A/N: Alright, before we start, I just want to say, I KNOW HOW TO SPELL...TO AN EXTENT. I mean, I spelt certain things wrong to show Merida's accent. Because, come on, who doesn't like writing accents?
The only thing that was louder than her crying were the banging of the horse's hooves against the stone bridge. It was a strange sight for the guards that stood at the kingdom's gate. Whenever she would cross that bridge, it would always be with a grin and a laugh or two. Seeing someone with such an unbreakable spirit so upset would cause anyone to feel as helpless as she did at that moment.
She curled up and sobbed, holding onto the horse as tight as she could. The scene between her and her mother replayed in her head multiple times. How could she do something like that? Throw her bow into the fire and destroy it. That bow and those arrows were the only thing that her mother couldn't take away, until now. Without them, she didn't feel free, she didn't feel like herself. Without them, she was just what her mother wanted her to be; a princess.
Her chest tightened as her horse continued to ride into the forest. The corset she wore didn't help with her breathing, either.
The horse continued to gallop through the trees, at first taking their usual path. But, the more his master cried and the more she pulled, he ended up running down a different path; a path that has been long abandoned by humans.
Trees began brushing her back and tugging her hair, forcing her to look up and through her tears. She whipped her eyes with her sleeve and yelped as more branches began snapping at her face, pulling her hair, ripping her dress. When the trees cleared, she held the reins of her horse tightly and tried her hardest to stop the tears. As her vision began to clear up, her horse let out a noise, showing that he had been spooked. Stopping right in his tracks, she flew right off and over his head, landing rather roughly on the ground.
Letting out a choked sob, she pushed her hair out of her face and looked at her companion. "Angus!" She said, pain mixing with her thick accent.
He continued to neigh, ignoring his master. She glared at him slightly as she caught her breath. This corset was going to be the death of her. He jumped on his hind legs, a sure sign that he was spooked. Which was strange. Angus hardly ever got spooked. When he did, it was during thunder storms or when there was a fire. With wide eyes, she gasped for breath and turned around, expecting something terrifying.
Thirteen stone pillars all in different shapes and sizes stood around her. Her knees shook as she stood up, looking them all over. Most of them held carved swirls, faded with time. Some had moss clinging to them. They honestly looked beautiful to her but, if her horse was scared of them, shouldn't she be as well?
She took a step back, trying to figure out what they were, what they were used for. There was no way these were made strictly from nature. The neighs of her horse broke her thoughts and she turned to him, watching as he cowered behind one of the pillars. He tried his hardest to convince his master to come back, digging into the ground with his hoof. Sadly, she didn't. The sound of a childlike whisper forced her to turn her head. She had heard this whisper once before. As a child on her birthday, the sound helped her make her way out of a forest. She gasped as she stared at it's source; a small blue flame with bright eyes waving her over. A Will o' the Wisps. Without hesitation, she made her way over. Even though she wasn't as close to the ground and she could feel the corset tightly gripping her waist, she felt like a small child again. The same magic and mystery they held for her then still lingered. As she reached over to touch the Wisp, it disappeared, making her gasp.
It didn't take long for another to take it's place not too far away. And then another. And another. Soon, there was a whole trail made out of nothing but Wisps. She turned to her horse and waved him over, her voice hushed as to not disturb the Wisps.
"Come on, Angus." She whispered. He shook his head and hid behind the pillar even more, causing her temper to rise. "Angus!" She said, louder than before.
He shook his head once more and stood there, watching as she sighed and followed them by herself. The two of them had been together since she was eight. Ever since he laid eyes on her, he could tell she was the curious type. Always following the unknown and sooner or later getting into trouble. Of course, out here, there were always dangers. There was no way he was leaving her to fend for herself. With one last neigh of fear, he raced after her, trying to stay silent as they followed the path.
The whispers seemed to get louder as they continued walking. At first, neither of them could make out what they were saying. After a while, though, they could clearly hear the Wisps telling them to 'come here' or 'this way'. Their walk didn't seem terribly long until Angus looked back, not being able to see the pillars anymore.
She gasped only seeing one left in between two paths. The small ghost fire whispered and slowly broke into two separate flames. "Which way do ya think, Angus?" She asked.
He shook his head and gave a small neigh, nudging her slightly. With a sigh, she began walking again, taking the path toward the right. Her horse neighed and looked down the left path, watching as the Wisps slowly disappeared. It took him a moment before he began following her again, his head down and eyes shifting all around. Merida didn't pay much attention to what was beyond the Wisps. For all she knew, they could have led her into a ditch. She reached for one and gasped as it disappeared. Finally, she looked around. Large rock formations stood everywhere, almost completely surrounding them, not another ghost fire to be found.
"Why did the Wisps leave me here?" She asked, scratching her head slightly.
Not too far away, but, not to close either were a pair of voices. Angus neighed and looked in the direction they were coming from. At first, they expected more to appear and the voices turn to childlike whispers. They sat there waiting for a moment, listening in. They weren't going to turn into whispers anytime soon. In fact, they turned into shouts, showing that the owners of the voices were arguing. There was hardly any accent to them and she began to wonder where they had come from.
