The Ties That Bind

by GAM3R G1RL 13

Five years later & another Highland Games tournament, Merida is faced with a new trial that she brought upon herself. Now she must use all that she has learned to save herself and her unwanted traveling companion from the dangers of the unforgiving Scottish highlands and the storms of war brewing in the South. Rating changed due to violence, some language and maybe future innuendo

2. Chapter 2

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

Shae MacGuffin sat on the edge of the makeshift bed. His weight caused the bed to sag and bow in the middle so he couldn't get comfortable. It didn't matter to him. As far as he was concerned this entire trip was a waste of time. He should be out preparing soldiers for incoming invaders or standing lookout for Viking warships in the towers back home. This was a frivolous waste of time and he didn't like it one bit.

His father tossed in his sleep and snorted. He looked over at his father and glared, annoyed that his father, once again, had interrupted his thoughts. Shae sighed, sitting here in the dark room was not going to help him think or sleep. Quietly and more deftly then most men his size could, Shae snuck out of the room and headed down the hallway. He wasn't exactly sure of where he was going but walking the castle seemed to clear his mind.

Five years ago he and the other clans were taken on a wild goose,…or bear, chase throughout the castle. Never mind that it was all the princess' fault and the they had ended up trapped on the tower roof with no way down. Well, they did get down, but not without embarrassment. Shae shook his head. That was not something to think about right now. He was trying to find the way to...to…to where? He hadn't had a destination in mind when he set out, he usually never did, but he didn't want to get stopped by a palace guard and thought a fool for wandering late at night.

Somehow, Shae ended up in the kitchen. It was moderate sized and not as elaborate as the one in Castle Macintosh. He wasn't paying attention to where he was stepping and missed the first step, sliding the rest of the way down.

'This one's not as safe either." He muttered to himself.

Soft, faint chuckling started in the far corner.

Shae's head snapped towards the noise and he stood. He had left his sword and dagger back in the room with his father, so he reached out and picked the first object he could find to use as a weapon. That object happened to be a cooking pan.

'Better safe, than sorry.' He thought to himself.

A soft gasp and the chuckling noise stopped. He had startled whoever it was when he grabbed the pan. Realizing how ridiculous he looked, a grown man holding a pan over his head for protection, he placed the pan down on the table and sat down in a chair close by.

"Come on out, dunnae be afraid. I won' 'urt ya." He muttered.

Shae hated the fact that when he was tired, his thick brogue accent came back and he was hard to understand again. He had worked very hard over the last five years making sure his speech was good enough for the other clans to understand him.

A quiet voice pulled him from his thoughts and he looked up,

"You're a lot easier to understand than five years ago, Lord MacGuffin."

Shae smiled with pride at this , but then just as quickly it was gone again.

"Lord MacGuffin is my father." He spat, then added, "My name is Shae, and just whom may I be speaking to?"

The voice in the darkness stepped into the little bit of light that there was and the very first thing that Shae noticed, was the mass of curly, unruly red hair that adorned the head of the chuckler. The next thing he noticed was that it was one of the three young sons of Queen Elinor and King Fergus. The boy had a pale face, but a bright demeanor, if a little on the quiet side for one of the three devils.

'Maybe he was being quiet so he wouldn't get caught though' Shae argued in his head.

Staring at the man before him the boy cocked his head to the side,

"My name is Harris."

"Well, Harris, what are you doing down here so late, all alone? You could get in trouble for not being in bed asleep. I know I would be, especially if my mum had ever found out."

Shae almost laughed at the blanched look on poor Harris' face, but decided against it when Harris started shaking.

"'You won't tell me mum, will you? Please Shae you can't! I'd never hear the end of if from Hamish and Hubert!"

Shae lifted an eyebrow,

"You'd be more worried about what your brothers do and say then getting in trouble by your mother? "

Harris looked away, angry and upset.

"My brother's constantly pick on me and tease me, because I'm the youngest. I'm only a few hours behind them, but they feel like that makes them better 'an me, I guess."

Shae's puzzled face softened at the young lad. He knew what it was like to be picked on for being different and younger. He was the oldest of Lord MacGuffins' son's, but he had been one of the last young warriors to begin his training. He hadn't been the swiftest learner either and being as large as he was acted as a handicap for him during his early training years.

