I recently searched around the internet for any last names that related itself with fire and I found that Kegan is a celtic name meaning 'bright shining flame' which I thought would fit Merida perfectly, since her role is the Spirit of Summer, and I'd also like to give a thank you for the people that started to follow this story, made it a favorite, and simply checked it out. I promise that this story is going much better with every new chapter, and I hope you'll like it. Enjoy!
Part 2: Summer
Merida POV:
I tried to open my eyes, but somethin' seemed to stop me, as if there was a bright light starin' down on my face, so I held up one of my hands to cover it. I turned to the left, and then to the right, before realizin' that my body was layin' on the ground, and so I got myself up from off the grass, and looked up. As it turned out, the 'bright light' was only the moon shinin' in the night sky, and just when I was about to take another step, somethin' strange happened.
My entire body had been lifted off the ground, and as I rose even higher and higher, I started to get a lot more scared with what exactly was happenin' right now. I tried to move and get myself back down, but it didn't work at all, as it seemed like someone had complete control of my body, and could decide what to do with it. It wasn't until I was facin' the moon itself, that my body had stopped movin', and I wondered for a moment what was going to happen now when I heard a voice.
"You have nothing to fear, child, because no one is going to hurt you, and you're going to be the light in a dark time to come in the distant future." The voice said.
The voice that I heard was deep, like it was comin' from an old man, and I looked down on the ground to see if there was somebody below, but I didn't see anybody.
"Your name is Merida Kegan." I wanted to find out so much more, as in who was talkin' to me, and what exactly was goin' to be happenin' in the 'distant future'.
I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I was safely brought down to the ground, while I kept lookin' at the Moon, wonderin' if there was anything more I needed to know. I'm not really sure how much time had passed with me still starin' up at the Moon, until I heard a soft and steady whisper, and I turned my head to see what it was. Even though there was a heavy mist around the land, I noticed that I was standing in the middle of a circle made up of about fourteen stones standing tall around me. Once all of the mist had cleared away, I was able to make out a small floatin' blue light which was flickerin' between two of the stones, and I didn't see anythin' else. I quickly closed my eyes, thinkin' that I made up the blue light in my head, and I was just imaginin' things, but when I opened my eyes, the tiny light was still there.
The light seemed to be beckonin' me, with its' bright glow, and since there wasn't a point for me to ignore it, I slowly walked up and tried to touch it, but it disappeared. Just a few seconds had passed before I saw the light again, but this time, it was joined by a line of tiny blue lights, and I followed the light as it led me outside the circle. Together, all of these lights created a path for me to follow through the dark forest and I was sure that a lot of time had passed before I could see a castle in the distance.
Maybe there would be somebody inside, who could be able to tell me a whole lot more than what I heard from the deep voice while I was floatin' up high from the ground. I walked a little faster to get to the castle, but not too quick, because I didn't want to get myself so exhausted that I wouldn't have a chance to talk with whoever was inside. When I got much closer to the castle, it seemed like I didn't even really need to go inside, as I already saw a guard walking along the bridge, while carryin' a flamin' torch.
"Hey, excuse me, sir," I said to the guard, who had his back to me. "Now I know that yer on duty to protect whoever's in this castle, but can ye tell me where I am?"
To my annoyance, the guard didn't simply turn around and answer me, but kept walkin' along the bridge, actin' like he didn't even hear anythin' I just said to him. I walked over to make sure that this time, I was standin' right in front of him, but I still thought that it was important to at least tell the guard what my name was.
"Since it would be rude not to introduce myself at all, so sir, my name is Merida, and I was hopin' if you would be so kind as to tell me where I am." I said to him.
However, not only did the guard not answer me, but he turned around and started walkin' to the other side of the bridge, completely disrespectin' me in the process. I decided that it would be much better for me to get answers from someone inside the castle, and not from a guy who couldn't take five seconds of their time to talk to me.
"Alright, if you want to keep on ignorin' me, and pretend like I'm not even here, go ahead, and while you do that, I'll just enter this castle and find somebody who'll actually have a heart and help me out." I declared, before turning around to face the castle.