"Well, why don't you ask your friend the wind for some help?" One asked, sounding like he was flipping through pages in a book. "I'm sure it knows which way to go."
"He isn't here right now." The other answered, clearly annoyed with his partner. "Why didn't we land in that town a little ways forward? We might have been able to ask if they knew where the tower was."
Tower? The only towers she knew of were the ones in the castle and the ones by the gates.
"Well, I could've at least asked. Since, well, you know…"
The shouting became louder and the words were incoherent. She crossed her arms and stared at the rock formation that separated her from them. Angus looked down at her, knowing very well what she was about to do. Without a moment of hesitation and with the most annoyed face anyone has ever seen, she began climbing the formation. It wasn't all that tall, but, it wasn't short either. The two voices continued to argue as she reached the top, her gaze not even hitting them. Instead, she focused on the rather large black lizard creature that noticed her as well. His eyes narrowed at her, his mouth opening to show his sharp teeth. A low growl came from the back of his throat. She jumped down and stared back, putting her hands up to show she was unarmed.
The two boys didn't even notice her presence, their fight getting louder and louder. The lizard turned to stare at them, putting his arms over his ears as if they've done this many times before. She tried to wave to them, even mutter a hello, but, they didn't notice. The air became strangely cold and ice started forming under the white haired teen's feet. Rubbing her arms, she glared at the two before finally snapping.
"Shut it!" She screamed.
They both looked over, the paler of the two chuckling slightly. Her corset became tight as she took in another breath. "Who're youu twho?" She asked when they became silent.
The blue eyed boy raised an eyebrow, looking at his partner. "What did she say?" He whispered.
"She asked who we are." The other answered, rolling his eyes. "Can you please tell us where we are?"
She crossed her arms and huffed, narrowing her eyes. "The lann o' DunBroch. Naow, who're youu?"
The shorter of the two cleared his throat and spoke in a monotone voice. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third." He said, trying to be as formal as he could.
"Jack Frost." The other answered, clearly feeling left out by not having that long of a name. Suddenly, he smiled and stood up straighter, realizing she was able to see him. Taking in a large breath, he started saying the first names that came to mind. "Jackson Thomas Edward James Frost…the fifth."
She raised an eyebrow and stared at the older teen. Hiccup waved his hand, shaking his head. "He's Jack Frost. Just Jack Frost."
Her brow lowered in thought. She had heard that name once before. Back when she was a child, her mother would speak of an old man of the winter with the same name. He would come every year and layer the land in snow, freeze the waters until they were ice. Every time someone died during the season, her mother would curse him and claim that he was a very vengeful spirit. But, as she looked over the boy in front of her, she began to wonder how he could possibly hurt a fly. And how they could interpret him as an elderly man, there wasn't a single wrinkle on him! If she had to guess, he was no older than eighteen.
"Why do you always have to ruin the fun?" Jack asked, crossing his own arms.
"Why do you always have to be annoying?" He asked back. With a sigh, he turned back to her. "And who are you?"
"Merida." She rolled her eyes, taking another glance at the large lizard.
He didn't seem too pleased, his eyes still narrowed and his teeth still showing. Her eyes went wide as she noticed that the once big gap between them had decreased dramatically. Slowly backing up to the rocks behind her, he began to advance forward, taking his place in front of the brunette.
All she could think about was those teeth, how they could pierce her skin the second he attacked. They could rip her to shreds in less then a minute. If she had her bow and her arrows, she wouldn't be thinking about her painful death. She'd be thinking about how lovely that lizard's head would look mounted on the walls of the castle, neighboring the deer, bear, and other heads of animals her father hunted. The brunette grabbed the saddle that sat oddly on the lizard's back, pulling him away from her.
"Toothless!" He said, completely appalled by the other's actions. "Stop, she's a friend!"
Toothless? Has he even looked at that thing's teeth?! They're huge! So sharp, she swore she could have used them to cut down a tree in one swipe! Slowly standing straight up, she let go of the breath she didn't know she held back. "Wha…is tat thang?" She asked.
"That is Toothless. He's a dragon. He doesn't mean to hurt you." He said, petting the side of the beast's head.
Jack leaned against his crook as he rolled his eyes. "Don't take it personally. He hates me, too."
"He doesn't hate you."
"Yes, he does. He ate all my share of meals yesterday."
Merida stared as the two fought over how much the dragon played favorites. Looking over at the player in question, it was clear that these two had been like this for some time; he seemed just as annoyed with the teens as she did. She placed her face in her hands, letting out a noise to show how irritated she was.
Their voices seemed to get louder and louder, her head pounding as they fought. She looked down at Toothless who had started doing the same thing. His eyes weren't narrowed this time. They actually seemed…gentle. Even for a large beast like him. After staring at each other for a minute or so, he shook his head and narrowed his eyes, watching as his friend yelled at the other. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes, doing to same thing.
