Before you read this chapter, I want all of you to know that I tried my very best with writing Merida's accent, having her say "ye" for you, "yer" for your, and not having the letter g when Merida says any words that end with ing, so please let me know through either a review or a Private Message of how I could make her accent much better in the story. I'd really appreciate it, and I apologize for the long delay, it's just that I've been working on three other multi-chapter stories: Somewhere Only We Know, The Princess & The Dragon Rider, Why Don't You Love Me?, and a Rise of the Guardians one-shot with Jack Frost and Toothiana. One more thing, today happens to be my 20th birthday, so it would be great if I received a few birthday messages. I'd really appreciate it. :)
Introductions
"Listen, I don't know who ye are, or where ye even came from, but what do ye think you're doin'? If I don't shoot this beast down, the fish I caught earlier won't be the only thing he'll be eatin', now get yer hand off my arrow!" The redhead demanded.
"It's okay, I know this dragon, he isn't going to hurt you, and I can tell that he's very hungry, because he hasn't actually had any fish for hours, so it would be nice if you could just let him have that fish you caught, and there won't be a problem for us at all." Hiccup suggested.
The redhead was prepared to argue about Toothless with Hiccup again, but she hesitated for a while, and she looked over at the fish which was still on the ground, eventually releasing her hand from the arrow, walked over to pick it up, and pulled the arrow out of the fish. While holding the fish with both of her hands, she carefully took small steps toward the dragon, and held the fish out, while Toothless got down to arm's length and prowled over to the redhead like a cat, expectantly opened his jaws, and she was surprised to see that Toothless didn't have any teeth.
"How is that even possible? From what I've heard from my father, every dragon is supposed to have. . ." The redhead didn't get to finish the rest of her sentence when razor sharp teeth suddenly shot out from Toothless' gums, and he snapped up the fish whole, swallowing it.
The redhead jerked back her hands in shock, as she couldn't believe that a dragon had actually eaten something from her own hands, even though she nearly had her fingers bitten off, and she was confused when it didn't look like Toothless was completely done with the fish.
"That's how I've given him the name 'Toothless', because of his retractable teeth, and to be honest, it's really a long story with how I know this dragon, but I'm sure in telling you that he's not interested in eating anyone alive, so anyway, my name is Hiccup, and what's yours?" Hiccup asked.
The redhead was about to answer when the Night Fury advanced on her, which caused the redhead to lose her balance, and fall, and she crawled backwards until her back was up against one of the trees, and stared at her for a few seconds before pulling back a little then started making a strange gagging sound.
"I knew that this dragon was dangerous! Angus! Come over here right now, I need yer help!" The redhead called out, and in a matter of seconds, her loyal and trustworthy horse appeared, and Hiccup's eyes widened, as he got a really good close-up view of what her horse looked like.
Angus was a huge Clydesdale who stood nearly twice as tall as both Hiccup and her owner, which was the redhead, and he had a soft coat which was jet black except for the white on all four of his huge hooves, and a small patch of white between his big brown eyes.
"Wait a minute, I swear, Toothless has no intention of eating or attacking you, which is why you don't need to be saved or anything, Toothless just wanted to give you something, and I'm pretty sure that it's going to fall right onto your lap in three. .two. .one. ." Hiccup counted.
Toothless opened up his mouth and half of the fish the redhead gave him slid down the dragon's tongue and right into her lap, and the redhead stared down at the fish tail stunned, and disgusted, as the fish was covered in a gross mixture of dragon drool and pale green slime.
"I hope yer happy, Hiccup, at least, if that's actually yer real name, because not only did yer dragon manage to scare me, but also get my dress ruined, not that I really do care about it, so anyway, what exactly does yer dragon expect me to do with this now? It's already been eaten." The redhead mentioned.
"Yes, I can see that, which is why Toothless is waiting to see you eat some of it, and I know this because it's happened to me before when I wanted to gain his trust, but I understand if you don't want to do it, and I'm sure that there's a different way to earning his trust for yourself." Hiccup explained.
"I've never said that I didn't want to do it, so what do you think I am, chicken?" The redhead questioned, before taking a bite out of the fish, which obviously took Hiccup by surprise, considering that he wouldn't expect any girl from Berk, especially Astrid, to ever eat something that came from a dragon's mouth.
"Well then, I guess that you don't have to earn Toothless' trust any other way after all." Hiccup said, just as he put his hands on the dragon's neck, which caused the Night Fury to back up and give the redhead much more space, and especially enough for her to get back up on her feet.
"I never got a chance to properly introduce myself. I'm Princess Merida, and this is my horse, Angus, and we both come from Castle DunBroch, which is not so far away from here in Scotland. I'm the daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor, and I have three brothers, whose names are Hamish, Hubert, and Harris." Merida said.
"Merida, it's nice to meet you and your horse, and if I haven't said it before, I'm sorry for Toothless having you scared earlier, but wait, I almost forgot. There's still one more thing that you have to do that will show Toothless that he can trust you. Please give me your hand." Hiccup replied.
