William & Murron: A Gift Of A Thistle. Chapter 1: Attack On Murron.
(*WARNING* THE FOLLOWING FANFIC CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR "BRAVEHEART." YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.)
(Note: I wanted to write this story because I was inspired by William and Murron's tragic love story, and of how William not only fought for freedom, but it was also for the love that he had for her, and of how he was determined to avenge her death by fighting the English. In fact, I was also inspired by Jack and Rose's love story in Titanic, which surprisingly both Braveheart and Titanic won Best Picture. The only difference is that James Horner won an Oscar for the music in Titanic but not for Braveheart. :( Oh well. Both films are great anyway, and two of my favorites. But if I had to say anything about William and Murron's love story and Jack and Rose's love story, as cliché as it sounds, it really goes to show that love truly does conquer all. Also, I remember reading a couple of Braveheart fanfics where one of them was about William and Murron, which was sort of like a "What if?" kind of story. As in, what if Murron never died after being killed by the English, and William saved her? Now the fanfic I'm referring to is called "Braveheart: A New Beginning," written by The Enchantress on . Sadly, she never finished it, which is a real shame. So, I thought I'd do my own. No I am not trying to steal her idea. So after watching Braveheart recently (like God knows how many times since that's my favorite movie), I always wondered what would have happened if Murron never died and fought alongside William and joined him on his journey to defeat the English. Of course it seemed like an interesting idea because if Murron was still alive at the time, then she would have watched the struggles and hardships that William had to go through while fighting the English as well as fighting for freedom and for her. Now don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed the love story between William and Princess Isabelle (a.k.a. Isabella), and I thought that Sophie Marceau did a fantastic job in portraying her. She was amazing. Don't get me wrong. The other actors were great too, including Mel Gibson. However, because I heard that Braveheart is historically inaccurate (I know, I was pretty shocked when I heard about it), in real life, William never met or had a love affair with Isabelle since she was a child at the time of the Scottish rebellion and at the time of William's death in 1305 (I believe she was born in 1295 and was around 9 or 10 years old when it happened). And I'm not sure if this is true, but I heard that William slept with the queen of England, Longshanks' (Edward I) wife. That is, according to the epic Blind Harry poem "The Wallace." Again, correct me if I'm wrong. However in real life, yes William's wife was killed by the English, but except her name was Marion Braidfute. Actually, it's unclear if William married or had children. I read part of the original script for Braveheart, and it said that Murron's original name was Marion, but Mel Gibson changed it to Murron because Marion was also the name of Robin Hood's love interest. You know, just to avoid confusion. Anyway, getting off topic, again, although I really enjoyed the love story between William and Isabelle, I thought that William and Murron were a cute couple. I love both William pairings to be honest, so it's hard to tell which one I like. But if I had to choose one, I'd say William and Murron because again, they make such a cute couple. Come to think of it, I almost feel as if William's known Murron longer than Isabelle since they (William and Murron) were childhood sweethearts and all. So I thought that it would be an interesting idea if Murron was there and not dead, and watched William fight the English not only because of her and their love, but also for freedom, which he teaches her to believe in it. In fact, there's this one scene that I have in the story which is obviously in the movie, and that's the part where William convinces Robert The Bruce to "unite the clans" at Falkirk. In the fanfic, when Murron sees William blow up at the Scottish nobles who believe that they won't be able to defeat the English, to which he says otherwise, his anger frightens her, because he was never like that when they were kids and when they got married and she realizes that he changed since then. However, the same scene happens, but like the movie, Murron is dead. Also, like the movie, William is executed in the fanfic. Sometime I will show you the differences between the fanfic and the movie. Also, I wanted to give Murron some character development because in my fanfic, she goes from an innocent young girl into a courageous woman, all because of William. Anyway, sorry for the long description, but I just wanted to give my reasonings. For now, please enjoy the story. :D P.S. I'm not sure if this story will be rated T (PG-13) or M (R) due to the violence in Braveheart, and mild coarse language throughout. It will probably be rated R just like the movie. I usually don't put profanity in my fanfics, but only for this one, because it's part of the story.)
Italics = Thoughts.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Braveheart. Braveheart belongs to Mel Gibson. No copyright infringement intended. All copyrights are reserved.
Summary:
What if Murron never died after being killed by the English? What if she stood by William's side and helped him fight them? What if he never met or had an affair with Princess Isabelle? Just what if? Watch as husband and wife go through many struggles and hardships while fighting the English. But through it all, William teaches Murron one thing: the true meaning of freedom.