Harris shuffled a little, not sure what to do. Finally, Shae smiled at him,

"What do you say we share a few snacks and swap some stories…" lightening flashed and the thunder crashed in the breath of the distance, "…and try to ignore the storms outside." Shae tilted his head in the direction of the window.

Harris smiled and nodded vigorously. Soon, the pair had gobbled down a half a dozen of Maudie's cakes and were each working on another when another voice joined their "party."

"You know, I expect behavior like this from the boys, but I thought mum had trained ye better da'. " Merida's teasing whisper reached both sets of ears. Dumbstruck, Shae sat there with his back to her for a few seconds before turning to face her. Harris had to bite his tongue to keep from busting up laughing at the absurdity of the situation and Merida, who currently stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, tilted her head to the side in confusion at this revelation.

Shae didn't look happy to see her, and any jovialness that he and Harris had shared, was lost the moment she had made her presence known. Standing slowly, he squared his shoulders and turned to face her.

"I know I'm a large man, but I would think that even a Princess could tell her father, the KING, from a regular plain man any day."

Merida cocked a brow at him,

"A'right, so? You were in the shadows and I mistook you for my father, what is the prob…" Realization hit her again, " Wait! I can understand you?" she pointed a finger in his face.

Shae slammed his palm against his face in semi-mock disbelief. Harris jumped up and put a finger to he lips in a shushing motion and pointed towards the staircase.

"Shhhh….mum will skin us all if we dunnae be quiet."

Shae snapped his attention back to young lad he had been sharing a snack with and nodded in understanding, then turned to face Merida again his expression just as hard as it had been earlier that evening.

"Well, considering it's almost morning, and we have a very long, eventful day ahead, I suggest we all head to our rooms for some sleep."

Merida found her own gaze becoming harder with each passing second, her eyes staring into his. Merida curtly nodded and turned to face her brother, a strained, forced smile on her face.

"Yes, that would be best. Come along Harris, I need to get you back into bed, before mum finds you and I get in trouble…again."

With that, Merida turned and stalked out of the kitchen. Harris had watched the exchange with a puzzled expression, but knew his sister was now in a foul mood and it had something to do with his new friend Shae. He didn't want to anger her even more, so he started to gather up his mess but Shae stopped him. Leaning down, Shae whispered,

"I'll take care of it lad. Best follow 'er now."

Harris nodded to him and followed his older sister. Shae followed them to the staircase and as the brother and sister headed up the stairs Shae called out, quietly,

"Harris," he waited for Harris to turn around, "I'll be cheering you on tomorrow at the games." He said with a ghost of a smile.

Harris beamed down at him,

"And I'll cheer for you, too Shae!" he whispered excitedly, and rushed the rest of the way up the stairs, past his sister.

Merida watched this little exchange perplexed. Although the MacGuffin lord had the harshest of gazes on her, his eyes softened while talking to her little brother. Why? She must have had a strange look on her face, because Shae stiffened and snarled,

"I dunnae think I need to wish you luck, Princess. You've already proven yourself enough, right?"

Merida glared daggers at him, but never spoke a word. Finally tired of their silent psychological battle Shae turned and walked back to the kitchen. Merida huffed and headed back to her room, being ever so careful, as to not wake her mother or father.

Just when she thought she was home free, Elinor popped her head out of her bed chamber.

"Ahem."

Merida cringed, sighed, bowed her head in defeat, and turned to face her punishment.

"Yes, mum?" she muttered.

Still looking down, she didn't notice her mothers grin,

"Where's my cake?" Elinor asked innocently.

"Oh, mum!"

From inside her parent's bed chamber she heard her father chuckle lightly as Merida headed back to her room.

-|} -[(+)]- {|-

Morning came all to soon for Merida. The bright morning sun awakened her from her slumber and the swallows that nested outside her window annoyed her to the point that she had to arise from bed. It was a good thing too, her mother came barging in not ten minutes after she had crawled out of bed. Making sure that Merida was presentable to the court, Elinor chose which dress she was to wear for the opening festivities of the day. It was a fuss and fight all the way down to that throne room that morning, but both Merida and Elinor knew that it would be alright, in the end.

