Warning: May be some spoilers from the movies Brave, Tangled, Rise of the Guardians,and How to Train Your Dragon. If you do not want to know what happened in any of the movies because you have not watched them yet but are going to, please don't read as this story may contain major spoilers.

Prologue

In four corners of the world, all in different time periods, were four heroes. They had no idea yet, but later in time, they would be in the biggest, deadliest battle in history. They would all have to face their own fears, banding together to save the world . . . Losing something important to them to make it happen . . .

Merida DunBroch

"Hurry up, Mum!" Merida called out, racing Angus, her horse, down the mountain.

"Oi, slow down, Merida!" Queen Elinor laughed. "Ye're going too fast today!"

Merida just smiled back at her. Now that the demon bear, Mor'du, was dead, she could relax again and have fun with her family. She urged Angus on faster.

Elinor caught up with her. She smiled at her in satisfaction. Then, Merida noticed some sharp rocks ahead that Elinor did not. She ran faster. "Mum, move!" she commanded urgently.

Elinor just laughed. "Not a chance, lassie!" she replied.

Merida was left with no other choice. She and Angus leaped over the queen and her horse, and Merida threw herself off of her saddle and onto the sharp rocks Elinor was only inches away from.

Elinor screamed just as Merida did. She pulled her horse to a stop, yanking on the reins hard. She dismounted her horse quickly, ripping some fabric from her skirts. She hurried over to wear her daughter lay.

"Mum . . ." Merida whispered, groaning in pain.

"Shh, it's all right," Elinor told her gently. "You'll be okay, sweetheart."

Merida fought to keep her eyes open. "Mum, ah couldn't let you die. You are worth dyin' for and ah want you to live forever."

"I know, my dear," Elinor whispered back. "Just know that your father and I love you very much, dear."

"I . . . ah love ye, too, Mum . . ." Merida said hoarsely. Then her body became cold and numb, her hand growing limp in Elinor's warm one.

The queen wept silent tears. She lifted Merida's and her own face up to the sky, up to the heavens. She murmured, "Oh, will o' the wisps, please guard my daughter through her passin'. May the Earth bless her soul." And with those final words, Elinor gently, delicately placed a kiss on Merida's cheek and slowly walked back to the castle. She didn't notice, however, that a red light had consumed Merida's body, causing it to disappear.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III

"Come on, Toothless!" Hiccup shouted to his pet dragon. The two of them soared through the walls of flame. "It's gonna be okay, bud," he murmured into Toothless's eardrum. Together they flew through the orange sky. They and their fellow Vikings were battling the fiercest dragon of all: the Red Death. Toothless shot fireballs again and again at the huge dragon, but it just answered with large waves of fire. The Vikings' ships had all been destroyed, and the Vikings on the ground, men and women alike, were huddling together, seeking shelter from the flames. The children of the Vikings, all teenagers, rode on the backs of dragons, all of them fighting the monstrous Red Death.

"All right, guys!" Hiccup yelled from his seat on his dragon. "It's time we defeat this dragon once and for all! On the count of three, all of the dragons have to release fire on the Red Death! ONE! TWO! THREE!"

A huge wave of fire washed over the dragon. The Red Death screamed, a deep, guttural sound, and let out a huge stream of fire before collapsing to the ground. The other riders had already managed to safely get away, but Hiccup and Toothless were both blown backwards by the force of the explosion. Hiccup was thrown off of Toothless's back, and both were plummeting towards the ground at a terrifying speed.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup yelled. "Come here, bud! We've gotta make it!" Toothless gurgled in response. But before Hiccup could reach him, both fell into the flames.

"HICCUP!" Astrid, Hiccup's girlfriend screamed. She swung herself onto her dragon, Stormfly, and was about to take off when a huge boulder came crashing down just centimeters from Stormfly's left wing. Stoick, Hiccup's father and the chief of the Viking village, lumbered over.

"Astrid, it's no use," he told her gently. "We'll just have to wait until the fire's out to find my son."

Astrid felt tears start to form behind her eyes, but made no move to wipe them away when they started rolling down her cheeks. After what felt like eternity, the flames subsided and they all saw a black lump of scales sitting in a pile of ashes.

Stoick felt like a million dragons had just flown right into him. He rushed over to Toothless, now a lifeless soul. He lifted up Toothless's wing to find Hiccup lying there.

"Oh no," he whispered. "No, no, no, please. Oh, Odin, please! Don't take my son away from me!" He held Hiccup's lifeless body in his arms. Scooping his son up, he turned around to face the other villagers. Astrid's eyes widened when she saw Hiccup's limp form. She rushed over and started punching Hiccup's arms and feeling his face.

"Come on, Hiccup," she whispered fiercely. "Don't leave me. Your father-everyone needs you. Please, don't die on me," she sobbed. Ruffnut led her away. Stoick lowered his son back underneath Toothless's wing. Then he slowly backed away. All of the other Vikings took a dragon for themselves and flew back to the village. Stoick took one look back before mounting a dragon and taking off. A thick fog had settled in, but the dragons seemed to remember where to go. A good thing, too. Because the fog hid the bright green flash of light that consumed Hiccup's and his dragon's bodies.