From the moment that William Wallace met Murron MacClannough, it was love at first sight.
A long time ago, when William was a little boy, at the age of ten years old in 1280, his father Malcolm, and brother John were killed in a war against the English. Then, at their funeral, William met Murron, who was five years younger than him. They didn't say a word to each other, but she gave him a thistle, and saw tears falling from his eyes. It was a mixture of sadness and happiness because although he lost his family, Murron felt sorry for him, and the way he stared at her, was his way of saying "thank you" to her. However, his uncle Argyle took William under his wing and went on a pilgrimage to Rome, where William learned many languages while working as a monk in Paisley Abbey; including Latin and French. Recently, sixteen years later, in 1296, William reunited with Murron, and was about to court her, but he couldn't because of prima nocta – the right for an English noble to sleep with a Scottish woman on the first night of her wedding. So the two lovers married in secret, hoping that no one else would know; not even Murron's own parents.
But one fateful day... would change their lives forever.
The day after their wedding, William found Murron in the marketplace and walked up to her.
"When am I going to see you again? Tonight?" William asked.
"I can't," Murron said.
"Why not?" he wondered.
"My dad's growing suspicious," she replied, a hint of anxiety in her voice.
"Growing suspicious, is he?" William held an arm out to her, putting a piece of tartan into her neck, which was wrapped around their hands from the night before at the wedding. "Wouldn't have anything to do with that, now would it?"
"No," she giggled.
"When? When? When?" William inquired, circling around her, as if a child was asking for something that he wanted. "When?" he questioned, and stopped circling around her.
"Tonight," Murron answered.
"Tonight?" he replied.
"Tonight," she repeated.
After William left Murron alone, an English soldier by the name of Smythe walked to her with two English soldiers behind him.
"Where are you going, lassie? Ooh, that looks heavy. Let me help you," he offered.
"That's fine," she told him.
"I'm not going to steal it," Smythe chuckled, and looked at her. "Oh, you remind me of my daughter back home."
For some reason, Murron felt that there was something a little off about him, considering he was an English soldier and all. So, she strolled away from him, trying to find William, but she heard a familiar voice.
"Hello, lassie."
She turned around, and there was Smythe. He snatched the basket from her hands, only to be slapped by her. He glared, and did the worst thing unimaginable. He threw her into a hut, and she fell on the soft ground with Smythe's body on top of hers. Murron thought of William, and wondered how he would have reacted if he saw another man raping his own wife.
Luckily, someone heard her screams, and threw a rock at Smythe's head. When Murron opened her eyes, she knew who came to rescue her.
"William!"
He got her out of the hut, pushed Smythe and the soldiers aside, knocking unconscious.
William turned around and came to Murron's aid.
"I'm scared, William," she whimpered.
"Shh. It's alright, Murron. I'm here now," he consoled the crying girl, putting her on a horse.
As William was about to take Murron back to her house, a voice screamed:
"Come back here, you bastard! Raise the alarm! Help!"
William turned around, and saw Smythe, getting ready to attack him and Murron.
He took a quick glance at Murron, and ordered:
"Meet me at the grove. Ride."
She galloped out of the marketplace, about to warn her parents about the incident, but while William was attacking the soldiers, she found herself falling to the ground, and the world turned black.
The soldiers grabbed her, and took her somewhere, looking for the magistrate.
Once the soldiers were killed, William ran to the woods.
"Murron, please be here."
However, by the time he got there, he called out her name.
"Murron!"
Meanwhile, back in town, Murron woke up, sitting on a pole, and a bunch of soldiers surrounded her, and tied her up. She found herself face to face with William Heselrig, the leader of the English soldiers.
"What's your name, girl?" Heselrig demanded.
She just stared at him, not saying a word.
"I'll never tell you," she determined to herself with a glare on her face.
His attention switched to the tartan that William gave her.
"Murron," he realized, as he noticed that William engraved her name on the tartan. "I'd love to keep you for myself. I want to marry you, and I'll never let you see Wallace again."
She spat at Heselrig, and he wiped it off of her.
"Fear not. If my soldiers find him and kill hm, then the two of you can be together in the afterlife."
She looked away from him.
"Hmph. Very well then," Heselrig snapped his fingers at his soldiers, who took her to a pole, and tied her to it.
