(a/n: Here you go, a new chapter. Its rather short and quick but i hope you like it. Enjoy and Review!)

Ch.2: A Transaction

She floated in darkness forever. Merida felt completely weightless, as if she were in ocean of nothingness.

She drifted in the nothingness for a long time with no idea how long she'll be there, and then she immediately felt gravity and she felt herself fall back to earth. She landed painlessly on solid earth. Merida blinked a few times and she discovered that she was dropped into a rather gloomy graveyard.

A black iron fence encompassed the graveyard that sat alone on a hill. At the foot of a hill were a dark forest and a tiny village.

A pale half moon hung above in the starry night. A warm evening breeze drifted through the graveyard.

Merida glanced around the graves wondering why she was there then her eyes landed on a figure. The figure wore nothing but black, making it hard to discern whom it may be in the dark. But in the light of the moon, she saw that the figure in black was crouching behind a towering statue of a angel with great feathery wings that stood tall and proud a few yards away from her.

The figure looked like it was waiting for someone. Then the figure turned its hooded head towards Merida. The hooded figure seemed to be looking directly at her. Her heart froze and a chill ran through her when she saw was underneath the hood.

Staring at her was a pale grey face of a ghoulish young man with a wide grin. The face was grey as a corpse and had eyes black as coals.

Then a voice called out "Hello?" the voice echoed across the silent graves and was met by silence. Then again "Hello?"

A few silent moments passed then the voice spoke "Ok Tooth, seriously, this isn't funny. I got somewhere I need to be right now".

Merida recognized that voice. It was Jack Frost.

She got up and saw that it was Jack. He wandered through the graveyard, passing headstones and he glided a little bit past some statues.

She tried to call out to him but suddenly she found herself bound in chains and she was violently pulled to the ground. The force of the pull slammed her shoulder against solid earth hard enough to bruise.

Before she could even let out a pained cry, a cold clammy hand clamped down over her mouth. Merida saw that it was the man in black. Somehow he crept up on her without making a sound.

The man still had his creepy grin on his face as he held up a finger to his lips as if to shush her. He giggled a little. His giggle was high and mocking.

He then spoke aloud in a woman's voice "I'm over here Jack!"

Merida struggled against her bonds and tried yelling, anything to get Jack to hear her but nothing.

This had to be a dream. It had to be some sick dream like the others. But everything felt very real.

The man in black rose from his hiding place and went out to meet Jack. She tried to sit up but couldn't. Their voices were carried on the wind.

Jack demanded, "Who are you? Where's Tooth?"

"She's not here" replied the figure in a high nasally voice "She never was. I was the one who sent that message"

"Why?" asked Jack "What do you want?" "Isn't it obvious Jackie?" asked the man in black "Its you".

Then there were a sound of rustling of fabric then there were some loud crashes, followed by flashes of lights and small cracks then explosions. Then Merida heard Jack scream followed by a high nasally giggle that mocked the winter spirit's pain.

All sound seemed to stop suddenly and silence engulfed the graveyard.

Merida fought against her restraints one last time and they suddenly crumbled and turned to black sand. She jumped to her feet and she froze.

Before her, the entire graveyard was leveled. There wasn't a gravestone or statue that still stood, except for the angel that the man in black hid behind and the gravestone that hid Merida. Merida saw the man in black standing over an unconscious Jack. She saw the young man withdraw a crystal sphere from the folds of his dark robes.

He knelt down and he placed the sphere on Jack's chest saying, "Sweet dreams Jackie".

Merida watched in horror as the crystal glow as did Jack's body then the winter spirit turn into pure blue light. The light was then sucked into the crystal sphere. The crystal turned blue then stopped glowing. The figure scooped it up and slipped it into his robes. He chuckled a little then turned towards Merida.

He grinned, "I hope you enjoyed the show girlie. I would love to stay and chat but I really must get going. A lot of things to do, so little time. Jackie and I are going to have a lot of fun!" A pool of black smoke formed around his feet then the darkness rose up around him.

