dragon. Toothless gave her a gummy, slightly sheepish grin and Rapunzel and Hiccup laughed at him.
A few minutes later...
Merida, Hiccup, Rapunzel and Toothless all gathered around the table in Merida's bedroom and Hiccup opened up his notebook, ready to do some planning. "Alright, so who do we know will help us if we ever have to call on them for some backup?" he asked seriously.
"I know Maximus will help. He's the Captain of the Guard, after all. He does stuff like this all the time!" Rapunzel stated enthusiastically. "Also Pascal, if I can find him in the fruit bowl."
Hiccup raised his eyebrow at the thought of a horse being Captain of the Guard, but made no comment as he knew what this particular horse was capable of. "Okay, so we have Maximus and Pascal on our side. Anybody else?"
"Wot about yer husband? Eugene?" Merida asked, thinking it strange that she wouldn't mention her own husband being on their side.
"Well, he used to be a thief, so him being on the opposite side would fit him better, but if we can persuade him to help us before Jack and the Triplets get him with them we'll be okay."
"That could be a huge disadvantage if he ended up on Jack's side." Merida pointed out, resting her chin on her hand with her elbow on the table.
"I hear you." Hiccup nodded gravely and scribbled something down in his notebook. "Anyone else that could be useful on the team?"
Merida rapped her fingernails against the wood as she thought through every person she knew. "Hey Hiccup, don't ye have that Viking gang from Berk that usually hangs out with you? Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut..."
"Oh, them? Naw, they don't believe in Jack, so they won't be much help to us if they don't know and can't see what we're up against." Hiccup said, still making notes. "Well, except for Astrid and Fishlegs."
"You got Astrid to believe?" Rapunzel asked, amazed at Hiccup for his accomplishment.
"No, I actually didn't." Hiccup said, relaxing a little and smiling at the memory. "One day me and Jack were having a nice chat while I worked in the blacksmith shop and Astrid dropped by to see me. It was just the funniest thing ever to see her gaping at him; I even drew a picture! But anyway, she'd make a great candidate for our little group and I highly doubt anyone could make her join the other side. Although Fishlegs will probably be on whichever side asks him first."
"If they can convince 'im to do it in the first place." Merida pointed out, knowing the boy's mostly-keep-to-yourself type personality quite well.
"Exactly. Hey Punzie, do the Snuggly Duckling thugs believe?" Hiccup asked, leaning back in his chair.
The short-haired princess shook her head sadly. "No. Sorry." the boy looked down with his eyebrows furrowed, thinking hard for anybody else.
"Oh, I know!" Merida said, perking up. "The Lords of all the clans have children who might believe. We just need to find out which ones and and pick out those who could help us the most."
"Yeah, but aren't most of them our age? That would make them less likely to believe." Hiccup said with a nod from Rapunzel.
"It's still an idea." the redhead grinned. "I know Young McGuffin would make a fine recruit to have on hand."
The dragon rider and former blonde exchanged decisive glances before smiling at her.
"Not bad, Merri." Hiccup smiled. "That's definitely something to work on if we need it, but for now..."
The boy was interrupted by a loud snoring sound from the floor by the table. They looked over his shoulder curiously and saw Toothless lying on the ground, fast asleep once again. The group shared looks before bursting out laughing at their poor, stuffed friend.
Maybe Merida's birthday wouldn't be so bad, after all.
I know, I know, I ended it right here and I shouldn't have (hey, you gotta admit that was a pretty good ending ;), but I needed to get something up before the day was done so I wouldn't be late. Don't worry, though, cuz the next chapter is coming up soon! And don't be afraid to criticize my writing skills just because I probably need it but NO HATE PLEASE! This is officially my second fanfiction ever (I do have lots more coming, though :), so thank you for reading and please leave a review!
Love y'all and peace out!
~The Blue Snow Bunny