Rapunzel Fitzherbert

Mother Gothel handcuffed Rapunzel, then gagged her. She brandished a dagger. "For your little thief," she'd explained snidely.

Rapunzel looked, wild-eyed at Pascal, her chameleon, making unlocking motions. Pascal understood and scampered over to her chains. He used his tail, making it very pointy, as a key to release Rapunzel from her chains. She held onto her bonds, though, making it look like she was still useless. Gothel was sharpening her blade with a verp sharp rock, cackling to herself as Rapunzel pretended to still struggle.

Then, a voice came from the bottom of the tower. "Rapunzel!" Eugene called. "Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

Gothel laughed again. "It's showtime, my flower," she said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Yes, yes it is, Rapunzel thought, hiding her expression.

Gothel let down Rapunzel's hair, and Eugene climbed up. Just as he was about to enter the tower, Rapunzel freed herself, took off her gag, and threw herself right at Gothel's dagger. Her eyes widened as she felt the searing pain of the sharp blade entering her stomach, and she screamed as her blood dripped onto the floor.

"Oh, Rapunzel," Gothel said, nonchalant. "I never knew you were so dramatic." She yanked her knife out, now soaked with blood, and Rapunzel wailed again. "Now heal yourself. Can't have my magic flower dying, now can I? After all, you keep me alive and young and beautiful, darling."

Rapunzel grimaced. With her last ounce of strength, she grabbed a shard of mirror from when they'd had their fight earlier. Gritting her teeth, Rapunzel cut her hair with the glass, turning all of her beautiful golden-blonde hair into a dull brown color.

Gothel screamed. Her face turned a pale gray, her hair turned white, and her eyeballs bulged out of her head. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" she shrieked. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" She pulled her hood over her face, falling into a fit of anger at her aging figure. Pascal dragged over some of Rapunzel's cut hair and she fell out of the tower and disappeared into a cloud of dust. Rapunzel lay sprawled on the floor, barely breathing from her wound.

Eugene leapt into the tower. "Rapunzel, what just happened to that old lady?" he asked her. He then saw her lying on the floor, losing blood fast. He ran over to her. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no," he said, tears forming in his eyes. Rapunzel had never seen a man cry before. She always thought that they were scary and tough. But now, here was Eugene, former thief, crying. "Everything's gonna be all right," he told her hurriedly. "We just-just have to get you to the castle and meet with a doctor or something or-"

"Eugene," Rapunzel croaked out, stroking his face with her hand.

"What?" he whispered.

"You were my new dream," she whispered back. "After we saw the floating lights."

"And you were mine," he said, holding her hand. Then he kissed her cheek, gently, as if to say goodbye, and then she passed. He felt it in her limp hand, and he heaved big sobs. When he finally put himself together, he slipped a ring and the crown on her head, whispering, "You are now Princess Rapunzel Fitzherbert. My wife and future queen of Corona." Then he silently climbed back down the tower with Pascal on his shoulder, where Maximus was waiting at the bottom. When he had rode away, a purple light glowed from the tower.

Jack Frost*

Jack's little sister Emily tugged his arm. "Let's go, Jack!" she squealed in excitement. "Let's go ice skating!"

Jack laughed at her excitement. "Hold on, Emily, we have to get dressed for the cold weather, first!" He made her put on warm, woolen clothes, and he dressed in layers, too, wearing his warm brown cloak. They grabbed their ice skates. Jack also picked up his shepherd's staff, just in case anything were to happen.

"Have fun, you two!" their mother called, smiling. "And Jackson Overland, watch your little sister."

"Yes, ma'am," Jack replied earnestly. Then he grinned and Emily pulled him out the door.

The two had fun ice skating for a while. But then Jack heard his little sister cry out. "Jack!" she said frantically. The ice underneath her was cracking!

Jack saw how scared she was. "It's okay, it's gonna be okay," he said. He slowly reached for his staff. "We're gonna play a little game instead. How about hopscotch? You've always loved that game." Emily nodded, still frightened. "All right, then just hop towards me." Emily nodded again and began taking little hops towards Jack. When she was close enough, he used his staff to push her out of the way. Instead, he was on the cracking ice. "See?" he said, grinning. He reached towards her, then fell into the lake.

"Jack!" Emily screamed. She ran back to the house, screaming, "Jack fell in! Jack fell in!" But Mrs. Overland could do nothing. She held Emily's hand as they constructed a makeshift grave for Jack. Then, when the moon rose, they prayed for his well-being, then slowly walked back home. And the moon heard their calls. A blue light emanated from the frozen lake.

*I know that Jack's death was in the movie, but it didn't really seem fair to Jack to put the other Big Four's deaths and not his. So if you haven't seen his movie, Rise of the Guardians, you should! There may be some spoilers from all the other movies, sorry! And I've changed the girls' death scenes to make them more heroic, just like Hiccup's and Jack's.