"Hey!" She finally screamed, the dragon letting out a yell as well. The two stopped and turned to her, looking as taken back as they did the first time. "Arr youu twho goin' to keep fightin like this?"
They looked at each other and sighed, rubbing their arms and the back of their heads in shame. "Wha arr youu even doin' out herre in the fairst place?"
"We're looking for someone." Hiccup explained. "Someone he met ten years ago." He said, gesturing toward his partner.
Jack nodded, his eyes widening with slight hope as he looked at Merida. "Her name is Rapunzel. She lives in a tower. Her hair is blonde."
She shook her head, thinking back to all the names she knew. "No, soreree." Being a princess, she knew many names. Names of her ancestors, her nursemaids, every single guard, even most of the people in the market. Never had she heard of such strange names, though.
The brunette shrugged, hooking onto the dragon's saddle. "Well, that's too bad." He muttered. "It could've really helped us."
The older of the three stared at her with solemn eyes. To his knowledge, there was only two people that could see him; the one he'd been traveling with for a few days and this girl. The chances of there ever being another with this ability were slim. Frowning, he stared at the ground before turning to the sky, whistling a soft tune to call the wind. Merida watched as the wings of the dragon opened up and slowly began flapping, a crazy idea popping into her mind. If she went with them, there would be no wedding.
"Wait!" She said, lifting her hands up into the air. "Tach meh with youu!"
Hiccup looked down at her and closed his friend's back tail. "You want to come with us?" He asked.
She nodded. "Aye! I do!"
The two boys looked at each other, wondering if it was a good idea to take her along. Did she have hidden strengths they didn't know about? Would she truly be useful on their journey? Jack glanced back down at her and shrugged, leaving the decision for his partner to make. The dragon rider scratched his head and finally sighed, patting the rest of the saddle behind him.
"Alright." He said. "Come on."
With the biggest grin ever, she ran up to them. Toothless, however, was not having some stranger on his back. It took him nearly a week to get to know his friend and allow him to help. He growled and narrowed his eyes, letting his teeth show. Hiccup was not amused.
"Toothless, really?" He asked, getting off. "It'll be fine. She's a friend."
Merida watched as he tried to reason with him. After a moment of bickering, snorting, growls, and shakes of the head, Hiccup grabbed her hand. "He needs to know he can trust you before you get on." He said, placing her hand a little closer to the other's nose.
She kept her eyes on his, watching as they slowly became soft and gentle like before. With a soft purring noise, he pressed his nose up against her hand, closing his eyes. His skin felt like many rough fingernails that needed to be tended to badly. Even though it didn't feel pleasant, the act was still joyful. Hiccup climbed up with her, slightly surprised by her arms weaving around his waist. A slight blush began to show on his cheeks and Jack gave a small chuckle when he saw.
Night crept onto the world rather fast and without warning. Before anyone could blink, it was dark out. In the forest stood a figure with negativity completely surrounding it. Toothless took a moment to stare at the mysterious figure then flew off, wanting to keep his best friend out of it's way. If anyone had been there to stare at it a moment longer, they would have seen two golden orbs form from the figure. It walked out and presented itself as a man, the golden orbs turning into eyes as he watched the three fly off into the distance.
That girl and the strange boy were interfering with his plans. They had given the winter child hope and that would just not due. No. No, he was his. His to take and his to keep. He had to keep the child in the dark. As he smirked, he showed off his razor like teeth before slipping back into the shadows. Traveling through shadows was much faster than flying in his opinion. There were shadows everywhere at any time and you didn't need to stop for a rest whenever you or your companion got tired. It wasn't long before he stood in the shadows of a bedroom, a woman fast asleep not to far away. Golden sand formed around her head, twisting and turning into several different things. Taking a step forward, he softly touched the sand, watching as it became corrupted, turning into other things. Dark things. Dark thoughts she had and fears that lingered in the back of her mind. He nodded and pushed the sand away, not even flinching as she sat up panting, her black, curly hair bouncing everywhere.
She sighed and took a good look around the room, jumping when she saw the dark man at her bedside. "Who are you?" She asked, backing away.
"Someone who has come to help, Gothel." He said. His voice seemed soothing yet still stung like venom.
She raised an eyebrow then narrowed her eyes. "How do you know my name?" She asked, her arm sneaking to her bedside table.
"I know many things about many people." He said, creating a small ball of black sand in his hands. "I know more then just your name. I know your biggest fear."
"Oh really?" Her hand weaved into the drawer and grabbed the dagger that laid inside. "And what's that?"
"Your dear flower being taken away, leaving you here to die." He smirked, looking at her shock stricken face. "There are others out there coming here to take her away. Join me and we can fight against them."
His hand wasn't pale, nor did it have a real skin tone. It made her skin crawl as she reached out and touched it. His hand felt smooth yet rough against her own and she began to wonder who exactly this mysterious man was.
"Before we complete the agreement, I need to know who I'm working for."
His smirk became wider, his teeth sparkling in the little moon light there was in the room. "Pitch Black."
A/N: How bad was my Merida? Was it alright? Does it pass? - ADAM
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