Merida begrudgingly allowed her mother to choose a moderately form fitting dark navy satin gown with silver tresses and ornate Celtic design work on the hems. Merida hated these kinds of dresses because they didn't allow her the freedom of her more "open" dresses, but Elinor insisted that she could change after the opening ceremonies.

"At least I can be grateful for that." Merida scoffed.

"Oh, hush now dear, you look gorgeous." Elinor scolded and contined,

"It wouldn't kill you to dress the part of a princess every now and then. The young lads would all fall flat on their tuffs…I mean, faces, to see you dressed like this ."

Merida chortled at her mothers slip up in word choice. That was one thing Merida loved about her mom, even if she did have years of training and proper etiquette lessons, her father had definitely rubbed off on her mothers attitude.

Elinor finished the two small braids in Merida's hair and moved to pull them behind her head. Merida's unruly locks were inherited by her father, but she never complained. Elinor, on the other hand, always found it difficult to work with such hair. Elinor finished with Merida's hair and stepped back to look at her handiwork.

Merida rolled her eyes,

"Mum, I feel like a piece of artwork, the way you're starin' at me."

Elinor chuckled lightly,

"You know Merida, most young women your age would love to catch a rooms attention like that." Elinor fussed over her hair and dress some more.

"Well not me," Merida argued, puffing a loose hair out of her eye, "If I catch any attention, I want it to be for my skills in battle and competition, not for how I look in this, or any other, dress." She motioned to herself.

Elinor sighed and shook her head. There was simply no way to convince her daughter otherwise. If Merida ever found love, Elinor somehow knew it would have to be on a battlefield and not in a castle feast or festival. She was too stubborn for that.

Merida gave a cheeky grin,

"Besides mum, why would I want a rooms attention? Rooms make very poor company and I'm sure you can't marry one anyway."

Exasperated, Elinor rolled her eyes and lightly smacked her daughter on the back of her head.

"You know what I meant!" Elinor walked to the door and motioned for Merida to follow.

"Come on, your father and the other lords are already gathered in the main hall."

The opening presentations drawled on and the younger generations were growing impatient with every passing minute. After the introductions of the Lords, two of the triplets tuned most of the names out. Hamish and Hubert tried to bide their time, and look for an easy escape route. When they were younger it was easier to slip away, undetected, but three, almost 10 years old boys were a lot easier to spot. Harris seemed at ease, even during these long discussions and presentations. Partly due to the fact that he sat in a chair on the opposite side from his other brothers, next to his sister Merida.

Hamish and Hubert were not slow or uneducated by any means, but they took more to the field and battle knowledge than to politics and book learning. Harris on the other hand, loved spending time with his mother and sister, although he was certain, he enjoyed the lesson's more than his sister did.

"Ppsspptt, " Merida whispered down to him.

Harris turned to face her and she continued,

"How long do ya' think Lord Dingwall can talk up his son?"

Harris grimanced and whispered back,

" 'E's at the ten minute mark already."

Merida had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Harris continued,

"But if given enough time, I suppose he would brag on his son until…forever. Not sure how much of this is true or not, though."

Merida hummed in agreement.

"And finally, Colin was able to restore balance to the force by defeating the dark wizard and giving each person three wishes from the magic pixie dust, and by giving select children, a golden ticket to help them achieve their dreams." *

The entire hall was completely silent. Even the other members of clan Dingwall looked confused with each other.

Merida and her brother shared their own looks of disbelief with each other.

"Alright then," Fergus drawled, "Thank you Murdoch, for that very amazing and…." Pause, "…unbelievable story. I'm sure we are all eager to see how Colin competes in the Games this year."

Another brief pause and finally King Fergus called the MacGuffin clan to step forward. Lord Kenneth MacGuffin slowly stepped forward. Gone was the swagger of pride and confidence of the man that had presented his eldest son only five years earlier. Now he appeared a hollow man, somber and contrite, but he still had his ability to lead.

Shae watched his father throw on airs as he began to exaggerate on Shae's exploits for the MacGuffin clan. Kenneth stood tall and held his head high as he caught his son's eye. Shae stood stoic as ever, this time not even giving his father the satisfaction of him confirming what he was saying, by breaking a log with his hands. The one he had broken in half five years ago had already rotted inside and was as easy as a twig to snap. Besides, he didn't need to prove that he was strong to know he was strong.

