Written for my sister's birthday. She got a shirt with Merida following the Will O' The Wisps up to the Tardis, so I simply HAD to write a fic about it!

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About a month after the Clans' departures, Merida woke on a cold autumn day. The sky was clear with a few fluffy clouds, and most of the leaves on the trees were gone. When she opened her window to freshen her room, the wind that blew across her face and pushed back her hair was clean and smelt crisp.

Perfect day to explore, Merida thought. Her newly healed relationship with her mother had one downside: She seldom had a day to herself. The two would spend most of their time in each other's company. Merida thought back to the previous evening.

Merida and Eleanor walked down the stairs to the great hall for dinner, laughing about some joke as the torches sputtered flame, sending dancing shadows across the walls of the spacious room. They sat down and set themselves about eating the large amount of food that was required to feed a family made up of an active fourteen year-old, her equally active father, three growing brothers, and mother who honestly didn't eat as much as her husband and children.

A few minutes into the meal, Eleanor looked up to Merida and said, "Merida, your father and I will be spending tomorrow together. Is that alright?"

Merida nodded, as her mouth was full, and did a little happy dance inside. She loved her mother, but wanted to go out and have fun on her own.

Merida grinned out the window, then turned to her wardrobe and selected her favourite blue dress. Her father had requested the seamstress to make her a dress she could ride, run, climb, and practice archery in, then gave it to her for her fourteenth birthday. When Fergus saw how often his daughter used it, he ordered several more in different colours to be made.

Sliding down the banisters of every staircase, she grabbed a bag with several apples from the kitchen, then dashed over to her Clydesdale horse, Angus, and tucked the bag into the pouch on the left side of the saddle, then jumped up and dug her heels into his side with a shout. Angus reared up excitedly, and dashed out of his stall towards the familiar bridge. Once past that, they rode off into the path that led into the woods.

Merida, per the norm, fired several arrows, spending an hour relishing every pull and release, and satisfied in the knowledge that her arrow hit its target. After retrieving her arrows, she and Angus continued their day out.

Later, Merida climbed the Crown's Tooth again. As a natural climber, her hands and feet found near invisible indentations in the rock that supported her full weight. The second time, of course, was faster and easier than the first. Her movements were smooth, and uninterrupted.

She then hunted for a fish and roasted it over a small fire, and ate it with an apple. An annoyed whinny from Angus prompted her to toss an apple his direction. Angus chased it as it rolled and scooped it up, munching happily. After several hours of exploring the woods, staring at strange rocks and laughing at the funnily shaped trees that were nearly bare of leaves, sunset was upon her and her beloved horse. Merida was about to head back to the castle when she saw something that made her heart beat with excitement.

A small, blue, will o' the wisp. She slid from Angus's back, patted him on the shoulder and told him to stay, then walked toward the floating spirit. It's arms waved, beckoning her to come closer. As she approached, a line of wisps popped up as they had several times before. Merida's eyes were glued to the beautiful thing, mystified. She had thought the wisps had finished with her. Nevertheless, she continued to walk forward. She didn't have to walk far, as a few feet ahead, the line of wisps turned a corner. When she did, she saw something that clearly did not belong. Unlike the witch's cottage, which appeared to have simply sprung up from the ground, this was a different sight entirely. A large, blue box stood before her, set in front of several trees which blew about in the slight wind. Tucked between two rocks, the thing looked strange. It was like her wardrobe at home, but taller, less wide, and it was a rather vivid shade of blue. Merida walked straight up to it, then observed its features. The words, 'Police Public Call Box' and 'Pull To Open' were written on a wooden sign on the left door. Merida looked at the right side door. Shrugging, she gripped the silver handle in her right hand and tugged. The door swung open with no resistance, and Merida stepped inside.

Her eyes grew wide as she stared at what lay inside. A room that was far too large to possibly exist inside the tiny blue box, with a staircase leading up to a glass platform, and a column in the middle also made of glass.

"Hello?" Merida tentatively called out.

A man who had previously been below the platform popped up. He wore black goggles on his eyes, and he moved them up to rest on his forehead as he smiled at her and said, "Ah, hello! I'm sorry I didn't see you sooner, I was kind of absorbed by my work. Sorry, could you tell me when and where I am?" There was a wide ribbon tied at his neck, slightly askew, and he adjusted it as he raised his eyebrows in an expectant and friendly way.

Merida tipped her head and raised an eyebrow in confusion. Who was this man? "You're in Scotland, in the year 1453. How did you not know the year? For that matter, how could you not know you were in Scotland? Who are you?"

The man said, "Yeah, sorry, navigation's been knocked out of alignment, and the monitor's not functional. I've been stuck down here for hours trying to fix it. I'm the Doctor, now that you ask. What's your name?"

Merida didn't know half of what he said, and she didn't know what to think of him, so she decided not to give away her full identity just yet. She said, "I'm Merida. How is this possible?"