"All of you know full well," Heselrig bellowed to the townsfolk.
Little did he know... that someone was spying on them from a hut.
"The great pains I've always taken," Heselrig continued speaking. "Never to be too strict, too rigid with the application with our laws."
As he was talking, Murron's cheek was sore from earlier when Smythe raped her, but she ended up biting him, only for her to be slapped by him.
"And as a consequence," Heselrig said. "Have we not learned to live together? In relative peace and harmony? Huh?"
He gazed around at the soldiers.
"And this... days lawlessness is how you repay my leniency."
There was complete silence.
"William. Where are you?" Murron sobbed in her thoughts, fearing that William was dead.
"Well you leave me with little choice," Heselrig walked up to Murron's side, and took his tartan off of her neck.
"An assault on the king's soldiers... is the same as an assault on the king himself."
Suddenly, as he was about to slit Murron's throat, someone threw a rock at him, and knocked him unconscious.
Murron's eyes scrambled across the town, wondering who saved her.
"Murron!" a voice called out to her. The man ran to her, and untied her.
"William," she shuddered as she hugged him.
"Murron, get out of here, and warn your parents about what happened," he told her.
She nodded as she ran away from William, going straight to her parents' house.
Meanwhile, Wallace looked at Heselrig, who carried his unconscious body, and placed his feet on the ground. When he came to, he saw Wallace standing in front of him.
"No. Please. Anything but that," he panicked.
"This is what you get for trying to kill my wife, you bastard," Wallace as he slit Heselrig's throat, who fell to the ground, dead.
William ran to the English soldiers, took out his sword, and knocked them to the ground.
Meanwhile, Murron waited for William.
"Hamish," she said and he looked at her. "Gather William's men and help him attack the English."
"What about you, Murron?" he asked.
"I'll be fine," she gawked at her parents, and then back at Hamish. "Just go."
Hamish nodded his head, and followed William's men to assist him and the townsmen in their fight against the English.
By the time they got there, the men ran to William's side, and joined him, who threw a sword at an English soldier in the stomach, and died. William gazed at Smythe, and slashed him to the side. Arrows were shot at the soldiers, and during the fight, one of them hit Campbell.
Hamish came to Campbell's aid, and told him:
"Hold still, Father."
Campbell growled, and smacked Hamish.
"You're an idiot, boy!"
William stabbed a dagger into a soldier's throat, and then chopped another one's leg. While he climbed up a fort and threw an English soldier out who fell on top of a hut, Campbell threw a spear into another one of them, and opened the gate. Morrison and Hamish delivered a blow to an English soldier and bashed his head. William flicked a soldier off the hut who fell on a hut and onto the ground. Hamish grabbed Smythe, and sent him flying on top of the fortress and he was killed by Hamish. Finally, William climbed out of the fortress, walked to a soldier, chopped off his head, and spat at him.
After that, William picked up a tartan, and thought of Murron, hoping that she was still alive.
Then, the crowd chanted "MacAulish!" and "Wallace!" repeatedly.
He stared at them, and walked back to Murron's house.
When he got there, he knocked at the door.
"Who is it?" Mr. MacClannough asked.
"It's William," William replied.
Mr. MacClannough opened the door, and William saw Murron and her mother sitting on the ground.
"Murron?"
She turned around to face him and ran to him.
"William," she embraced him. "Oh William. I thought I lost you."
"Shh. Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay," he soothed her as she wept.
He tilted her neck, and gazed deeply into her eyes.
"Are you alright, my love?" he asked her.
"Aye," she replied and kissed him.
Mr. MacClannough cleared his throat, and the lovers glimpsed at him.
"We need to talk."
Husband and wife stared at him, wondering what he was going to say to them.
~ End of Chapter 1. ~
(Note: Now, according to the Braveheart wiki, because I've heard that the real William Wallace was born in 1270 and was executed in 1305, I heard that Murron was born in 1275, and died in 1296 at the age of twenty-one. Again, correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm sorry if I made any mistakes in the fight scenes, which were out of order when William and his men fought the English in the town. Also, the scene where Heselrig talks to Murron before she is executed is actually a deleted scene that was never shown in the movie. I don't know why it was deleted, though it would have been interesting if it wasn't. Anyway, the title of a chapter is a reference to one of the songs in one of the Braveheart soundtracks. I have both of them on my iPod. :D Well, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and there's more coming soon, so stick around.)