Duncan, Lord MacIntoshs' son had shown off his war scars and again tried to impress the others with his sword play. And Colin had just stood there, lost in his own mind while his father bragged on him.

'There was no way that Colin had done hardly any of what his father boasted of' Shae thaought and shook his head, 'and what in the world was a dark wizard ?'

But regardless of the boasting and bragging, none of it had intrigued the princess or her father Shae had noted. Not that he cared what the princess thought, he was here because his father made him not because it was his choice. Still it was nice to know that she still had a somewhat level head, he supposed. He still hated her, but even he wasn't stupid enough to insult another's intelligence when it was there.

Shae came out of his thoughts just as his father was wrapping up his own spiel about him.

"Shae was able to single handedly drive those monsters back into the sea."

Kenneth finished with a proud flair, clamping his hand on his son's shoulder and shook him a little. When he had finished his boasting, both Shae and Merida rolled their eyes at Lord MacGuffin's exaggerated story.

Shae jerked his shoulder forward, causing his father to let go and pull back slightly. Lord MacGuffin knit his brow in confusion as his son stepped forward. The entire MacGuffin clan was silent when the young lord stepped forward, unsure of what he would do.

"Fellow clansmen and kin, you'll forgive a father's boasting, I'm sure." Shae's strong voice echoed in the halls. Every eye was on him in disbelief, mostly due to the fact they cold understand him, but also due to the fact that this was a break in tradition. Shae understood this , but if the 'princess' could break tradition, why couldn't he?

"My father exaggerates on my exploits greatly. I didnae drive any monsters back on my own. I commanded a small force of around 70 men, most of which died under my leadership." Shae spat at himself.

" Viking, warships had come ashore carrying 300 warriors, and our villages were defenseless against the invaders. My father was in the Southern portion of our lands, and with the help of clan Dingwall, drove out the southern tribes at had invaded there. That left me and my two oldest, younger brothers to lead the forces in protecting our home."

Shae paused and took a breath. He squeezed his eyes shut to force back the tears that he didn't want anyone to see.

"Needless to say, we were successful,…but not without cost." He finished quietly. Shae bowed his head for only a second to collect his thoughts and then stood up straight once more and squared his shoulders.

"That is why, I feel that I should not compete in these games. It would be dishonoring for me to not grieve for my clansmen with out the proper amount of time. " Shae declared.

Lord MacGuffin gasped, wide eyed at his sons' declaration. He sputtered and frantically looked for support from the rest of his clan. They offered him none and he caught the eye of the Queen, who seemed shocked as well.

All the other clans were speechless as well. Everyone looked back and forth between each other, not really knowing what to say. Finally, Hubert, the middle son of King Fergus, confused by the situation asked,

"So,… why is it big deal for him to not compete? That's just one less competitor that the other clans have to worry about." He shrugged.

Merida hit her face with her palm and leaned forward to look down the row at her two other brothers.

'And that is why they are both utterly hopeless sometimes.' Merida groaned in her head.

Fergus, finally collected himself from his shock and stood up. He slowly made his way over to the MacGuffin lad and towered over him.

Shae never once faltered his stance or his determination. Fergus eyed the young man up and down. He harrumphed,

"Hmph, well now lad, what makes you so sure you wouldn't be dishonoring them by not competing, eh?" Fergus crossed his arms over his chest.

For a fraction of a second, Shae's focus shattered and he slightly turned his head towards his King to look him in the eye. Fergus saw a look in the man's eyes that begged him not to fight his request. Again, Fergus hummed to himself, sizing up the young warrior in front of him. Fergus wasn't usually one to give in without a fight so he offered another option.

"I think that you should compete. I think that if you allow the rest of your clan to compete in the games without you that would be worse then not remembering their sacrifice at all." Fergus paused,

"What say you now, lad? Do you still wish to withhold the honor of competing for those that are still with you? And do you wish to dishonor the memories from your fallen friends by not fighting for them?"

