The Brave and the Bold
A Mericcup Fanfiction
The Suitors Arrive
AN: Sorry that the last chapter was so short, I just wanted to get everything set up so I could officially continue with the story. I'm planning on making this story at least five chapters long if not more, depending on how things play out. Without further ado, the story continues...
-6 Years Later-
The sun's rays penetrated the small gap in between Merida's curtains, casting a thick light onto the wooden floor of the princess' bedroom. The air was warm and still as the bushy ginger slept peacefully and quietly, her thoughts far away from any regal matters such as today or tomorrow. In Merida's mind, she was at peace. It was a peace that the young girl cherished in her hectic life. It was a peace that was quickly interrupted by the curtains being ripped open and the sunlight fully entering the room.
"Morning!" Elinor chirped as she strode over to the still sleeping princess. The queen took hold of the covers and pulled them off the princess, disturbing her from slumber, "That means get up, lazybones! We have visitors today."
"Urgh!" Merida moaned disapprovingly as she clawed at the sheets, "Five more minutes!"
"Nope!" Elinor replied as she pulled the covers along with a dreary Merida onto the floor, "This is a big day for the kingdom. You need to get up!"
Merida grimaced as she remembered what day it was. Today was the day she sold he freedom for peace, the day her life ended, the day her suitor was chosen.
"No!" Merida droned as she clung to the covers. Elinor crossed her arms and sighed.
"Either get up or I'm getting the boys in here," she warned.
"Don't you dare!" Merida growled.
"Oh, BOYS!" Elinor called. Merida stood up straight immediately as she heard three little pairs of feet scamper down the hallway towards her room.
"OKAY, OKAY, I'M UP!" Merida cried.
"Good," Elinor said contently, "NEVER MIND, BOYS!"
Merida grabbed a chair for balance as the blood came rushing to her head.
"Now let's get you into this dress," Elinor said as she held out the turquoise death trap that Merida had to wear to the event.
"Oh, lord, do I have to?" Merida whined.
"Yes, now stand here and I'll sort you out. You're going to look spectacular!"
Over the next agonisingly slow thirty minutes, the queen managed to squeeze the young Scottish princess into the dress and tighten it just enough to inhibit movements too large, such as full leg movement... or breathing. Merida had never been more uncomfortable in her life as she stood in front of her mother, fighting the dress for basic movement. Elinor had adoration sparkling in her eyes as she examined her daughter in her dress.
"You look absolutely beautiful," he gasped as she smiled.
"I…I can't breath!" Merida managed to groan as she stood stiff as a board for the viewing of the queen.
"Give us a twirl," Elinor ordered with a twirl of her finger. Merida stuck out her bottom lip as she slowly turned around before returning to her original spot.
"I can't move! It's too tight!" Merida complained as she tried to stretch her arms against the fabric. Her mother however looked on with tears entering her eyes. To her, Merida had never looked so regal.
"It's perfect," she said quietly as looked compassionately at her daughter. Guilt immediately flooded her mind as she thought of Merida's outburst the day before. She wanted to speak to her daughter so badly it hurt. Maybe if she just...
"Merida," Elinor said but she stopped as she examined her daughter again. Merida looked at her mother expectantly.
"Mom?" Merida asked, desperate for her to continue. Perhaps this was it, the moment when they settled their differences and this whole nightmare would be over. Maybe this was it.
Elinor looked into Merida's waiting eyes and frowned. No, she could not do this. Elinor knew the consequences. Peace had to be kept, no matter the cost.
"Just…remember to smile," Elinor said as she forced a smile onto her lips. And with that she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving a downcast Merida to look on in disappointment. This was it, her fate. She looked out over the Dunbroch lake and saw three ships on the horizon heading straight for the castle and frowned. How she wished that one of those ships were from Berk. She had missed Hiccup after all these years. The last time she had seen him, she was merely thirteen and still a child. Hiccup had always been the older one by one year and therefore had always been slightly taller than Merida however he was still the skinny young boy she had met all those years ago and always remained a good friend in her heart. Whenever she felt down or alone, the thought of seeing Hiccup again would pick her up. She wished to see him one more time before she got married, he still had a promise to keep after all.