Since the castle was a lot more close to me now, I didn't really feel a need to walk at a fast pace, and it wasn't long before I finally managed to find a door that wasn't locked. When I opened the door and went inside, I could easily tell that I was inside the kitchen, from seein' all the baskets full of vegetables, as well as the plates and fryin' pans.
"Hello," I called out, as I walked around the room. "Is anyone in here?" I added, but I still didn't get a response, so I walked up the stone staircase and through the hallway.
It led me to what I believed was the Great Hall of the castle, and to my satisfaction, I could hear voices comin' out of the large room, but they didn't sound so happy at all.
"Why couldn't I just stop and listen to my wee lass on that night? Maybe if I had, then both her and her Mum would be still alive, and sitting here with me right now."
The voice belonged to a man who had curly red hair, thick eyebrows, as well as a mustache and beard, while he also looked to be very muscular, or just very obese. He was wearin' an outfit consistin' of a robe and kilt with the colors of green, gray and red, a large brown belt, and finally, a cape made up of an animal fur, most likely bein' a bear's fur. I noticed from under the table that he had a knobby peg leg, which I definitely thought was the result of fightin' a bear, and the man obviously must have won the fight, since he wore a cape out of bear fur. On the table, I saw that there were a few wooden mugs in front of the man, but none of them didn't have a drink inside, meanin' that he had drank a lot to in an effort to forget about losing people that he loved. Now, I wasn't so sure about whether I should step forward and ask him if he could tell me where I was, because I knew that he wanted to be left alone, but it was still very important for me to know.
"Excuse me, sir?" I began, and although the man still didn't move his head, it didn't really matter to me, because all that mattered was if he could give me the answers that I needed so badly.
"While I can see that yer not really in the best mood to talk to anyone right now, I was hopin' if ye could tell me where I am, and after ye've told me, I promise that I'll leave and never bother ye again." I added.
Just like what happened with the guard at the bridge, all the man did was ignore me, by bringin' his head up from the table, and starin' ahead at the stone wall.
"My name is Merida, and I'm sorry to hear about yer family, but I don't know where I'm supposed to go, or what I need to do, so please, can ye help me?" I asked.
The man continued to ignore me, and I quickly started to get a lot more angry, and at the same time, I felt like my body temperature was gettin' warmer, but it's not like I even cared about that.
"That's it! I tried my best to be kind and patient, but I just can't take being ignored any longer! If I have to do something, such as burn down this castle, to get yer attention, so be it!" I shouted.
With that being said, I looked around to find anythin' that had fire, but it turned out that I already had it, when I raised my right hand to see that I was holdin' a fireball. For a moment, and I don't even know how long it was, I kept my eyes on the flames in amazement, as I was thinkin' that somehow, I gained a brand new magical power. Eventually, I made a look back to the man sittin' at the dinner table, and that's when I started wonderin' if I should really do this, even after knowin' that he lost members of his family. I also knew, or at least had a feelin' that this castle was also the man's home, and it would've been awful to leave him without one, by burnin' down the entire castle. Tears soon welled up in my eyes, and then I faced the fireball which quickly vanished, and I brought down my right hand in sadness, since I would have to get the answers that I wanted through another way.
"Look, sir, I'm sorry that I was almost goin' to burn down yer home, and I understand that ye want to be left alone, but I think that ye need a hug, so I'll give ye one before I go." I said before walkin' towards him.
I held out both of my arms and was plannin' to have them wrapped gently around his head, only to pass right through his body, and I ended up fallin' on the other side of his chair. Right after that happened, I suddenly felt a lot of emotions run inside my body, and so I wasn't just feelin' the anger from being ignored and not getting an answer. There was realization that the man at the dinner table couldn't see me, just like the guard at the bridge couldn't either, so they weren't really ignorin' me after all. Not to mention that I also felt even more sadness because it meant that I was invisible, like I was a ghost, but I began thinkin' what happened to make me into a ghost.
All I remember in the beginnin' was that I woke up on the ground, and nothin' else before that, but what I did remember that someone usually becomes when they. . .die. No, it couldn't be true, because if I was dead, then I had to have been killed by somethin' or even someone, and I would've known all the events leading up to my death. Maybe it was possible that this was some kind of dream, one that was literally a sick and twisted dream, and I was supposed to have woken up at any moment by now. Since I wanted that to happen so badly, I tried out a few things that I thought might actually help, such as close my eyes shut before openin' them, and slappin' my face hard.