Stepping away from the young lord, Fergus turned and addressed the whole hall,

" Fellow clansmen and dear friends, we compete out of tradition, out of reverence to our old ways, in honor of our individual clans, and out of respect for those who can no longer share in our revelry. These games mark a right of passage for our young warriors, both men…" he turned to look at Merida, who was listening to every word and smiling brightly at him, "…and women. And they also mark our history, a time where we are no longer the feuding separate clans, but united fighting under the banner for the Highlands!"

The entire hall erupted in shouts and cheers at their kings words.

Shae looked at his king with a new sense of honor and respect. He still didn't want to compete in the games, but he wouldn't let his clansmen down, again, because of a selfish act.

'Not unlike someone I can think of.' He thought disdainfully.

Fergus turned back to Shae, all seriousness now gone from his face and demeanor.

"So lad what will it be? Will you compete or just sit on the sidelines like a wee babe?"

Shae couldn't help but crack a smirk at the joke at his expense. He had asked for it, after all. Nodding slightly to his king, he confirmed,

"Aye, I will be competing for Clan MacGuffin."

He silently added,

'But not because I want too.'

Fergus gave a big grin and laughed, finally breaking the tense mood that had fallen in the hall.

"Well now, that settles that" Fergus directed his attention to the entire room again.

Clapping his hands together he roared,

"A'right lads! Let the Games Begin!

-|} -[(+)]- {|-

Thank you to all who reviewed the first chapter and the many, many story and author alert's notifications that flooded my email inbox. I hope part two has started wheels turning in your heads and question's flowing.

I don't remember which reviewer it was that found my one inconsistency from chapter 1 but I hope that the little exchange between Harris and Shae made up for it.

I must fully confess, when I wrote chapter 1, I had developed and matured all the characters in my mind EXCEPT the brothers. I apologize whole heartedly for that mistake, but major props to everyone who spotted it.

* "And finally, Colin was able to restore balance to the force by defeating the dark wizard and giving each person three wishes from the magic pixie dust, and by giving select children, a golden ticket to help them achieve their dreams" *

*I have another confession, I could not think of any kind of outlandish, yet realistic sounding feats that the Lord's would talk up there sons over and since I love picking on the Dingwall clan I just thought of a completely ridiculous scenario that toyed with modern movie and book pop culture. Plus I through in the shout out to the Dark Wizard because Robbie Coltrane, who voices Lord Dingwall in Brave, also played Hagrid in all of the Harry Potter films.

*crickets chirp*

(hangs head)Yeah, I know, I'm ashamed of myself too.

Please let me know what you think of Shae and his character development. Is he too one sided to be a good character, or does he show that there are layers to his personality? He is going to be a very complex character to write and I hope that I can convey that without making him seem like he's bipolar, or crazy.

I have one more thing to add: During the course of writing this story I knew that I wanted to pick names that had significant meaning to the characters. Listed below I have all of the names of the characters from the movie with the first/given name I have chose for them along with the translation and the origin.

Character name Story (first) name Origin "Meaning"

Men/boys:

Young Lord MacGuffin Shae Gaelic "admirable"

Harris DunBroch Harris variation of Harrision "son of Harry"

Young Lord Dingwall Colin Scottish "whelp/young warrior"

Young Lord MacIntosh Duncan Gaelic "brown warrior"

Lord MacGuffin Kenneth Scottish "fair(haired)one"

Lord Dingwall Murdoch Scottish/Gaelic "sea warrior"

Lord MacIntosh Lorne Scottish "fox"

Hubert DunBroch Hubert Old German "bright intellect"

Hamish DunBroch Hamish variation of James "he who supplants"

Fergus DunBroch Fergus Gaelic/Scottish "Supreme Choice"

Angus (Horse) Angus Gaelic/Scottish "one/unique choice"

Character name Story (first) name Origin "Meaning"

Women/Girls:

Merida DunBroch Merida Latin "one who has achieved a high place of honor"

Elinor DunBroch Elinor French of Helen "bright and shining one"

Maudie Maudie Old German (v) of Matilda "mighty in battle"

If, and when, I use any OC's in upcoming chapters I will do the same thing again. I like to know where names come from, what they mean, and what does a name say about a character. so I thought it would be nice to pass it to you. I will also be using real locations in Scotland and not just ones related to the movie Brave.

Thank you all and I hope I didn't overwhelm you with lots of information. Have a restful and peaceful time until we meet again.