Warnings: Futa/G!P Bella, Femslash, language, future lemons...
So for the sake of the story, Merida is 18, Bella is 20, and until now has been on a warrior's journey for two years. I know, Merida was younger in the movies, but bare with me.
I don't own Brave or Twilight. Sadly.
Merida led Bella out to the stables, the tall woman now wearing a new pair of leather, calf high boots, black trousers, and a silvery grey sleeveless tunic, her cloak still on her shoulders. With the lack of sleeves, Merida could see well defined arms and black, tribal tattoos stretching down her neck, shoulders and arms. She also could see the end of a jagged scar that disappeared down the back of her shirt. They finally got there, Angus stomping the ground when he caught wind of Bella, rearing back some. Merida frowned.
"He's never like this."
Bella nodded. "It's okay. Give me just a moment." She met the eyes of the large stallion, before bowing her head and avoiding his gaze. She slowly lifted up her hand, palm out toward Angus. "Open his gate?" Her voice was soft, and Merida slowly complied, watching the two closely. The horse grunted, stomping the ground again before slowly walking forward, keeping his head high as he finally reached the tall woman. She felt hot breath on her hand as he sniffed her, a curtain of waves and curls blocking her view. Finally after a moment Angus pressed his head against Bella's hand, letting out a soft grunt of acceptance. Bella looked up, meeting his eyes. She mouthed a soft thank you to him and he closed his eyes, enjoying her soft strokes to his fur. Merida just watched the exchange with wide eyes.
"How...?"
Bella smirked, some hair still falling over her eye, the visible teal-blue eyes holding a spark. "Spending two years in the forest, you learn how to get an animal to relax, or how to get them to submit. You learn when to do which. Angus was assessing me, to see if I was a threat to you. He's quite protective of you, darlin'."
"So you showed you wouldn't be a threat to me?"
"Aye, las." Bella smiled, feeling Angus rest his heavy head on her shoulder from behind her, seeking more pets. She chuckled and complied, planting a kiss on the side of his muzzle. Merida smiled, taking a few steps closer to pet her horse as well. It took her a second to realize she was so close to Bella she could feel the heat rolling off her. She blushed, looking up at Bella, who was looking down at her with a light blush over a dusting of freckles on her cheeks. Lavender and Vanilla filled Bella's lungs and surrounded her, making her let out another purring growl. Merida bit her lip.
Why is she so familiar... and why do I feel like this?
Merida was no stranger to attraction, or arousal. She had read her far share of... less than lady-like novels in the library. But never had she felt so... free. Safe, in another's presence. Bella made her heart jump, skip, her breath speed up, and looking up into those eyes, growing darker, she chewed her lip harder, a shiver running down her spine. Angus' soft grunt broke them from their world, making them realize they were in a rather unplutonic position, Merida's hands on Bella's upper arms, the taller girl holding her hips. Bella blushed a darker red, pulling away and bowing her head.
"I'm sorry, Merida. I didn't intent to..."
"It's fine." Merida hugged her middle, trying to wrap her mind around her wayward feelings and think about where she had seen Bella before. She couldn't remember. It wasn't anything new, though. There was a lot she didn't remember...
"Where would you like to go?" Merida looked around, seeing the Fire Falls in the distance. Another test entered her mind. She had climbed, would Bella be able to?
"The Fire Falls?"
Bella grinned. "You know, they say only the ancient kings were brave enough to drink the Fire."
Merida giggled. "Have you been talking to my father?" Bella just grinned, watching Merida swing up and onto her horse. She hopped up behind her, grabbing a little of Angus's mane in one hand and resting the other on Merida's hips. Without warning they shot forward, riding in comfortable silence until the reached the bottom of the falls, mist heavy in the air. Bella grinned, hopping down and offering her hand to Merida, helping her down. With a quick glance up the cliff face, Bella removed her cloak, folding it neatly and resting it on the ground beside Angus, removing her boots and socks next. The princess watched on curiously.
"Bella, what are you doing?"
