"But Mum! I don't want to marry any of the suitors! I'm in love with Hiccup!" Merida pleaded with her mother, Queen Elinor, hands tugging at her wildly curly red hair.
"You don't have a choice, Merida!" The queen argued, pacing around Merida's room. "He is a Viking, and you are a princess, and there are rules and regulations that come with that. This conversation is over!" Elinor snapped, slamming the princess' door behind her, leaving behind a very distraught Merida.
"Ugh! Why me?" She asked herself, kicking the door. "I have to get away from here. I just have to." And with that she packed a bag, grabbed her bow, arrows, and a sword, threw on her cloak, and carefully tiptoed down the long staircase. The Scottish girl poked her head around the corner, making sure the coast was clear, before heading out of the castle, towards the stables. When she arrived, she quickly mounted her horse, Angus, and began making her way to Berk.
At last, Merida arrived, slowing Angus down to a walk, as they moved through the village. She slid off his back, before leading him towards Hiccup's small house. She stopped in front of it, tying Angus' to a nearby tree. Merida crept up the steps to Hiccup's home, so as not to wake anyone up. She raised her hand to knock, but then she had second thoughts. It might not be Hiccup who answered the door, and then she would be caught and killed. Merida decided it would be best if she went around back to his bedroom window, and she did just that.
After a few moments of tapping softly on his window, Hiccup finally woke up. He climbed out of bed and slid open his window. The red headed princess pulled the hood of her cloak down, revealing that it was her. Hiccup's eyes widened.
"Merida, what are you doing here? If you're caught, my dad will kill you without a thought!" He whisper shouted.
"I couldn't stay in Dunbroch any longer, Hiccup. My parents, well, my Mum, wants to marry me off to one of three suitors, and I just won't do it! I love you, and I want to marry you!" Merida fought to hold back the tears threatening to tumble down her rosy cheeks. Hiccup's green eyes stared into Merida's shiny blue ones thoughtfully. He sighed, before opening the window further.
"Alright. But you can't be seen!" He warned, helping her climb into his bedroom. Merida gasped, turning to Hiccup.
"Angus! What about him? He's outside tied to a tree!" Hiccup paced his room, thinking. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"I know! We could put him in the house we built out back for Toothless! No one ever goes back there." And with that the two crawled back outside through his window, before dashing around to the front. Hiccup kept watch while Merida untied her black and white horse, then they led him into Toothless' home. The black dragon immediately woke up to the sound of the horse's hooves on the wood floor, but when he saw that it was only Hiccup and Merida, he fell back to sleep.
A few minutes later, Hiccup and Merida were cuddled up together in Hiccup's bed, trying to figure out what to do about their parents.
"I'm tired now," Merida yawned, resting her head on the brown-headed boy's chest. Hiccup ran his hand through her curly red locks, closing his eyes.
"We'll figure it out tomorrow then. I love you,"
This time he was the one to yawn.
"I love you too."