Before the smoke completely engulfed him, the ghoulish young man raised a hand saying "Bye bye!" he snapped his fingers then everything went black.

Merida bolted up right and saw that she was back in her chambers. Some moonlight filtered in through the window providing the only light in the dark, silent chamber. The images replayed through her mind. The horrible grey face of the ghoul, Jack's scream, and the crystal orb.

What did any of it mean? She heard that dreams sometimes have hidden meanings that might be warning of something but that dream seemed less of a dream of a warning and more of a scene of torture. Like someone wanted her to watch horrific images of those she cared about suffer.

Now fully awake, Merida got up and decided to go for a walk.

The castle was relatively silent compared to hours before. Very few people were up and about at this hour except for the guards, a few servants and occasionally her father. She walked aimlessly through the corridors, her mind still reeling from the latest nightmare ranging from the battle to the decimated graveyard and the ghoulish man.

What made her blood chill was the ghoulish young man in black. His voice made her skin crawl for two reasons. The first that being that it just cold and mocking, as if he took pleasure from the pain Jack and to an extent herself, were in and the second was that she heard his voice before.

The very first nightmare she had of Jack attempting to kill her. It was exactly the same nasally voice.

Merida paused at a window and saw a pale half moon in the sky, exactly like the one in her dream.

She frowned. It can't be, it was only a dream. She felt a dull pain in her shoulder. Merida looked at her shoulder and saw that there was a minor scratch and there was a spot that looked bruised. The princess blinked in surprise and touched the bruise, which resulted in a flash of pain that ended once she removed her hand.

She didn't have any recollection of ever getting a bruise there. Earlier that night, her shoulder was perfectly fine. Then it hit Merida. "The dream" she murmured.

Instantly, she turned and raced back to her chambers. Once there, she groped around the darkness and found the letter from Genevieve. She read it over again then looked at the recipe for the tea. It wasn't the tea she was looking for; it was the location of where Genevieve would be.

The location wasn't familiar to Merida, in fact she never even heard of the name the land until the letter. Merida pondered on what should she do. She wanted desperately to believe that it only was a nightmare. The princess wanted to try the tea and maybe that will help her.

But, if it wasn't a nightmare then Jack is in danger and the ghoulish man was planning something terrible for him and maybe for others. She had to do something but her life was normal again, Hiccup was starting to remember and everything is going great for her.

All this could just be an overreaction and could easily be remedied with nice soothing tea. But Genevieve did say to let her know if the dreams happen again and this one was very different from the others.

Merida sat down on her bed and pondered her next move.

After what seemed like an eternity of considering her options, Merida decided that she would get some answers.

After quickly packing some clothes into a satchel, Merida retrieved her bow and quiver. She threw on a traveling cloak and left her room.

Quickly making her way down to the kitchens for some food to last her the journey, Merida didn't encounter anyone but she did duck out of sight when a guard passed her by, humming a little.

When she reached the kitchen, Merida carefully peaked inside and saw no one.

With no time to waste, she quickly went and started stuffing as much food as would fit. Then there was a loud creak that made her jump.

Merida spun around and saw Hiccup up there, holding the door open.

The Viking stood there for a moment with a look of confusion on his face "Merida? What are you doing here?"

"I-I was just getting some food," stammered Merida "With your bow?" said Hiccup his eyebrow arching.

She stood there without anything to say. Hiccup had her caught. The princess sighed "Well, I was getting some food to help me on my journey"

"Journey?" repeated Hiccup looking utterly lost "What are you talking about?" she wanted to keep it to herself but if she told Hiccup, maybe he could understand. Merida took a deep breath and explained everything, from the nightmares to her correspondence with Genevieve.

Hiccup's eyes narrowed a little and he remained silent through the whole thing. She finished her long-winded explanation and was met with silence.

Hiccup stood there silently pondering what he had heard then finally said "That's a lot to take in" "I know but please believe me" pleaded Merida "It sounds mad"

"It kind of does" said Hiccup, crossing his arms Merida nodded a little, feeling her face grow warm with embarrassment "Aye, but its all truth".