"Well, knowing how feisty you are, I figure you want to climb?" Merida nodded. "It's easier for me to climb when I can feel each shift in the rock, plus I don't want to ruin my new boots." With that, Bella let Merida start ahead of her before starting up the wall. It was more than halfway up that Bella saw a loose rock up ahead of them. Before she could begin to warn her friend, Merida went to grab it. "Merida! No! That one's-"
It was too late and Merida lost her balance, her foot slipping as the rock fell away. Bella watched helplessly as she fell, shooting past her before her fear-ridden mind could understand. She made a split second choice and let go of her hold, falling toward Merida, who was desperately trying to catch a rock, somewhere, as she fell. Bella straightened her body, falling faster and grabbed the woman out of the air in one tan arm, pulling her close to her body as all three other limps shot forward, digging into the rock face and finally they came to a complete stop about five feet from the ground. Bella was breathing heavily, congratulating herself on that working, and thanking every deity out there that she had saved the sobbing woman in her arms. Merida had her arms and legs wrapped strongly around Bella, her face buried in her neck as she sobbed, gasping out thank you's over and over as Bella carefully climbed down, meeting an anxious Angus on the ground who frantically sniffed at them both. The sting in Bella's hand and feet showed she was bleeding, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her back, feeling the thinner skin over her scars opening up and bleeding after her extreme strain on it. Right now, however, she was only worried about the woman in her arms. She wrapped her strong arms around her, only breaking her hold a moment to put her cloak, shoes and sock into a saddle bag they had brought, and to climb onto Angus's back. Even then, she always had one arm around her Princess. Merida never once loosened her hold, even when her sobs died to sniffles. They finally got to the castle again and made their way inside. Well Bella did, still carrying her Princess. Fargus spotted them and angrily thundered over.
"What happened?! Why's she crying?! Did you do this?!"
Merida lifted her head and shook it. "It wasn't her, da. She actually saved me. I slipped on the Fire Falls and fell. She caught me." Bella winced at the reminder of the pain in her hand, feet and back, remembering the deep gouges in the side of the cliff now. Merida buried her face back in Bella's neck as Fargus took Bella's hand in his massive one's, looking at the blood freely flowing from it, looking down at the bloody prints on the floor, and saw blood seeping through the back of her shirt. With a grim nod he ushered them up the stairs and to Merida's room, where the red-head still refused to let go, so Bella nudged the door open with her hip and set her things on a small stool before sitting on the bed. It was several minutes before the younger woman's hold slackened some, and three more before she was simply cuddled against her savior, enjoying the warmth but in no way unaware of her condition. When one of the hand maiden's came in with a basin of hot water and several clothes to clean the warrior's wounds, Merida took it with a softly spoken thank you and told her she would clean and bandage them. Bella listened as she was told to hold still and held out her wounded hand, watching Merida take it in her soft hands and gently clean away the blood. The elderly woman returned with bandages and some ointment to help the pain and healing, setting them on the bed so Merida could work. Under the blood and dirt, Bella's hand was torn and blood still flowed freely. The red-head quickly, and tightly, bandaged the hand, making sure it wasn't too tight that her hand would go numb. She moved to her feet, finding the same thing there. Finally, the blood on the back of Bella's shirt not going unnoticed, the red-faced woman asked the warrior to take off her shirt, putting it in the hamper for it to be washed. There she found a horrendous sight.
Four long, jagged, and deep claw marks marred the otherwise flawless skin. The tender flesh had been easily torn open again and blood ran down her back. Bella felt soft hands on her back, tenderly touching around her wounds. Despite the situation, those hands still caused her body to react and she was glad her back was turned. She felt Merida clean the marks and tried to relax.
Meanwhile Merida was trying to stop the onslot of feelings and fragments of memory. A deep, terrifying roar, her own scream, a soft smile... it didn't make sense...
"How did this happen?" She asked softly.
"Mor'Du. But really it isn't his fault."
"How? Bella, Mor'Du is a demon bear."
"Maybe, but maybe not."
Merida paused. "What do you mean?"