Merida sighed as she realised how childish she sounded. She doubted Hiccup even remembered the promise they had come up with, they were so little, so naïve. She doubted Hiccup would even show up and even if he did, Merida knew that he would never win in a contest against the other sons of the clans. He would not last a single round against the other clan boys, he was so small compared to them, so weak that Merida dreaded to think what the other boys would do to him in a one-to-one fight.
She refused to shed a tear as she pulled a strand out hair out from under the hood of her dress and let the fiery lock cascade down her face. Hiccup would not be coming for her. She would have to deal with this herself.
Merida sat as comfortably as she could on her wooden throne as she looked on over the courtyard.
"Places! Places, everyone!" the queen ordered as the huge wooden gates swung open and the three clan leaders marched into the courtyard.
There were three clans currently present: the Dingwall clan, the Macintosh clan and the MacGuffin clan each lead by lords of the same names. Lord Dingwall was a short, grey haired warrior with chins for a neck and a boisterous attitude despite his size. Lord Macintosh was quite the opposite, he was a thin tall figure with blue Celtic body paint all over his body. His black hair was wavy and wild which perfectly matched his personality. Lord MacGuffin was a tall, muscular, bearded scot that looked just smaller than Fergus and blond. Each if the lords strode proudly into the area with smug grins plastered onto their faces. They all stood in a line in front of the king and bowed, except Lord Dingwall who ordered a small step ladder to stand on.
King Fergus stood on the raised platform and attempted to address the crowd.
"So, here we are!" he announced, unsure of what to say, "The four clans! Uh…gathering…uh…for…"
Elinor let out an exasperated sigh and stood up to address the crowd.
"The presentation of the suitors!" she finished.
"The presentation of the suitors!" Fergus quickly followed.
The crowd cheered as the king and queen took their seats to start the presentation.
"Clan Macintosh!" Fergus called.
Lord Macintosh quickly stepped up and presented a young man, with body paint and hair similar similar to his father's, brandishing a sword as he tried to impress Merida.
"Your majesty," Lord Macintosh began, "I present my heir and scion, who defended our land from the Norman invaders and, with his own sword, stabbed and vanquished a thousand foes!
The entire Macintosh cheered as the young heir flex his muscle to an embarrassed Merida, who was trying desperately to hide her face with her dress' tiny hood.
Fergus hushed the clan and turned to face the next chief.
"Clan MacGuffin!" Fergus addressed.
"Your majesty, I present my eldest son," Lord MacGuffin announced as he gestured a tall, chunky, nervous boy who, like the young Macintosh, greatly resembled his father, "Who scuttled the Viking war ships and, with his bare hands, vanquished two thousand foes."
Lord MacGuffin's son then proceeded to crush a thick plank of wood in half as a show of strength. The entire MacGuffin tribe cheered for their champion.
"Clan Dingwall!" Fergus called next. Lord Dingwall adjusted his belt as he gestured in the direction of a huge, scarred, dark hunk of man who stood menacingly in front of the crowd. Whilst Merida was intrigued by the giant of a warrior standing in front of her, Fergus' face was one of disbelief as he mentally compared the tall stranger to the small Lord beside him.
Lord Dingwall now had the attention of the entire courtyard as he began to speak.
"I present my only son, who was besieged by ten thousand Romans and he took out a whole armada single handedly! With one arm he was…"
Suddenly Lord Dingwall noticed the huge man standing beside him and sighed pulling out a small and weedy looking from behind the tall young warrior.
"With one arm, he was steering the ship, and with the other he held his mighty sword and struck down a whole attacking fleet."
Everyone stood awkwardly as The Lord Dingwall held up the arm of two weakling that was his son. A think silence overcame the crowd until a random voice broke it with a cry of:
"Lies!"
Lord Dingwall did not take this well.
"What? I heard that! Aye! Say it to my face! Or are you scared simpering jackanapes? Afraid to muss your pretty hair?"
Lord Macintosh took the opportunity to further insult the ranting cheiftain
"At least we have hair!" he said smugly.