To my disappointment, none of my ideas ended up workin' for me, and I rubbed my cheeks gently because obviously, they still felt painfully sore from my hand's tough contact. In a mix of so many emotions that were buildin' up inside my body again, I looked around for the way out of this castle, as in the same path that I used to get myself inside. Once I saw it, I did the only thing that I could think of at the moment, which was run, and I didn't even bother on takin' a look back at the man sittin' at the dinner table. I just had to get out of this castle, and there was no point in stickin' around in it any longer, because it was only full of people who would just go right through me too.
When I finally made my way back outside, I tried to look through my teary eyes for the bridge that I went across earlier, and I ran towards it as soon as I caught sight of it. I quickly let all of the tears come out of my eyes and run down my face as I went into the woods, and I didn't even care about where I was goin', since I had no destination in particular. Despite the way that I was feelin' right now, I thought if I didn't see what was in my direction, then I could get seriously hurt, and I really didn't need a fresh injury at this time. I stopped myself from runnin' any further, and I used a hand to wipe away any tears still on my face, so when I had taken care of that, I took a long look at my surroundings.
As it turned out, I was back in the middle of the stone circle I found myself in from earlier, and I started to wonder if this stone circle was involved with what happened to me. Suddenly, I heard a familar faint noise, which caused me to bring my head down, and see yet another flickerin' blue light which was floating between two of the stones like the first time I saw it. Whatever gloomy and sorrowful emotion that I was feelin' in both my head and my stomach had completely changed into a much different emotion, being one that was full of anger and hatred. Once again, the blue light was joined by a line of tiny blue lights floatin' right behind it, but this time, I didn't feel like followin' them, because it led me to discover that I had become invisible.
The more I kept thinkin' about those lights, the less upset I had felt, as I realized that if it wasn't for them, I never would've at least got to find out a few things about myself. Besides the fact that I had become some kind of a spirit now, I also learned that I had the power to use fire, and I thought it wouldn't be so bad to try it out since there wasn't anyone around me. I was sure that there must be at least a few animals around here in the forest, and I didn't want to accidentally burn down their home, so I thought it would be better to try out my powers while up in a tree. With that being decided, I raised my head and looked around for a branch that I could be able to reach, and luckily for me, it didn't take such a long time to find one just right.
I stretched out my arms and legs first before I placed my foot on a bark hole and then I used the more of those, and the small branches to get myself higher into the tree. When there wasn't any more branches, bark holes, or other things on the tree that I could use, I stopped and took a moment to enjoy the view, and it was so beautiful. There were probably like a million stars shinin' up high in the night sky above me, as I stared at them with a look of genuine amazement, until I saw a shootin' star fly by. Even though I thought that it was kind of silly for me to be doin' it, I decided to close my eyes and make a wish on the shootin' star that just came across the dark sky.
What I wished for was somethin' that I really wanted more than anythin' right now, and that was for me to be able to have somebody who could become my best friend. A companion who would always be there for me, and accept me for who I am, while also listen to what I had to say, and get me out of danger if I was ever in trouble. I knew that it was a lot of ask for, and it seemed like a long shot for it to happen, but it's what I wanted the most, and I could only hope that the wish does come true. I started to think that it was best for me not to always have my mind on the wish, and so I decided to keep focused on practicin' my fiery abilities for about a few times.
While havin' my left arm around the branch that my body was most close to, I brought the palm of my right hand out, and waited for a fireball to appear on top of it. However, when I didn't see the fireball come in front of my eyes right away, I became a lot more angry, and that's when I finally saw it, which caused me to smile. To my disappointment, before I had even my teeth out while smilin', the fireball vanished from my hand, resultin' in me grittin' my teeth in fury and frustration. I was gettin' really annoyed with this, like how was I supposed to use my powers when they kept appearin and disappearin' just like all of those floatin' blue lights?
