A Change of Fate
A.N. Well. I know that I should be working on some of my other fics that I have yet to finish, but this idea burrowed its way into my head and wouldn't get out. It probably won't be a long story, but I checked, and there weren't any other stories with this plotline that I could find. I hope you like it. It starts after Merida is locked in Queen Elinor's room by King Fergus.
Disclaimer: I don' own Brave, an' I'm fair sure you knew tha'. (That was my way of pointing out that the dialogue is written with dialect.) Sorry for the long author's note. Now read on!
OooOooOooOooO (With the Princess)
"Let me ou', Da! Don' hurt my mum! Le' me ou'! It's yer wife, Elinor!" The red-haired teen shouted though the window of the door. No reply and no help came. Her level of desperation grew with each second, and she knew that her da would be on his way to slay the bear he thought had killed his wife.
She attacked the door with anything and everything within reach, but it did no good. She thought of trying to shatter the windows, but she knew that the windows were too thin and she too high up to escape. Instead, she returned to shouting from the door.
Merida knew that her father was no longer in hearing distance, so she began shrieking for help from anyone who would listen. "Someone le' me out! Anyone, please! Help me!" Her Scottish brogue echoed through the halls, but it reached the ears of only a few.
"Please," the princess sobbed as she slid to the floor with her back resting on the thick wooden door. "Please."
"Princess?" Came a slightly familiar tone. "Are ya all righ'?" The voice was of medium range, had an accent similar to her own, and was difficult for Merida to place. She slowly rose to her feet, but she didn't yet face the window. "Wha's wrong?"
"My da is out there, and if I don' stop 'im, he's goin' to kill my mum. 'S enough to distress any lass, wouldn't you say?" She snapped as she wiped her nose with a sniff.
"Wha'?" The voice exclaimed. Merida slowly spun to face the small window as she began to recognize the voice. If she was correct, it had been praising her ideas and speaking of freedom not an hour before. As she finished her turn, she came face to face with the son of Lord Macintosh.
"Okay, listen. You mus' let me out, and I'll explain. Please. I need to save my mum," the girl begged.
"Why are ya locked in here in the firs' place?" The young man retorted.
"My da is off to slay the bear, but I tried to stop 'im. 'E locked me in 'ere to keep me from followin' 'im."
The boy in the blue war paint stood for a moment in deep thought before unsheathing his sword and commanding, "Stand back, lass." Merida stumbled away from the door, and Macintosh brought his blade down on the lock. The lock shattered, and he pulled the door open. "C'mon. You've got some tales to tell, and we need to hurry if we're to catch the king."
"Thank you!" She cried as she flew out of the bedroom and into the hall with the tapestry rolled up under her arm and a threaded needle plunged into it. She grabbed his wrist and practically dragged him down the stairs in her haste to reach the stables. When he got over his initial shock, the boy sped up to match step with her as they ran together through the kitchen and out into the rain.
OooOooOooOooO (With the Hunters)
King Fergus lead the way through the forest as the men followed the bear tracks left in the mud. The lords were close behind him, and their sons followed. Lord Macintosh, however, kept glancing around in confusion.
"Where is that boy?" He growled to himself. He hadn't seen his son since they had gone down into the cellars. The boy had left not long after they had arrived, and he had never returned. Once they had come up from the cellars and found and driven out the bear, he had not had time to search for his child.
Now he was engaged in the hunt for the beast, but his boy was nowhere to be found. Against all instincts, he was worried. 'What if the beast got him?' With that thought, Macintosh's heart was hardened. Whether the bear had killed his son or not, he was going to do his best to slay the animal at any cost.
OooOooOooOooO (With the Rescuers)
"We'll ride Angus, my horse," Merida instructed as the pair reached the stables. Within seconds, she had swung into the saddle and thrown her bow and quiver, which she had grabbed on the way by, over the saddle horn along with the tapestry. Macintosh mounted the horse behind her, and they were off.
"So, wha' happened?" He inquired as they rode at a breakneck pace through the woods.
"Well, you know well as I do how I didn't wan' to get married. After the failure of my firs' attempt to stop it, I went for a ride, and I stumbled upon a cottage by followin' the wisps. I bought a spell from the witch who lived there, but it didn' do wha' I wanted it to. 'Stead o' changin' my mum's mind, it changed 'er into a bear. We've been tryin' to fix it, but then Da found 'er as she went wild," Merida explained as she sewed. She was currently steering Angus with her knees, but she was considering giving Macintosh the reins so she could focus.