"Oh, really, than what was the whole point of having yer dragon almost bite my fingers off, have my back up against a tree, drop his eaten fish onto my dress, and stare at me until I ate a part of it, but anyway, what's going to happen now, does he have to smell and give my hand a lick?" Merida asked.
Despite what she said, Merida still lent out her hand, and as Hiccup took it, he suddenly felt goosebumps, since the only other girl in which he's touched their hand was Astrid, and Hiccup's touched her hands multiple times, so that's why it was strange to be feeling another girl's hand for the first time.
"Hello. . .Hiccup? Are ye alright? Can ye even hear what I'm sayin'?" Merida asked, but when he still didn't respond, while using her other hand that wasn't in Hiccup's grasp, she clapped her hands in front of his face to help him wake up from this unexpected and unknown spell that he was put under.
"Sorry to have you worried, Merida, but I was just thinking about something, and honestly, it's not really important right now, so anyway, I swear nothing bad is going to happen, you're only going to have your hand on a spot above his nose, and between both of his eyes.
"Just have patience, keep your hand out towards him, and wait for Toothless to come to you," Hiccup said, before letting go of her hand, and turning his head around to face his animal friend, and motioning for him to come closer with one of his hands, and so the dragon took small steps in Merida's direction.
Toothless stopped moving until his head came just below Merida's waiting palm, and he closed his eyes before raising his head and then pressing his nose into her palm, and Merida quietly gasped with the soft feeling of it, as well as the warmth running into her palm, and coming right down her arm too.
"So, Merida, do you feel that now?" Hiccup asked softly, and Merida quickly brought her face up from staring at her hand to look at Hiccup with a expression of awe, while nodding, and he could immediately tell that this was the very first time that she actually got up close and made a deep connection with a dragon.
"It feels. . .amazing, and believe it or not, Hiccup, I've never felt something like this during the times when I've rode Angus through this same forest or even those few times when I climbed up to the Crone's Tooth, and drank water from the Fire Falls, which is what I've heard about in ancient songs and stories." Merida answered.
"I'm guessing that the Crone's Tooth is a tall mountain somewhere around this land, and the Fire Falls is a waterfall, which I hope isn't actually made up of real fire? There's not much mountains and waterfalls where I came from, and unlike the other dragons, nobody does find it useful to give them a name." Hiccup said.
"Other dragons? Where exactly did ye and yer dragon come from, because I'm sure it's not one of the other three clans, because I do remember that they didn't bring any dragons along with them when they visited my family's kingdom in the past, so tell me, Hiccup, where did ye come from?" Merida asked.
"Since you've already told me where you're from, I should do the same as well. Me and Toothless have come from the island of Berk, which is the home or village to the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, and it's also where my father is the chief, and his name is Stoick the Vast. Have you ever heard of him before?" Hiccup questioned.
"No, I haven't heard of your father or even Berk, for that matter, but what I also want to know is why ye're not in yer village right now? As for me, I'm not at the castle because my parents recently allowed me to go on a trip around these woods, and they didn't need to worry about me, since it would be only a week," Merida explained. "So anyway, why aren't ye in Berk?" Merida asked.
"My father wants me to get married to a girl by the end of the summer, and even though I've known her ever since we were kids, the two of us didn't start dating until a few months ago, and it wasn't until this morning that she decided to say that she loved me, and my father telling me about the marriage contract with her parents. I tried to tell my father that it was too soon for me and this girl to get married, but he didn't listen, and said that the marriage would be a good thing to happen, not only for our families, but also for the village altogether, so I left, but not before leaving behind a letter saying that I needed time to think about making a real committment to this girl, and so I would be gone for at least one week, since I think that would be enough time for me." Hiccup explained.
"Believe it or not, Hiccup, but it seems like we have another thing in common, besides having a best friend who's an animal, and that's having yer family pressure ye into gettin' married just for the sake of bringing a truce and making peace with yer enemies, because that's what happened to me a few weeks ago." Merida responded.
"Really, then if you don't mind, please tell me how did you manage to get yourself out of it?" Hiccup asked, as he carefully took a seat down on the grass, and Merida did the same as well, along with their animal friends laying on the ground too, since it didn't seem like any of them had some other place to be at the moment.
"I hope that ye don't mind havin' to hear a long story, but I'll still try to make it as short as possible, so that way, tellin' the whole story won't have to take hours. I'll start with the legendary tale of Mor'du, the demon bear who usually spent most of his time secretly roamin' through the wilderness of this forest. Once, there was an ancient kingdom, it's name long forgotten, and the kingdom was ruled by a wise, and fair king, who was much beloved. When the king grew old, he divided the kingdom among his four sons, that they should be the pillars on which the peace of the land rested, but it wouldn't stay that way forever. The oldest prince wanted to rule the land for himself, so he followed his own path, and the kingdom fell to war, chaos, and ruin. Now Hiccup, it's very important that ye remember what I just told ye, because the oldest prince of that kingdom is going to come up much later in the story, do ye understand?" Merida asked, and Hiccup simply gave a nod with his head.