A part of me felt like wantin' to climb down this tree, and find a place somewhere where I could be alone, as if I wasn't already, when I quickly realized somethin'. Durin' the time when I was inside that castle from earlier tonight, I remembered a fireball had formed in my hand after I shouted at the man to come and help me. So that's when it came to me, that I could use my powers only if I'd been feeling angry, but luckily for me, there was a lot of things that I had a right to be upset about. I didn't believe for a second that the moon could actually talk to me without someone being inside of it, and them havin' some sort of power to send a message to me.
That's why I thought it was best to use the name 'Man in the Moon', since it was obvious that the voice belonged to a man, and I was still positive he was an old man. Even though I was glad that the 'Man in the Moon' brought me back to life and also had given me comfortin' words, I was sort of disappointed that's all he did for me. I also concentrated on my anger towards being unseen, unheard, and unable to touch anyone, and how I couldn't get somebody to help me out with what I wanted. A fireball appeared in my palm, and without a second thought in my head, I threw it across the sky, and kept my eyes on it, until it was just a small speck in the sky.
That's when I wondered if I could form another fireball in my other hand, but that would mean I'd probably have to take my left arm off from the branch it's around. I made sure to be extra careful when doin' so, and I immediately let out a sigh of relief that I didn't end up fallin' from the tree, and landin' hard on the ground below. Now that I had both of my hands out in front of me, I moved my eyes over to my right palm, then went back to my hatred for the 'Man in the Moon', and my invisible state. Less than about five seconds had passed before a fireball emerged on top of my palm once again, and I turned my head to face my left palm, while still stayin' quite mad.
It wasn't long until I saw a fireball come up, but I didn't go ahead with changin' my mood so quickly like earlier, and I took a moment to look at each of the fireballs. Starin' at them had given me an idea, which I decided to take a chance on, and so I raised both of my palms, and brought the two fireballs together to create a big one. Obviously, I was really impressed that I'd been able to merge the fireballs, and so I lowered my left arm, and moved the big fireball over to have it above my right palm. What made me receive a high sensation of wonder and excitement was how I could feel the warmth of the fireball, without managing to get myself burned in the process. I knew that must be an advantage to having fire-based powers, and after I sent the big fireball through the sky, I heard a familar voice, which gotten me slightly startled.
"Follow the blue wisps, Merida Kegan, and you'll soon find someone not only to keep you company, but to also help you out for when the dark time comes." The voice said.
Although I was quite surprised to hear from the 'Man in the Moon' again, I was also relieved that he was able to say at least one more thing that could really help me out. To get myself down the tree, I moved slowly and carefully while takin' my time, since I didn't want to be injured, and I made sure to be facin' the tree and not outwards. It wasn't long before I was safely back on the ground, and I had taken only a few steps away from the tree when I heard a sound which happened to be familiar as well. I looked around to see just a single floatin' blue light, and once again, it was joined by a line of tiny blue lights floatin' right behind the one that was right in front of me.
The 'Man in the Moon' did say to me while I was up in that tree that in order to find that someone who could keep me company, I had to follow all of those 'blue wisps'. With that all thought out, and since my legs were tired from runnin', I walked toward the blue lights, with each and every one of them vanishin' as I got close to them. Durin' my walk through the forest, the only things that I could think about was who exactly would be meetin' me, and if they had talked with the 'Man in the Moon' too. Unfortunately, the train of thoughts in my head came to a halt when I realized that there weren't any more 'blue wisps' for me to follow, so I stopped right where I was.
I was prepared to shout out and ask if there's anyone around, but I figured that would only scare them away, at least, if they were actually able to hear what I've said. There didn't seem to be a point in usin' my powers either, since they'll probably end up hurtin' the person that I was supposed to meet, and I didn't want that to happen. Just when I thought that I would never even have a chance to meet this person, I heard a sound, and so I stood completely silent for a moment before I heard it again. It definitely wasn't the kind of sound that came from the floatin' blue lights I followed earlier, which meant that the sound had to be comin' from some kind of animal.
