Fearless

Disclaimer: Ugh, you know the drill. I don't own Disney's Brave nor DreamWorks' Rise of the Guardians. Also the song Fearless which is copyrighted by a female country singer called Taylor Swift. Not to mention the pic which I found from Google...

A/N: Okay, so, I found myself hating the previous author's note so bad 'till I decided to redo it. Anyways, this fic is supposed to be some kind of break from my other fic which is a multi chaptered one. I realized I haven't written any fic from other fandom nor a one shot, so that's pretty much where the idea came from...

Now onto the fic... Imagine watching Brave but with winter setting this time. Yup, that's all I can say. The rest you need to read in order to find out :3 I might do a sequel though, and if I do, the time gap won't be too long. So watch out for any and happy reading!

"It's the first kiss,
It's flawless,
Really something,
It's fearless."

-Fearless by Taylor Swift

Somewhere in land known as Scotland, a princess named Merida was preparing herself for another yet thrilling ride with her loyal companion, Angus the horse. They traveled far into the woods, a place where she knew nobody would ever dare to come. They kept on going a little bit further until they reached their destination, the bear's lair.

Now… now, Merida was fully aware of the great danger she had gotten herself into, but she was just so sick of being treated like a royalty each and everyday by everyone, especially her very own mother, Queen Elinor of the great DunBroch kingdom.

Merida didn't want a wedding nor a competition to determine which royal of the three kingdoms would have the privilege of marrying her. She wanted to be free without being judge, to flee whenever she felt like it, to be… normal. So one day, Merida made up her mind and sneaked out to visit the witch in her shack, where she gathered all the knowledge she needed about the bear and its lair's location.

Princess Merida knew she only had one shot to prove herself that she deserved much more than an arranged marriage based on the winner of that stupid competition. If she screwed this up, then it'd be her own doom. No one would come and safe her; she's completely on her own now. This was the risk of her decision which she gladly accepted.

"Come on, Angus. We're already close… I can feel it," said Merida with great nervousness shown all over her face. This, somehow, affected Angus' state as well. He became more and more careful in each and every step of his as if he knew about his mistress' terrible choice of coming here.

When they arrived at the castle which was believed to be the bear's lair, Merida couldn't help but to shiver. Note to self: never come to the lair during the winters. She stood there for a second or two before deciding to continue her journey. It's too late to come back… and besides, when else will I have an opportunity like this?

"Now Angus, be a good boy and wait here. I'm sure it won't take so long," whispered Merida with a sigh. She didn't want to endanger her fellow companion too. "You do remember the path back home, do you? Just in case…"

Angus nodded with uncertainty. He knew it was a bad idea, but knowing his mistress' stubbornness and determination, he gave up. Now there's completely nothing he could do other than wait for her and return to the palace by himself in case the bear hurt her. Or, in worst case scenario, killed her.

Merida took a deep breath in and out. She looked at her horse one last time before grabbing her bow and arrow. Carefully, she slid her satchel where she kept her extra arrows to her back and took off into the castle. Let's just hope it'd be quick…

The castle felt strangely odd. Not only it was colder, there was also this weird sensation surrounding it. But Merida couldn't care less. She needed to be focus if she wanted to come back home in one piece. The sound of her footsteps echoed to every part of the castle. Or ruins of the castle. The further she got, the colder she felt. "Just stay calm, Merida. You can do this," said Merida as she tightened her grip.

"Umm, sorry Miss, but to whom are you talking to?" said a voice followed by a loud chuckle.

In a flash, Merida felt more alert and turned around to see where the voice came from. A boy her age with silvery white hair and mesmerizing blue eyes was leaning onto a wooden staff while grinning at her, showing all of his perfectly pearl white teeth.

Before she could react, an unpleasant voice distracted her attention. The voice itself sounded more like a growl, a very loud distracting growl. Suddenly, the tiles felt shaky and her vision went unfocused. There's only one explanation to this. The bear, it must be the bear. Merida wanted to scream, to run as fast she could, but there seemed to be some kind of force holding her back. She found herself completely paralyzed and unable to move.

"Coming here's definitely a bad decision, Missy. I would've never done it if I were you."

Merida's mind finally snapped back to the boy floating meters away above the ground. "You're… you're flying! How is it possible?! I've been trying to figure that out for more than my whole life!" squealed the young royal excitedly. She knew she was supposed to be afraid of whatever the boy was, but she found herself… helpless.

Meanwhile, the boy looked at her deeply into her crystal clear blue eyes with his pupils getting larger and wider. "You can see me. I… I'm visible. For the first time, I'm visible!" he screamed while flying back and forth and all over the place. A giggle managed to escape from Merida's mouth as she watched the boy flew, thinking how silly he was.

The shaking tiles had somehow managed to get their attention again. Merida prepared to shoot an arrow, but before she knew it, the creature was standing right in front of her. The redhead stared at the hideous monster hopelessly. She never should've come. It was just another big mistake. She was just a little girl after all; it wasn't fair for her to die this way.