The princess started grasping at anything to convince Hiccup to not tell her parents or think that she's mad. Then something popped into her mind.

"Do you believe in fate?" she tried. Hiccup frowned "Fate? Well…yes, kind of"

"Do you think its coincidence that we met? That you feel like that you remember me?" continued Merida. She shook her head "Its no coincidence. We have met before that night a few years ago."

Hiccup's eyes widened a little "We have? How?"

Merida smiled a little "It's a rather long story but that's for another day. What's important is that we have met before all this. We were good friends. You helped me once. You even saved my life. All that I ask is that you let me go and find some answers. These dreams have been plaguing me for the last five years. All I want is to know what they mean".

She stepped towards Hiccup. Merida looked the Viking in the eyes and asked, "Will you stop me?"

Hiccup stared back at her for a few long, silent moments then said, "I can't stop you…but I won't let you go alone".

The two descended the staircase into the cold, dark dungeon. Hiccup went to his room and collected his belongings and rejoined Merida in the kitchens. They had everything they needed and were ready to go but neither of the two knew where they were going.

Merida read the name of the land they were going but Hiccup was just as familiar with it as she was. They couldn't travel to a land that neither of them were familiar with or know the way to. After much thought and consideration, Merida decided to ask James.

From his accent he didn't sound like he was from Scotland and he's a thief, so maybe he traveled around like the Travelers troupe and maybe even traveled to this land before. Hiccup was a little doubtful that James would help but he didn't have a better idea so the two set out for the dungeons.

Staying to the shadows, they slipped past a few guards who were busy talking or playing some sort of game to keep them occupied.

Once past the door to the dungeon, they made their way down into the darkness. They reached the ground floor and went to the last cell at the end of the corridor. From what they could tell in the dark he was lying still on his back on the cold stone floor.

Merida hissed "Hey, wake up!" nothing. James just laid on the floor un moving, breathing slowly. Merida tried a few more times to wake him and not alert the guards. But with nothing, she tried again, only little louder "Oi! Wake up!"

Hiccup shushed her but it had the desired effect. James stirred and he propped himself up with his elbows. The two could feel that he was probably fixing them an annoyed look.

He groaned, "What do you want? Can't you see that I'm trying to get some sleep before the big day tomorrow"

Merida ignored his complaints and spoke "You're a thief-" "Last time I checked I was" muttered James

"And you have traveled to distant lands?" she continued. Even though it was dark, Merida saw the thief frown "Why do you ask?"

"Answer the question" said Hiccup tersely.

James sighed, "Yes, I have been in many different places. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I need some help" said Merida "I need to find somebody" "Ok…" said James slowly, sounding a little lost. Merida explained that she wanted to find a friend who is currently visiting loved ones in a distant land, one which neither she or Hiccup has ever been to.

"I need your help with finding my way to this land" concluded Merida. James was silent for a few moments then he replied "No".

Merida blinked "Why not?" The thief responded nonchalantly "What's in it for me? I mean, I could tell you all that you need to know and you'll probably let me get executed in the morning. So, what's the point?"

Merida clenched her fist. There always had to be a catch. She figured this would happen but for some reason she hoped that he would just be willing to help. Merida decided to play his game "I can help you" "Right" snorted James. Her tone grew firm and serious "I'm telling the truth. If you help me, I'll let you go free".

There was silence for a moment then James asked "Really? Wow, that's quite not what I expected. Why would you do that?"

"I need questions that need to be answered" said Merida "Someone I…care about is probably in trouble and I need to consult with a friend on what I have to do".

James clicked his tongue then said, "Sounds serious, very serious. Who's in trouble? Brother? Sister? Aunt? Uncle? Secret lover?"

Luckily it was dark so nobody saw Merida's face went red and she said harshly "Its not any of your business. All that we are asking for is your assistance. If you can guide us to this land, we will let you go free…with payment for all your troubles".