There wasn't any patience that I had with waitin' for this animal to come to me, so I kept on walkin' toward the direction of the sound by takin' slow and steady steps. As I came much closer to the high-pitched sound, I believed that the animal had been callin' out to me so that I would find it easily and not get myself lost in the forest. When I didn't hear the animal's sound again, I wasn't so disappointed, and the reason why is that I was now seein' the animal with my very own eyes in front of me.
It was a huge horse who stood nearly twice as tall as me, and his soft coat was jet black, except for the white on all four of his hooves, and a patch of white between his big brown eyes. Even though I had to admit that the horse was quite beautiful, there didn't seem to be a point in admirin' him from afar, and I made sure to be quiet while walkin' towards him. To my relief and surprise, the horse stayed right where he was standin' and didn't bother on runnin' away from me, as if he had been waitin' for me to show up personally.
"So I guess ye're the 'someone' that the 'Man in the Moon' was talkin' about, right?" I asked, and the horse immediately gave own his response by utterin' out a long neigh.
"I'll goin' to take that as a 'yes'," I happily added, as I could clearly see that this horse already had a saddle on his back, so it wouldn't be uncomfortable for me to ride him.
Although it was rather strange to be sayin' this, even if I said it in my head, but I felt like I had some kind of a connection with this horse, like we understood each other.
I'm sure that it hadn't been a coincidence for me to make a wish on a shootin' star while bein' up high in a tree, and then be told to follow the 'blue wisps' to find someone.
"Look, this may be a dumb question to ask, but ye wouldn't mind if we went for a ride, because I think that I've done enough walkin' through this forest already." I said.
The horse let out another neigh, and before I got myself on his back, I noticed somethin' on the ground when I looked down, and I took a closer look to see what it was. It was actually two things and they happened to be a bow with a case full of arrows placed right next to it, and I picked up the bow first, since it had more of my attention. Right away, I knew that this bow, as well as the arrows, had been meant for me, most likely because I must have been the only human bein' out here in the big forest.
Another reason was that I didn't believe any kind of animal could actually know how to do archery, so I grabbed the arrow carryin' case and threw it over my shoulder. When I placed one of my hands over the bow to feel its' wood, I stopped when my hand came across a carved symbol that I couldn't recognize or know what it meant. I didn't want to spend all of my time just thinkin' about that symbol, and so while still holdin' the bow, I climbed onto the horse's back and adjusted myself on his saddle.
"Now listen, I don't really have a destination in mind, and I know that's it pretty dark around here, but could ye please take me away from this forest?" I asked the horse.
He made another neigh in agreement, but before we took off, I decided to try out shootin' an arrow, and so I pulled one out of the carryin' case that was on my right side. There were lots of trees in front of me, as well as behind and all around me, but I didn't want to set off a fire to this forest, and that's why I held the arrow up to the sky. I held the arrow back as far as I could, then I let go of it, and I kept my eyes on the arrow while it made its' way up to the stars, and they widened of what happened next. The arrow burst into a bright flame with colors of red and orange that soon transformed itself to become a circular wave that made its way all over the forest that I was in.
A rush of both fear and panic went though my body, as I began to believe that the wave would end up destroyin' this entire forest, includin' anything that had a home here. Without havin' a second thought, I used the arm that wasn't holdin' the bow to cover my face, and so I waited for the wave to come, but nothin' seemed to be happenin'. Slowly, I brought my arm down from my face and looked up to see that the wave was already gone, but eventually, I began to feel more warm, which was very strange. It was nighttime right now, which meant that I wasn't supposed to feel any heat until the sun came out, but somehow, I did believe that the season had to be summer.
That's when I stopped to think about all of the events that have happened tonight, from me wakin' up in the forest, to discoverin' my fiery powers back in that castle. Had the 'Man in the Moon' given me the role of the Spirit of Summer, because it seemed that way to me, and I was actually now glad to know that I had a purpose. I looked up to the 'Man in the Moon' for another time, which was also the last, and mouthed out the words 'thank you', before movin' my head down to my companion. I really wanted to give the horse a name, but sadly, I couldn't think of one at the top of my head, so I decided that I'd come up with a name for him later, but not now.
"C'mon, boy, I've got a fun job to do, and I'm sure that it's goin' to take the two of us to a lot of great places." I proclaimed, right before we galloped through the forest.