Lord MacGuffin soon joined in as well.
"And all our teeth!" he jeered through his thick Scottish accent.
MacGuffin's son also tried to join in but his accent was so thick that no one could understand him. Lord Macintosh continued the verbal onslaught.
"And we don't hide under breeches, you grumpy old troll!" he teased.
Everyone in the crowd laughed at the Lord's seething comment to which Lord Dingwall replied:
"You wanna laugh, huh?" Lord Dingwall asked as he turned to his son, "Wee Dingwall!"
Suddenly the young Dingwall jumped onto Lord Macintosh and with his big teeth bit into his arm. And with that a brawl broke out, with everyone fighting each other.
"ORDER! ORDER!" Fergus cried but no one listened as the brawl became more and more intense. Elinor groaned as she watched the fight spiral out of control. Merida however was loving it, finally something fun was happening!
The fight was at its peak when three loud knock on the oak doors drew silence from the crowd.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Nobody moved, nobody blinked, nobody breathed. Everyone was transfixed on the doors as they began to open. Everyone who had been previously fighting quickly rearranged themselves into their clans as he oak door revealed the person on the other side. The person in question was a Viking chief that smiled when hen saw the congregation.
"I hope we're not too late," he said as he and several other Vikings filed into the courtyard.
"Stoick the Vast," Fergus exclaimed, "Finally come for another visit?"
Merida's heart started to race as soon as she heard Stoick's name spoken aloud. If he was here, then maybe...
"Actually I've come to enter my son into the contest for the princess Merida's hand in marriage!" Stoick announced. Merida's heart rose at the prospect of seeing Hiccup again and for the first time that day she smiled a genuine smile. A few laughs from the crowd could be heard, especially from the three lords and their sons.
"Hiccup?" Lord Macintosh scoffed, "Well where is he then? Is he hiding behind you?"
Stoick laughed a hearty laugh before crossing his arms. Merida strained in her seat to find her Hiccup but to no avail.
"No, my son decided to take his own transport," Stoick replied cryptically, "He should be her any moment now."
"What does that-" but the young Macintosh never finished his sentence as he was interrupted by the loudest boom that Merida had heard in her life. She looked up to find the source of the noise and saw it. The silhouette of a creature she would never forget. It looked like a huge bat flying overhead and the only word that came to her mind was one that had haunted the Scots for many years and was the reason why no sane Scot ever ventured near the Island of Berk: Dragon!
Then something strange happened; as the soon as the creature started to dive, another silhouette appeared exactly where the dragon had been. It looked like nothing Merida had ever seen before, like a man with wings and it was headed straight for them! The two creatures came spiralling toward the ground so fast that they were barely a blur in her vision. As the two creatures neared the ground the dragon pulled out its wings whilst the other started to use its momentum to swoop back into the air. The black dragon landed gracefully and roared a mighty roar that sent shock waves into the people around it.
Then the other creature folded its wings into itself and landed beside the black dragon. It turned out that it was no creature that accompanied the dragon on its descent but a man tall muscular young man in leather body armour with a red dragon emblem painted on his shoulder, a mask that covered his head and a one a wooden leg that replaced one leg up to the knee.
In this time, Stoick had manged to push his way to the front of the crowd and stood proudly presenting the mystery man.
"This your majesty," Stoick began, "Is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."
As soon as the words left his mouth the young man took off his helmet and ruffled his auburn hair that sat on top of his head. He looked up to reveal Hiccup's smirking face.
Every thought process in Merida's head was gone as she stared at her childhood friend who was now her would-be suitor. Fergus' jaw had dropped completely as he too stared at the young man who bowed toward the king. Stoick decided to continue.
"He is the first Viking in 300 hundred years to not kill a dragon and the first in recorded history to tame and ride a night fury. He and his dragon have single handedly defeated the Red Death and Daggur the Deranged and have formed and lead the first army of Dragon Riders to grace the world. He can and has easily taken on armadas alone and won and is the greatest warrior Berk has seen in centuries."
Merida stared open mouthed at the young warrior that was once her skinny best friend and let out a breath she did not know she was holding. Things were certainly about to get interesting!