At that the thief rose to his feet and stepped closer to the door of his cell. He was silent for a few moments then he spoke "I'll consider the terms" he turned then he stopped and asked "Does anybody have a light? I can't see a damn thing".

Merida had a candle in her satchel and drew it out but there was the sound of metal scraping against metal then suddenly warm orange light burst forth from the dark. James and Merida shielded their eyes then they saw that Hiccup drew his sword and it was bathed in orange flames.

The two looked at him in amazement. Hiccup shrugged "Just a little something that's useful in situations like this" "Beautiful" murmured James.

The thief turned and paced his cell for a few moments. Though his expression was placid and betrayed nothing, Merida could tell that he was debating and weighing the offer she gave him.

For a few moments there was nothing but pacing then suddenly he stopped and turned to face the two. He asked "Just for the record. You let me out, I take you wherever you want to go and I'll get paid?" Merida glanced over to Hiccup who looked a little worried but she nodded nonetheless.

The thief smiled then nodded "Then we have a deal".

James merely tapped on the door to his cell and the door swung open with a soft squeak. Hiccup and Merida jumped back in surprise.

The thief held up his hands "In my defense, I thought I was going to have to escape before my head gets chopped off tomorrow but looks I don't need to"

"How did you…?" asked Hiccup gesturing to the door. James shrugged "I'm a thief, lock-picking is a vital skill that may save your life".

The three made their way through the dungeon and found James' satchel in one of the storerooms the guards used to house their weapons. After a quick check through his satchel, James was happy to see all his equipment was still there, minus all the trinkets he snatched.

He slung the bag over his shoulder asking "So, where is this place we're going to?"

"This kingdom we're going to is called…" began Merida but couldn't remember the name. She quickly retrieved the letter and read aloud "Arendelle".

James nodded "I have been there once before. Beautiful land, wonderful scenery" he turned to the princess and the Viking saying "I know exactly where to go"

"How far is it?" asked Merida

"A day's journey via the sea" said James "Depending on the weather". He rubbed his hands together saying, "Lets get going, shall we?" he walked off to the exit with Merida and Hiccup trailing closely behind him.

Outside, the pre dawn sky was still dark but on the horizon there began to show some faint purple light. James took a deep breath, his lungs filled with cool fresh air. He exhaled deeply saying "So good to be free". He stretched his limbs, there were soft audible popping and cracking.

Hiccup hurried about the ship, making sure that everything was ready for the journey. On the way out of the castle, the three debated on the best mode of transport that will get them to Arendelle.

Hiccup suggested dragons but that idea didn't work out. Toothless could easily carry both Hiccup and Merida but would have difficulties with all three of them. They could've tried to borrow one of the other dragons the Viking's brought but they would've incinerated James considering his untrustworthy nature as a thief.

They eventually settled on taking a ship belonging to Clan Macintosh. They managed to slip past the guards and a few servants.

One warrior almost caught them and started asking questions but James blew some pink dust into the man's face and within an instant, he crumpled to the floor. "The last little bit of Trolls Dust" said James.

Once outside, Merida told the two to get the ship ready while she left a note explaining the whole situation so her parents don't panic.

Hiccup finished preparation, he noted the first light on the horizon. He saw James step off the dock and onto the ship saying, "We better get moving before the whole castle awakes".

In the faint predawn light, Hiccup saw Merida rushing down to the docks. Once she reached the ship, James untied the rope tethering the ship to the dock and pushed off. The sails unfurled and the wind caught the sails, causing it to jerk and move. Hiccup guided the ship out of the dock and it began to crawl away.

Once they were out a fair distance, the ship began to pick up speed once it caught a stronger wind. James saw a large black shape hurtling towards them and in the blink of an eye it landed gracefully on deck. The shape turned out to be Toothless.

The nightfury was a big dragon but it was small enough to fit on the ship's deck. Toothless greeted Merida and Hiccup.

The dragon gave James a distrustful look and growled a little. James took a few steps away from the dragon. Hiccup told his friend "Don't worry, he's with us".

