The Distant Shores of China
Chapter 1: The Unknown
So, this is going to be a Brave 2012, Tangled, and Mulan mega crossover. Yes, you are free to criticize my unhealthy obsession with crossovers. If you are new to my stories, they will mostly be crossovers, because I love thinking about what would happen if characters from one fandom met the characters from another fandom. Anyway, hope that you enjoy this first chapter! P.S. I do not own these fandoms. They belong to Disney and Pixar.
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"There it is, Merida. The kingdom of Corona," Rapunzel called to the Scottish princess, who was now perched on top of the crows' nest.
It had been several weeks since they had left the shores of Berk, where they had met Vikings, dragons, and Norse deities. Ever since then, they had been making their way to the kingdom of Corona in Germany, where Rapunzel ruled as princess. Once they had reached the edge of Germany, they had to travel along the border to find the entrance to the kingdom. They had had to stop to refresh their supplies along the way, which was a welcome relief to everyone, especially Merida's triplet brothers, who were always trying to get away from their mother when they left the ship.
Now, as the castle was spotted, Merida felt like dancing for joy. At last, they had finally arrived. As the ship slowly drew up to the harbor, Merida's brothers were already trying to jump onto the dock, but were held back by their father, Fergus, King of Scotland. Right when the boat stopped, however, the boys managed to evade their father and began to race toward the town square.
"Boys, you come back here, this instant," their mother, Elinor, called, but to no avail.
"It's so beautiful here, Rapunzel," Merida said, leaping down the last few rungs of the ladder to the crows' nest.
"I'm just so excited to see my parents. I feel guilty about all the worry that I've caused," Rapunzel replied, daintily stepping onto the dock, with her husband, Eugene, assisting her.
"You shouldn't feel guilty, Rapunzel. You've done a lot of good on Berk. Your parents will be very proud," Eugene reassured her.
Giving a grateful smile to her husband, she turned and started to head up toward the village, with Elinor and the boys already ahead of them.
"Tis' a beautiful sight, isn't it, lass?" Fergus asked his daughter, as they approached the castle, which gleamed in the sunlight.
Before she could reply, the front doors of the castle burst open, revealing the queen rushing toward her daughter.
"Oh, Rapunzel, thank goodness you and the others are alright. Where have you all been?"
In her immense relief at seeing her daughter alive and well, it took her a few moments to realize that Rapunzel's hair had grown back to its former color and length. Stumbling back in shock, she asked,
"Rapunzel, how did you…?"
To answer her mother, Rapunzel ventured to tell her and her father, who appeared a few moments later, all about the adventure she and Merida had had on Berk. Once finished, her father said,
"Well, we're just glad that you're alright. For now, we shall show your friends around. I'm sure that there is a lot for them to see."
And a lot there was, for the Scottish residents were all intrigued by the castle interior, with all the tapestries hanging on the walls, which Elinor questioned Queen Anne about thoroughly, the dining table, with its gleaming silverware, which was new to the family, and all of the corridors around, which the boys were thrilled to investigate. Even with all of the rooms in the castle, Merida was most interested in the armory, studying the intricate designs on the bows in the cases, wondering if they had even seen the light of battle, since Corona was mostly a peaceful kingdom.
In her excitement, Rapunzel showed Merida all the going-ons in the village square, with all of the citizens dancing in the courtyard, rejoicing that the princess had returned home safely. Quickly learning the moves, Merida eagerly joined in the dancing, twirling around, glad that she and her family had finally arrived.
After the excitement at seeing the newcomers, the festivities began to die down as evening approached. As the light from the setting sun began to shimmer across the water, Merida sat on the dock, watching as the sun's rays silhouetted the clouds, spreading colorful patterns throughout the sky. Basking in the sunlight, Merida wasn't aware that something unusual was about to happen.
While Pascal was bathing in the sun's rays, a cricket began to leap toward him. Wondering if this cricket had a death wish, since he was feeling like a cricket right about now, Pascal stared at it, not sure as to what was going on. Before Pascal could decide to eat it, the cricket began hopping around him, clearly in distress. Wondering the insect's problem was, Pascal was more than a little curious, as he followed it to a secluded cove. Feeling a little nervous, Pascal slowly entered, spotting a shape against far side. As the cricket began to hop toward it, Pascal realized that it was a human being. The person was a woman, with black hair, dark-brown, almond-shaped eyes, and was around the same age as Rapunzel.
Knowing that he needed to get help, Pascal headed toward Merida, who was still on the dock. As Pascal began to tug on Merida's dress, she tried to brush him away, not knowing what his problem was. Knowing that something was wrong, since he persisted, Merida finally began to follow him. Coming across the cove, she began to feel her way through the cave, careful to not trip over anything. Coming across the teenage girl, she gasped and immediately began to run toward the castle, with Pascal leaping onto her shoulder. A few minutes later, Eugene and the King arrived, carefully easing her on one of the palace horses. A few moments later, the stranger was lying in a bed in one of the guest rooms, close to Merida's room.
"I wonder who she could be. She doesn't look like she's from around here," Rapunzel said, staring, with concern etched on her face.
Suddenly, the cricket hopped into the room, startling both of the princesses'. A few seconds later, something red flashed past, which was being chased by the boys.
"Help me! Get these psychos away from me!"
With a gasp, Merida fell on the floor, stunned to see a small, red, talking dragon. As the dragon grabbed Rapunzel's leg, she reached for a frying pan nearby and began to promptly whack it, with screams of protest. The cries from the dragon managed to wake the girl, who stared on, in horror, at what was happening. Flying off the bed, she screamed,
"What are you doing to him?"
Startled by her outburst, the two princesses fell back, while the girl grabbed the lifeless-looking red dragon, with the cricket looking on in concern.
"Mushu, are you okay?"
"Never been… better… Mulan," the dragon, who's name was obviously Mushu, wheezed in pain, as he slowly got up, staring warily at Rapunzel, who still wielded her frying pan.
"Where are we?" the girl, who's name was Mulan, asked, not sure if she could trust these strangers.
"You're in the kingdom of Corona, in Germany," Rapunzel replied, still holding her pan at the ready.
Having heard the commotion, Fergus, Eugene, Elinor, Queen Anne, and King Markus burst into the room, not quite believing what they were seeing, as the situation in the room was quite unusual.
"Mom, Dad, can we go downstairs? I think we need to do a little explaining to our guest, Mulan," Rapunzel said, setting her pan down, while they all headed downstairs, wondering what would happen this time.
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Well, what do you think, so far? Don't worry, I'll get the others into the picture soon enough. Hope you enjoyed and keep in touch!