"Wha' do ya mean, wen' wild?"
"She's usually only a bear physically, and she's mentally 'erself. Sometimes, though, she becomes a bear all the way through. Da caught 'er one o' those times, an' he attacked 'er. Now 'e's off huntin' her, an' I've got to stop 'im. I can change 'er back if I jus' sew up this tapestry before the sun rises," she finished. As an afterthought, she added, "Do you believe me?" Suddenly she felt like she needed the boy to believe her, even though she could just shove him off the horse and keep going if she needed to.
"I don' know. It's crazy, bu' you seem to believe it. I guess I do too," he admitted. "I'll help you as best I can to save yer mum. What can I do?"
"Take the reins so I can sew," she commanded. The boy's blue-streaked arms wrapped around her as he picked up the leather straps. As he did, a blue shape appeared in front of Angus's nose, and the horse slid to a halt.
"A wisp," Macintosh muttered in awe. "I take it we follow the wisps, then," he commented as a trail of the blue spirits appeared. "Hyah!"
Angus leapt forward once more, and Merida finished the final stitches to sew up the rip. "There," she whispered as she rolled the fabric back up again. As she sat up, a thought occurred to her. "Ya know, I though' you were a self-centered fool. I don' even know yer firs' name, an' I had judged you. 'M sorry fer that. I jus'… I didn't wan' ta get married, an' I was scared. It was easier to make a joke out o' all o' you than to think about marryin' you. Now there's all this, an' yer helping me, an' I'm jus' sorry."
"It's Valan."
"Wha'?"
"My name. It's Valan. Valan Macintosh. An' it's all righ'. After the fit I threw when I missed tha' shot, I would'a thought the same. It's jus', my da has these expectations an' this personality 'e wan's me to have. I'm supposed to be perfect at everythin' an' act all full of myself, and I knew he'd be disappointed. 'M always livin' with these rules, and m' da insisted that I win yer hand. I didn' wan' to get married any more than you did; 'm not even eighteen! It was all jus' too much, an' I snapped. 'M sorry too, I guess."
"S'all righ'. I know what you mean. 'S the same way fer me; I've not been able to be a real girl since I was wee. My mum's been trainin' me to be the perfect princess fer years, an' I hate it!" Merida suddenly stopped; she had no idea what had happened. She was fighting for her mother's life, and now she was venting to this boy that she barely knew! How had this happened?
As she realized this, she looked up to see a sight that made her blood run cold. Her bow was in her hand before she could think, and she loosed an arrow with a shout of "No!"
The shot flew true, and one of the ropes being used to tie down Queen Elinor the bear was severed. It did little good, though, and the bear was captured as the pair arrived at the edge of the clearing. King Fergus dismounted and drew his sword, and the Valan felt Merida stiffen in the circle of his arms. He pulled on the reins to stop Angus as the girl leapt from the saddle. She ran to get between her father and the beast that was her mother.
"I won' let you kill her, Da. Tha's my mum, an' you can' hurt her." All eyes were on the fiery-haired princess as she squared off against her father with her bow drawn, and no one noticed the teen in the shadows riding Angus. As Merida's eyes strayed to the boy, Fergus quickly took advantage of her distraction and threw his daughter into Lord Macintosh's grip. The man trapped her with his spear, and with a nod, the king rounded on the bear once more.
As Merida struggled against the strength of his father, Valan jumped from Angus's back and drew his sword. With one swipe, he severed the spear that was holding her in place, and she leapt to her mother's defense with a sword that she snatched from an inattentive soldier. Valan then slid smoothly in to cover her back as she fought with the king.
"Son?" Lord Macintosh gasped as he came face to face with the boy. "What're you doin'?"
Just then, Fergus went flying and a growl split the air. Everyone froze, and several men dropped their weapons in shock as a giant shadow rose up next to one of the stones. Merida's eyes widened in fear as a single word left her lips. "Mor'du."
OooOooOooOooO
A.N. So, there's the first chapter. I tried to make it interesting but explanatory, and I wanted to lay the basis for the rest of the story. Also, that ending was my sad attempt at cliffhanger. Tell me what you think!