Hello fellow fans of Brave! I am back with another story!

I was not expecting to write another Brave story anytime soon when the inspiration for this one came over me while making dinner one night and watching the movie. I couldn't wait to get started and wrote five chapters in three days. Well...time wore my creativity down and I lost interest for a couple months, then rediscovered this story last night. I touched it up and finished it and wala! I have another story to share!

For those of you who've read my previous Brave stories, this is not like those ones. I stuck to all the original characters (there is no Ilene in this one, sorry!) and mostly the original plot-line, save for the addition of Marissa and Fredrick, who will be explained later. This story is not related to my other stories, it's a stand-alone and has nothing to do with The Adversary's Daughter or Return of the Beast.

That said, enjoy the first chapter and please review! This story is totally finished and I will post a new chapter when I A) get three reviews or B) when I get tired of waiting for reviews. ;)

Thanks for reading and please review! Thank you!

-Shire from CollieandShire

Chapter One

A Lesson in History

Scotland, United Kingdom, 1942

"Marissa, are you listenin'?"

Marissa jerked her head up, her curly red hair bouncing as she glanced at the teacher with a sheepish grin. "No ma'am." She mumbled.

Mrs. MacDonald humphed and Marissa's classmates giggled, causing the fifteen-year-old to squirm in her seat. "Well ye should have been lass, we're discussing your clan, DunBroch."

As if I care. Marissa growled inwardly. Instead she nodded and folded her hands to give the impression she was listening intently.

"As I was sayin', the DunBroch clan ruled over Scotland for three hundred years before the fall of their reign. This was due to the beginning of the war with the…" the teacher rambled on.

Even if she had been a good history teacher Marissa wouldn't have listened much anyways, her eyes wandered to the letter she had began to write. A frown crossed her face as she read the words. This wouldn't do.

Grabbing the paper she ripped it out of the book and crumpled it up, opening her desk and dropping it inside. The words remained etched on her memory as she reflected back to the middle sentence. Daddy, I'm so sorry I was angry with you when you left, please understand why…

He wouldn't understand. She'd hurt him and she'd hurt him deeply and now he was gone. How could she have been so selfish? Why hadn't she run after him and told him how much she loved him and how scared she was for him?

I'll try again later. She decided. That was the fourth letter she'd started and thrown away-she couldn't bear the thought of how hurt her father was and she didn't know how to apologize to him. She'd have to continue to work on it.

"…which still stand today. That leads me to our field trip announcement-we're traveling to the ancient ruins next week on Thursday!" Mrs. MacDonald announced. The class erupted with chatters from the kids as they discussed this proposition.

Marissa blinked her big blue eyes and furrowed her brow. What were we discussing again? She racked her brain. Once more she'd failed to listen to the lesson at hand and she was too embarrassed to ask where they were going. Let's see, we were talking about the medieval times, and teacher mentioned my name. Ah, that was right. DunBroch.

The light bulb went on and Marissa almost groaned inwardly. Of course! They were going to visit the ancient ruins of the Castle DunBroch, one of the few castles still with most of its walls standing after hundreds of years. The castle itself didn't cause Marissa any worry, it was the fact her name was DunBroch. Marissa Elena DunBroch, direct descendent of the kings and queens of old. Of course all of her classmates and her teacher would expect her to know everything about the DunBrochs!

When she thought about it, Marissa did know a lot about her ancestors. Her Dad used to sit her down and tell her wonderful stories about ancient kingdoms, demon bears and Will O' the Wisps and how they led you to your fate. He'd tell her about the princess named Merida with the wild red hair and the beautiful black Clydesdale, promising her that "Someday me wee darlin', I'll get you a big Clydesdale of yer own and you can ride through the gland."

The thought made Marissa's heart wrench as she once more recalled the day the troops had come and her father had told her and her mother goodbye. He'd bent down to kiss her and Marissa had pushed him away, hurt and anger mixed with fear coming out as defiance. How could she have been so mean? He loved her and he had told her why he had to leave-Great Britain needed him, they needed strong and sturdy men to help save Europe from the Nazi onslaught. "I'm going with them to protect me country and me family, Mari." He had explained.

"Class dismissed!"

The sound of all of her fellow students leaping up and slamming their books caused Marissa to jump. Without any thought she stood up and closed her book, walking by Mrs. MacDonald and respectfully saying good day to her.

"Marissa, I expect you to help your classmates with the tour and tell them about the rich history of the DunBrochs." Mrs. MacDonald told her as she passed by. "Please don't disappoint me."

"Yes ma'am." Marissa replied as she walked out the door and into the hall. Great, this will be fun.

~oOo~

Thank goodness the tour guide was a talker-no one had the chance to ask Marissa about the old legends and tales of the clan DunBroch.

Marissa was glad, she wasn't a very good story teller and her heart raced every time she was put on the spot. Her mother always told her she needed to be friendlier, to 'get out of her comfort zone.' Marissa wasn't that kind of person, she liked her privacy and people were so much harder to understand than animals. Marissa could roam the countryside for hours and explore new crevices, adventuring where no one dared to go without fear. How was it that making a speech in front of her class terrified her?

Plain and simple, people hurt.

When she fell off a ledge she had no one to blame but herself, yet people snapped and sneered and made fun of her for no other reason than her stage fright.

Only Lilly, Marissa's longtime friend, understood her fears. But Lilly's gone now.

Marissa kicked at a rock on the path as the group walked up some stairs and into what had once been a throne room. Lilly had moved to London and then out to the country when the Blitzes had started. Thank goodness there was nothing in Scotland the Nazis wanted to bomb, Marissa couldn't imagine how terrible it was to hide in the subway and listen to the bombs destroy everything you'd ever known.