"My clan has a legend about him. Would you like to hear it?" Merida nodded before remembering Bella couldn't see it, and muttered a soft yes. Bella closed her eyes and thought, letting the details of the legend flow from her mouth. "There were once four princes, sons to a throne run by their father. When the king passed, he gave all the sons control, each of them having responsibilities. The eldest, who was a burly man, tall, strong, was in charge of the protection of his kingdom, but when invaders threatened their land, he knew he would not be strong enough. He went in search of a witch, a woman who could give him that strength, and found her. She refused to give him service at first, telling him his intentions were good, but his will was too weak. Outraged he demanded the spell and finally she relented, pulling out a sharp blade of silver. She told him to find an animal of his choosing, kill it, and skin it. He wasn't to use the blade or any other weapon to kill the animal, and the blade's magic would do the rest.
"He then went out into the woods and found his animal, a large bear, it's fur as black as the night sky. Tried as he might, he could not kill the beast with his bare hands. He made his first mistake in those minutes. He killed the bear with the silver dagger. The full moon loomed high as he skinned the bear and donned the cloak made from it's skin, the fur shrinking to fit his body. The prince could feel the warmth from the cloak, the power, and as he looked into the moon's light, his body shifted, morphed, and soon he became the bear he had just killed. The bear's will, still fresh on the skin, battled with the prince's and in minutes, his eyes turned a soulless black. The bear had won, his will too strong.
"Mor'Du was never the same, he could not protect his kingdom, and they fell, the castle destroyed and people captured. His brothers... they never knew what had become of their brother, and assumed he had run off in a fit of rage and jealousy."
"So... Mor'Du is a Werebear?" Merida asked, carefully wrapping bandages around her friend's torso and over her shoulder, covering all the bleeding skin.
"A skinwalker, actually. Usually skin walkers can change whenever they want, but since the bear won, he is forever a bear."
"That's... wow... I always thought he was just a mad bear... I never realized it was a trapped man." Merida leaned forward, laying her head against the back of Bella's neck and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. The woman smiled, feeling Merida's mane of curls against her shoulder, mixing with her own, and felt her back become pressed against Merida's front. Merida felt Bella's larger, warm hand encase hers and smiled. After a few minutes Bella heard Merida's breathing even out and a soft snore escaped her. She chuckled and turned, lifting her princess up into her arms and setting her gently on the bed. She laid on the far side of it, leaving enough room for Merida to comfortably sleep, and drifted off herself.
aaaaaaaaaaand Done!
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Lol I'm actually just screwing with you guys. On with the story!
Bella jolted awake when she received a kick to her groin, bending over in pain and gasping. After her vision cleared (that was a bloody strong kick!) she looked over and realized that Merida was flailing in her sleep, crying out as she tossed and turned. Bella scrambled across the bed, dodging flying limbs, and finally managed to pin down Merida's fists using one hand while she gently shook her awake with the other. With a struggled cry Merida woke up, looking at Bella and throwing her arms around her the second they were released from the woman's grip. Bella frowned, wrapping her arms around the red-head and sitting back, pulling the girl into her lap. She was shaking and Bella rubbed her back in gentle circles.
"What's wrong, darlin'?"
"I had a nightmare about what happened, but this time... you weren't there to catch me..." She started to cry and this only made the other woman hold her tighter. When her shaking and sobbing died down, Bella lifted Merida's chin with gentle fingers, swiping her thumb over her cheeks to wipe away the tears.
"Don't you worry, my beautiful Princess, I will always be there to catch you."
Her eyes held such emotion, such sincerity, that Merida could only nod and believe her, resting her head on her friend's shoulder. Not for the first time, she wished she could remember where she knew Bella from...
Real end! So, what do you think?
Why are they only meeting now?
Because of the clans. I'm trying to stay accurate to the movie, and since Merida never met any of the guys, or remembered doing so, I'm trying to do the same with Bella. They had met before, but that was when they were young.
Does Merida know about Bella's little friend?
No. As a kid Bella didn't really think she was any different, and so she never talked about it. Even if she had, though, Merida wouldn't remember.