No, Merida. You're not gonna give up just like that. You've come this far and you are not going back bare handed!

As she rose slowly, Merida sensed a shiver down her neck, but she didn't care. She was fearless. She held her bow high and aimed for the bear who took her father's left leg a few years back when she was kid. The arrow released just in time otherwise the giant might have done a serious damage to her.

When she was about to send another arrow, the redhead princess realized something. The arrow didn't do a single damage to the monster. Although she was pretty sure the arrow hit it somewhere, she found herself… doubting. She never missed a target, no matter how small the target was. So this huge giant should be a piece of cake for her, right?

She decided to shoot more arrows this time just to make sure. And she was right. All the arrows got the beast but nothing seemed had changed. It didn't slow the creature down nor hurt it. But the worst part was the fact that she ran out off arrows to shoot.

As the horrible beast continued to approach her, ready to unleash another attack, Merida pointed her bow and closed her eyes. She was planning on using the bow as sword to pierce the monster through its heart, but deep inside, she knew it would never work. The free-spirited princess waited until she felt the tip of her bow made a contact with the monster, but it never did. When she opened her eyes, she was very shock to find the upper part of the giant, well, frozen.

"Not too bad for a first attempt, huh?" asked the magical teen while pointing his staff at the giant. "Only half to go." Merida looked at him deeply before opening her mouth. "Let me help," pleaded the rebel princess. She couldn't help but to feel to useless. It was her decision to come, not his. So why was he the one responsible? "I can distract him while you do your job."

"Oh, this is new. Are you sure about this, lady? That thing can-" "I'll be fine, besides, two is better than one, agree?" The young boy in hoodie smirked. He was sure she'd never take no for an answer. However, she did look professional with those bow and arrows; he bet she couldn't be that bad… "Fine by me, just… just be careful will ya?" he replied. "I'm Jack by the way; Jack Frost."

"And I'm Merida."

"Come on, Jack. Hurry up! My father will be so delighted meeting you!" said Merida enthusiastically. "You don't know how obsessed he in killing that cursed thing!"

"Merida…" Jack's voice trailed as he tried to figure out the best way to tell her the truth. He was scared he might break the princess' heart, the one and only person with an ability to see and touch him.

Miraculously, they'd been able to survive from the cursed giant by freezing it. Merida had taken several furs as a proof of what she did. Of course, she would never have done it without her friend here. That's why she insisted so hard to get back to the palace with him in order to give him some kind of reward. She's sure her mother would think of something…

"Merida, I can't," said Jack awkwardly while running his finger through his hair carelessly. "I just can't."

"Give me one good reason why." Jack sighed. He knew this would be very tough. Merida now had her arm crossed over her chest with a displease look on her face. And who would honestly blame her?

"Because I'm a spirit and your parents, they… they won't be able to see me because," said Jack. "Because I'm invisible."

Before the redhead could say anything, Jack grabbed her arm and took her to the nearest village. Merida always felt out of place whenever she was around him. His white hair and pale skin blended perfectly with all the snow surrounding them, while her flamey red hair wasn't doing much a favor.

"Watch this." Jack walked casually to approach a little boy playing by the lake. He tried to get the boy's attention but failed miserably in attempt. The boy ignored him and when he got up, Merida could have sworn he walked past through Jack.

"How's that possible? How come you're invisible to everyone but me?!" "I don't know," said Jack with much less energy than he usually did. "When I woke up, the Man in the Moon only told me my name. I even can't remember my past or who I was before I became… me."

Merida took a couple of steps back and stumbled on the way. She couldn't believe her ears. Jack looked up to her with a sad expression on his face. "So, I guess this is goodbye." He'd miss her, that's for sure. But this was the only way. He didn't want to give her any false just to watch her happy for a while but suffer later.

When Jack was about to fly to wherever he came form, Merida ran toward him, which made him jump a little. She leaned, closing the gap between them, and closed her eyes.

Her first kiss.

But kissing him was totally different from what she imagined. His lips were cold but left a tingling sensation on her lips which made her warm up a little bit. She could feel her cheeks flushed when they broke apart. In many words, she was glad it was him. That kiss was flawless. Yet, there's seemed to be something more…

It was fearless.

"It's a reward," said Merida with her cheeks being the same color as her hair. "You know, for saving me earlier."

Jack smiled wholeheartedly which made Merida wondered how could it be possible to feel this warm from a cold guy like him. "Will I ever see you again?" asked the rebel princess innocently.

Jack tilted his head and pretended to think about it for a second. Deep inside, he already knew the answer to that question long before, right from the moment they met. He just wanted to mess with her head one last time before they went to their separate ways.

"Definitely."

PS: I made the kissing scene not too detailed 'cause it is a rated K+ (preteen, right?) fic after all... I just wanted to make this fic as fluffy and cute as possible and the idea of a rated T fic doesn't relate so well.

And I know about the "hanging" ending, it's like half ending and half not. It's just like in movies where in the end they included the "it's not the ending but only the beginning" part. That's why I desperately need a sequel. But sequels are pretty depressing, so I can't promise you anything :o