"Now here is where the ancient kings and queens would sit whenever they greeted someone from the other clans." The tour guide spouted as he gestured around the room. My goodness, that guy talks fast. Marissa grinned. At least that made it easier for her to be forgotten! "It was in this very room that they made their announcements and proclamations. Speeches were said, tournaments were decided on and the children had to sit quietly and stoically through it all." The tour guide explained.

Marissa tried to imagine a king and queen sitting in the main thrones with their children beside them. Try as she might she couldn't get the image of the kids pushing and poking each other out of her head and she giggled. They no doubt were just like us. She decided.

Without much thought Marissa let her mind wander and glanced around the ruins. A crumbled doorway and a bend in the rock wall stood out to her, causing a sudden thought to pop into her mind. I wonder what's over there? The Tour guide hadn't mentioned anything about it, perhaps it was off limits. That sounds exciting. And it sounded like something that would get her in a lot of trouble.

"Come along class, we're movin' on." Mrs. MacDonald told her students as she ushered them along.

Marissa stood rooted in her spot, the thrill of exploring beckoning her. It was only then that she realized her teacher hadn't even noticed her and the group was steadily leaving her behind. They completely forgot about me! At first Marissa was insulted and then a slow grin crossed her face. Who cared? She now had every good reason to go explore the rest of the ruins on her own.

Before sense could take its grip Marissa trotted towards the broken doorway, passing under it and around the falling rock wall. A sign was posted WARNING! Unstable Structure! And beyond that Marissa could see a staircase. Sounds adventurous. She thought. A flash of brown brought her eyes towards the bottom of the staircase, and Marissa blinked. Did I just see a person? Naw, she couldn't have. No one was stupid enough to go down a broken staircase. That is of course, except her. If my classmates only knew how brave I am on my own. They probably would admire her.

Marissa shoved back any doubts and conclusions and pressed ahead, passing by the sign and heading down the stairs into what looked like a cellar. Scary.

Taking each step slowly, Marissa slipped down the stairs and into the dark. Why didn't I think to grab a flashlight? Duh, she wasn't planning on going into a dangerous falling rocks creepy basement in the first place, of course she didn't think to bring a flashlight along with her on this field trip.

When her foot touched the bottom of the stairs, Marissa was relieved to see that part of the floor above had given way years ago and was letting in light. Her eyes took a moment to adjust, then she discovered she was indeed in a cellar. Sticks lay all over the ground, their purpose Marissa couldn't even imagine. Who on earth would want so many sticks?

Moving stealthily along, she bent down and kicked at some of the sticks. "Oww!" she yelped, bringing her foot back in surprise. What on earth? She reached down and brushed the sticks away to reveal-a rifle? That was impossible! What was a rifle doing in the ruins of DunBroch?

Marissa pulled it out and held it in her hands. It was a new one, too. Her father loved guns and had educated her in gunmanship until she was quite good. He had claimed to all of his friends that his daughter could shoot better than their sons, and when put to the test Marissa usually could outshoot them. Her mother didn't quite approve of her talent and Marissa really didn't care, what good was gun slinging if you didn't even want to hunt?

The memories brought back another pang of guilt as she thought about her father. Oh Dad, if only you knew how much I miss you. Taking the rifle in one hand, she brushed aside the twigs and sticks away to reveal another gun-this one a pistol. This is crazy, who left their guns down here? She picked up the pistol and examined it. Lugar. Very rare and hard to get, they were German made.

Making sure the safety was on, Marissa shoved the Lugar into her pocket so she could continue her exploring. Click.

Marissa glanced down at the rifle in her hand in surprise. Why did the safety click off? Or maybe it was the pistol-

A jab in the back by cold medal told Marissa that neither guns had clicked off, and her heart stopped.

"Vhat are you doing, girl?" a man's voice hissed in her ear. "And don't think about yelling or I'll kill you."

German. His voice was distinctly German. Of course! The pistol was a Luger, how could she have been so stupid? Hadn't she thought it herself? Germans made Lugers!

"You're a spy!" Marissa whimpered, more to herself than him. Questions raced around her head. What is a Nazi spy doing hiding in the ruins of an ancient Scottish castle? Then again, who would think to look for a Nazi spy in the ancient ruins of a Scottish castle? The answer was in the question itself.

The man didn't answer for a second, then sighed. "You're smart girl, but not smart enough. I have to kill you now."

Kill! The word erupted like a bombshell in Marissa's head, before she knew what she was doing she plunged herself onto the ground, flipped onto her back and unlocked the safety on the rifle, aiming it at the man. Her eyes met his and she got a good look at him: tall, about six foot one and looking every bit like a German, blond hair and blue eyes with light skin.

"If ya even step towards me, I will blast ya to kingdom come!" Marissa threatened hoarsely.

The German stared at the rifle in her hand, his pistol aimed at her. He hesitated as he considered the situation and Marissa forced back her terror. I can't believe I'm being this bold!

A slow grin crossed the German's face and he cocked his pistol. "Ah, but you can't fool me, girl. I didn't load that rifle."

In a panic Marissa backed up across the floor as he aimed right at her head. No, no help me God! No! Her hand lost its grip and she collapsed to the floor. Her head span and her ears roared like a train was going to run her over. She felt like she was falling a hundred feet in the dark, everything whirled around her. A shot was fired and Marissa waited for the blow that would kill her as everything went black.

Cliffhanger! Hope you liked this first chapter. You might be wondering how this will tie into the original movie. Wait and see and you'll find out. :)

Thanks for reading and please review! Thank you!

-Shire