It was the Doctor's turn to look confused now as he said, "How is what possible?" At Merida's irritated sweeping gesture of the room, he made an 'Oh' face silently and said, "Ah yes, sorry. This is the Tardis. Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"It's smaller on the outside."

"What?" The Doctor looked surprised and ever so slightly disappointed.

"It can't be bigger on the inside as the outside is obviously a disguise, so this is the real thing, therefore it is smaller on the outside," Merida explained.

The Doctor looked thoughtful for a second then said, "Nobody's ever put it that way before. I suppose it's true though."

"So what's it for? Do you live here?"

"Uh, yes. Yes, I live here. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It takes me anywhere, anywhen. Doesn't always take me where I want to go, but at least that keeps things interesting. Would you like to see?"

"Anywhen?"

"Any point in time. I can go to the year 3 thousand, 600 BC, or better yet, go to the year 2015 and see if there are hoverboards..."

"Huh" Said Merida, still slightly dazed.

The Doctor Took a few steps forward and said, "Hold on, how did you get in here? Things can't just walk right into the Tardis."

"The sign on the door said 'pull to open'." Merida replied, pointing behind her at the door

"But you can't just open the door, she shouldn't let things she doesn't know in!" He exclaimed, waving his arms about to accentuate his words

"Then why've you got the sign?" Merida crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows

"It's just a part of the disguiseWAIT! Did you say you opened the door with a pull?" The Doctor had begun to walk back to the main platform, but spun around suddenly, pointing at the girl in the blue dress.

"Um, yes, that is what the sign said."

The Tardis gave a satisfied rumble.

"No, don't take her side!" He said, looking up at the ceiling and pointing at Merida.

"Who're you talking to?" Merida said, looking up at the ceiling with him.

"The Tardis, she's alive, she's got a soul, and she has a VERY CHEEKY PERSONALITY!" He shouted, making sure his beloved ship heard him.

"So, 2015 you said?" She asked dropping her arms.

"Sorry?" The Doctor said looking back down at the young teen.

"You said you wanted to go to the year 2015 and see if there were hoverboards yet. Lets go!" Merida walked back to the door.

"Where are you going?" He asked, not moving.

Merida poked her head back in the door, and said, "I'm getting Angus."

"No no NO! No extra passengers, it gets crowded, and that" He said pointing as Merida let the horse in the doors, "Changes everything, Hello! Yes. No, don't be silly, the orchard is down the hall." The Doctor explained as he petted Angus' nose.

"Are you talking to my horse?" Merida said disbelievingly.

"Yes, I speak horse, now let's get going!" He exclaimed, running up to the platform and beginning to throw switches, levers, and knobs.

There was the sound of metallic breathing, and a lot of shaking as the Doctor ran round the control console, then everything was still.

"Excellent! New York, two-thousand and fifteen, and you need to get changed." He said, clapping his hands together.

"Have you got clothing?"

"Yep, down those stairs, second door on the left, wardrobe room. The Tardis will automatically bring clothing from the time in your size, just pick what you like." He said, turning to Angus and petting him again.

Merida followed his directions, marvelling at the lights and metal, and found herself at the top of the stairs leading into the wardrobe room. Thousands, if not, millions, of racks of clothing filled the room in neat rows. They looked like the inside of her wardrobe, but lower, and made of very shiny metal. She ventured down, and observed the row directly in front of her. Remembering that the Doctor said that the Tardis was alive, she looked at the ceiling and asked, "Are these for me, then?" And she recieved a groan that sounded like a human saying "M-hm".

Walking forward and pulling out the first thing she saw, her eyes were greeted by what we know to be a T shirt. It was a light blue colour, with darker blue circles covering it in various sizes. Noticing movement to her left, she looked over, and saw a screen displaying how to wear the garments displayed. Merida then found some proper underthings, donned them, and proceeded to put on the nice blue shirt she had found. Looking about, she saw some jeans, and pulled them on according to the images' instructions. She walked down the row to her right until she found a shoe display. Selecting a pair of black ankle boots and putting them on over the socks she had found, she then checked herself in a mirror standing close by. A noise from the Tardis brought her attention over to yet another rack, this one filled with jackets and coats and scarves. Merida found what we know as a black bomber jacket she liked, as well as a cashmere scarf in ombre blue. Delighting in the softness of her new clothing, and satisfied with what she saw in the very clear mirror, she retraced her steps back up to the main control room.

"Oh, good, you're here. Found everything alright, then?" The Doctor said, glancing over at her, then switching his attention back to the screen.

"Yes, thank you. Where'd Angus go?" Merida said, climbing the glass stairs. The high quality rubber prevented her from slipping, but she felt an odd sense of vertigo when she looked down into the engines.

"Oh, I took him down the hall. I did mention the orchard. Don't worry, the apples are organic."

Merida sat down in the captain's chair and muttered, "Wasn't worried."

"Sorry, didn't catch that..?"

"I wasn't worried. Now," Merida stood and clapped her hands together once, "What on earth is a hoverboard?"