"Many years ago, on my birthday, I was given a bow as a present from my dad, and while practicing, I accidentally shot an arrow into the forest, so when I went to get the arrow, I spotted a trail of will o' the wisps that led me back to my parents." Merida said.
She was about to continue with the story when Hiccup raised up one of his hands, and although Merida was a little annoyed that Hiccup didn't let her continue, she still believed that he needed to know about something she just said to him, so he could understand the story.
"Wait, will o' a what? Merida, I'm sorry to interrupt, but could you please describe what those are to me?" Hiccup asked. "I'm not sure whether I've already seen them before or not." He added, while still feeling bad for cutting in Merida's story so early.
"Will' o' the wisps are small, floatin' blue lights, and they usually come out for those who venture out after sunset on unfamiliar pathways, and they're said to lead ye to treasure or to doom, or in other words, to change yer fate." Merida explained.
Hiccup widened his eyes for a moment, and his jaw almost dropped when he realized that these were the same blue lights that led him to find Merida, but maybe it meant that he just needed somebody who knew this land, and maybe to guide him through it too.
"Now then, as I was sayin', my mum told me that the will o' the wisps lead you to your fate, but my dad didn't believe it and walked away, when suddenly, Mor'du came out to attack us, and my dad fought off the bear long enough to give me and my mum a chance to escape on horseback, but it came at the cost of his left leg."
Once again, Hiccup raised up one of his hands and went ahead with talking, but this time, not even bothering to stop and wait for Merida to ask what it was that he needed to know more about, but Hiccup just wanted to point something out, and it was something that he actually had in common with Merida's father.
"It seems like me and our father already have something in common. We've both lost part of our left leg in battle. If you want, I could tell you the story of how I lost it sometime, and one more thing, I'm sorry for interrupting for a second time, and I promise that it won't happen again. Please continue." Hiccup said.
"Are ye sure, Hiccup, because I swear if ye raise your hand one more time, then not only will I not go through with tellin' the story, but both ye and yer dragon can find somewhere else in this land to stay for the rest of the week, and you wouldn't want that, because this land is very dangerous." Merida replied.
"Hold on, Merida, you mean that you really don't mind me and Toothless staying here in the forest with you and your horse? I'm sure that you weren't expecting any company, and I didn't think that it would be such a good idea, since having us around might probably ruin your trip and all." Hiccup responded.
"Are ye kiddin', Hiccup? I just felt the warmth of yer dragon comin' into my hand and runnin' all the way down my arm for the first time ever. I don't think that ye've been in this land before, so it might be better for the both of ye to stick around with someone who knows their way around it, don't ye think?" Merida asked.
"Yeah, you're right, it would be a lot better. . .and oh, wait, that reminds me," Hiccup took a quick look around before getting up from the ground. "Before I left my village, I packed a basket with things that I would need, like clothes, and I'm sure that I left it a spot which isn't so far away from here. I'm just going to get it, and I'll be back, okay?" Hiccup answered.
"Alright, me and Angus will be waitin' right here for ye to come back, and ye might want to have yer dragon come along with ye for protection, because ye wouldn't want to have him goin' off into the forest right now, especially since it's about to get dark really soon." Merida said, before getting up from the ground.
"That's a good idea." Hiccup replied, and turned around to face Toothless. "Come with me, bud. I have to get my basket before nighttime sets in." He told his dragon, and with Toothless now following him from behind, Hiccup carefully walked across to the other side of the stream and back into the forest again.
When Hiccup looked back, he could see that Merida was already standing just at the end of the stream and also had her bow in her hand with an arrow placed in it, while aiming the arrow down at the stream, as she was waiting to catch a fish for herself, and he was kinda hoping that she would catch another for him too. Suddenly, a brand new trail of blue lights appeared right in front of Hiccup, and Toothless was about to run ahead and pounce on them again when Hiccup put both of his hands on the dragon's nose, which stopped him from going any further, and Hiccup thought that he should follow the will o' the wisps on his own this time.
"Toothless, please stay right here. These lights are going to help me find my basket, and I won't be gone for a long time, so could you wait until I get back? Don't worry, I'll let you chase the lights for another time." Hiccup said, and although his best friend was hesitant for a while, he eventually agreed, by making a sitting position.
With seeing that action done by Toothless, Hiccup turned around to head in the direction of where the will o' the wisps were taking him, and while each of the floating blue lights disappeared as he came closer to every one, Hiccup started to think more about why exactly would the lights lead him to Merida. Was it even the slightest bit possible that the will o' the wisps led their way for Hiccup find this redhead because maybe, she was the one whom Hiccup is meant to be with? Hiccup instantly shook the idea out of his mind, and thought that it was considering that he's only known Merida for less than an hour, and so he went back to following the floating blue lights until he found his basket, and Hiccup was able to find his way back to Toothless with the help of another trail of will o' the wisps.