Someone gave me this prompt on Tumblr: Well I have a one shot idea but it's kind sad. But maybe one about if Elinor and the triplets stayed bears, and then it was up to Merida and Fergus to rule the kingdom?
"Dad? I'm…I'm going out." Merida locked eyes with her father, and no other words needed to be said. He nodded, hobbling up the stairs to his room, his shoulders shaking with sobs.
Merida found herself at the river a half-hour later, Angus tied to a nearby rock. She sat quietly on the rocks, waiting for fish to appear.
Things had been rough the past three months, but somehow they'd made it work. Fergus had had to become much more serious, much more reserved; he traveled a lot, making sure the kingdom was at peace. Merida assumed the role of queen, a stern governess watching over her every move (and usually disapproving of her table etiquette).
Merida let an arrow loose. Then another. Her anger radiated with each fish she speared. It was her own fault. She couldn't blame anyone but herself. If she hadn't asked for that stupid spell, been so determined to change her fate…
Warm tears splashed into the rushing water as Merida gathered the fish into a cloth bag. Walking back to Angus, she untied him, patting his nose.
"I know you don't like this, Angus, but we're going to visit Mum and the boys."
Angus whinnied, stomping his hooves.
"I'll make it quick, okay?"
She steered him through the woods to the familiar cave where the rest of her family lived. She jumped off of Angus's back, slowly approaching the entrance. She hastily untied the bag, letting the fish spill onto the ground. She mounted Angus and rode him a few yards away.
A few minutes later, Elinor emerged from the cave, sniffing the air and eyeing the fish. Three little bears - Hamish, Hubert, and Harris - followed behind her, waiting for their mother to accept or decline the offering. Elinor, after doing a careful examination, deemed the fish to be edible.
Merida watched them for a moment, thinking back to past family dinners in the Great Hall. Her brothers would find a way to sneak all of the pastries off the table, and her mother would constantly correct her table manners (although in a much more tolerable way than how it was now). A pang hit her chest, and she realized just how much she missed having her mother's lessons.
What she wouldn't give to have her mother and brothers back in her life, to have things be how they once were. But if she'd learned anything, it was that she had to take responsibility for what she'd done. And, like the queen her mother had wanted her to be, she would carry her head high and accept the consequences.
Glancing back one more time at Elinor and the triplets, Merida and Angus made their way back to DunBroch.