Toothless stood down but it still kept its emerald eyes locked on the thief, as if he was waiting for the thief to make a wrong move. James stared back at the dragon for a moment then looked away and went about his business.

Merida leaned against the side of the ship and watched as Castle DunBroch slowly shrank in the distance behind them. She silently hoped that her parents would understand and not worry. Her gaze turned toward the horizon. The sky began to brighten minute by minute.

Next stop Arendelle.

Back at the Castle, a shadowy figure slipped into Merida's chambers and found the message she left for her parents.

He pocketed it and left the castle unnoticed, giggling at the recent events.

Everything is going as planned. Soon he'll be having loads of fun and he didn't want anybody to interfere just yet.

Meanwhile, Fergus was having nightmares of his own. He was back at The Wraith's Keep, alone and being chased through its long endless corridors.

Fergus paused for a moment gasping for breath, his heart hammering in his chest. He had to go, he had to escape from this horrid castle.

If he didn't, he'll suffer a fate worse than death. A loud, high pitch shriek tore through the darkness behind Fergus. He spun around and felt his skin crawl "Elinor!" he bellowed "Hold on!" he ran back towards the sound of his wife's screams. He ran and ran until the king rounded a corner.

Around that corner, he found himself in the castle courtyard, the very same place where he put Calum MacNair to death. It was dark outside, darker than any night he's ever seen. In the middle of the courtyard he saw a figure in black holding a torch up.

The figure was keeling down by a body that was covered in black-red dried blood. Fergus couldn't see who it was but he knew that it was Elinor.

Tears began to fall, Fergus started to sob "No…Elinor" the figure stood up and turned to face Fergus. The king at first couldn't see the person's face because of the shadow of his hood that shielded his face but then once his eyes had adjusted, he paled.

Standing before him was Calum MacNair.

Fergus instantly stumbled backwards "No…no, you're dead"

"Am I?" said the former lord softly, one of his thin eyebrows arched. He began stepping towards Fergus "I did say that I would make you pay dearly" his voice grew louder "You took everything from me. You took my lands, my power, my clan, my family…but now I'm going to return the favor. I'm going to take everything from you, starting with your daughter!"

Calum turned and he started walking away. Fergus, feeling a burst of courage and fury, stomped after Calum and grabbed his shoulder "Don't you dare touch my daughter". He turned Calum around and was ready to punch him but he stopped.

Instead of Calum it was James the thief. James just stood there looking at him with a small smile on his face.

Fergus bolted up right, drenched in sweat. In that moment, everything seemed to make sense to the king.

He scrambled out of bed and looked for he sword. Once he found his blade, he quickly made his way to the dungeons as everyone in the castle aroused from their sleep.

Fergus stomped down the corridor to the thief's cell barking, "Alright you slippery little weasel, I have a few questions for…" but he trailed off when he saw that the cell was empty.

He frowned for a moment and he rounded on the guard "Where is he?" "He was there last time we checked" sputtered the guard.

Fergus snarled "Well he's not here. He's gone!" he stopped and a horrible thought popped into his mind. The king's blood ran cold "No…" he turned and raced towards Merida's chambers.

Once there, he opened the door and found that she wasn't there. Panic began to settle in and soon everyone was wide-awake and searched for Merida.

Soon they discovered that Hiccup and Toothless were gone as well, along with one of Clan Macintosh's ships. The worst scenarios started playing through Elinor and Fergus' minds but Valka concluded that Hiccup and Toothless must have taken off after Merida and this thief.

Fergus assured his wife "Don't worry, we'll find her" "How?" asked Elinor "We don't know where they may have gone".

Fergus faltered for a moment. She was right, they could anywhere by now but that didn't matter.

No matter where they went, Fergus was determined to find his daughter and save her, even if it was the last thing he'll do.

He turned and he went to question the troupe of performers and hopefully glean some information form them.

End of Chapter

(a/n: Not exactly a good chapter but i hope you liked it. please review!)