Author's Note: Hey again everyone! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited! I know I say that a lot, but knowing that people are enjoying this story makes me really happy. I especially enjoy reading reviews, they make my day! Please feel free to comment, theorize, or just talk to me about the story!
Review Replies:
BrawlerGamer: I also really like the relationship between Hiccup and Jack, more is coming, I promise! Thanks for reviewing, I appreciate you always telling me your thoughts!
mcarno: Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Rapunzel wandered around in the wilderness for what seemed like forever before she finally came upon a settlement. As luck would have it, the settlement was fairly large, and she was pretty sure she'd be able to find what she needed. However, there was still the issue of money. Growing up in the tower, she had never needed to use money, and so she wasn't sure what the average prices for things were. Rapunzel had taken what Gothel had on her before she'd left the tower, but she assumed Gothel kept most of her money elsewhere. With a grand total of 8 gold pieces, 12 silver pieces, and 2 copper pieces, Rapunzel hoped she would be able to afford what she needed.
The people in the town were friendly, and after asking someone Rapunzel learned that the town was called Burgess. Remembering first that she needed some new clothes, Rapunzel asked someone else where the best place to find clothes was. When she found the place the townsperson had recommended, she took some time to browse, eventually purchasing a simple outfit consisting of breeches, a shirt, boots, a belt, and a cloak. The shirt was a nice shade of lavender that matched the dress she was wearing, and the rest of the outfit was in varying shades of brown. It seemed study enough for adventuring, and though she knew many adventurers wore armor, she doubted she had enough money to buy any for herself. The first step, she figured, was getting an outfit that would be comfortable for traveling.
Those she talked to were friendly, but she could tell they were very curious about her hair. The more stares she attracted, the more uncomfortable Rapunzel felt. Try as she might to forget, she remembered Gothel telling her that those beyond the tower walls would try to use her hair's power for themselves. As she thought about it, Rapunzel realized how ironic it was that Gothel had told her of the selfishness of others while using her hair's power to stay young.
Gothel had told her that she was special—that being able to reverse aging as she could was very rare. Rapunzel didn't doubt that there were other people out there who wanted that power for themselves, but she also knew that there were kind, selfless people out there too. Eugene had proven that to her beyond a shadow of a doubt. Gothel was wrong about the world, and Rapunzel was sure that she'd find kind people to travel with if she just looked.
With that thought in mind, Rapunzel ignored the stares. Hair as long as hers was very unusual, and she knew that the townsfolk didn't mean to make her uncomfortable. Pascal kept making faces at the people who were staring, and she had to admit that if it hadn't been her they were staring at, it would've been really funny. She continued exploring the village in search of the rest of the things she needed, and eventually she found her way to the marketplace.
Although she knew she needed to hurry, Rapunzel couldn't help but marvel at the variety of items being sold at the marketplace. The first vendor she saw was selling weapons, and their wares ranged from simple swords to greataxes to crossbows. All of the weapons looked like they'd be very dangerous in the right hands.
"Do you need help finding anything?" The weapons vendor spoke up from behind a rack. Rapunzel could tell from his amused expression that he was asking more to be polite than because he actually thought she was going to buy something. He was an older man, and he paid no attention to Rapunzel's hair heaped in her arms, tangled around the outfit she'd bought. He looked like someone who had seen everything once or twice and was no longer surprised by anything life threw at him.
"No, thank you though," Rapunzel answered. "I'm a bit clumsy, and it probably wouldn't be the best plan for me to own something I could put my eye out with." She grimaced as she thought about how she'd clonked herself on the head with her pan when she'd first met Eugene.
The vendor smiled. "You never know. Maybe you just need some practice."
Rapunzel smiled brightly. "I sure hope so!" She continued on through the marketplace, spending most of the rest of her money on a sturdy leather backpack, a bedroll and blanket, a belt pouch, some food, and a waterskin, leaving her with 6 silver and 2 copper pieces. She also managed to find a map of the surrounding area, which she figured would come in handy. Satisfied, Rapunzel shouldered her new backpack, filled with the items she'd bought, and started looking for people who might be willing to travel with her and adventure.
That turned out to be easier said than done, because it was hard to tell whether someone was an adventurer, or if they just carried a weapon. Rapunzel decided against asking a passing elf because she was sure she was ignorant of some important custom that was necessary for talking to the other race. There weren't many dwarves around, though she didn't know why, and she kept accidentally mistaking gnomes and halflings for children. Rapunzel decided to stick with asking other humans, just to be safe.
Her hair was still earning her an uncomfortable amount of strange looks, and she was about to pull out her cloak to try and to stuff it in the hood when she saw exactly who she'd been looking for. Not only was the girl armed, she was also dressed in traveling clothes and leading a horse. And best of all, she too had unusual hair— her bright red mop of curls was getting her almost as many looks as Rapunzel's 70-foot-long golden hair was. Well, maybe not almost as many, but they both had unusual hair for the area, and Rapunzel was taking anything she could get right now. With Pascal urging her on, she walked up to the other girl.
"Um… excuse me?" Rapunzel tapped on the redhead's shoulder to get her attention. Being closer allowed Rapunzel to notice that not only did the other girl have a longbow, but she also had a sword sheathed at her side.
"Yes?" The girl turned around to face Rapunzel, tugging on her horse's reins as she did so to keep him from eating the weeds growing in between the cobblestones making up the pavement. When she saw Rapunzel, the redhead's eyes widened as they followed the long path the golden hair took from Rapunzel's head to the heap in her arms. "Wow lass, looks like your hair is even more of a hassle than mine," she said after a few moments.
"Yeah, maybe," Rapunzel replied sheepishly. "I'm sorry to bother you, and this is a weird question, but you seem like an outdoorsy person, and I'm looking for people to, um, adventure with me, in the literal sense of the word, and… I'm sorry, I'm mumbling. I am looking for people that might want to adventure with me and whoever else I find and you seemed like a good candidate." Rapunzel finished and looked at the redhead expectantly. "Oh, and I'm Rapunzel," she added quickly, sticking out her hand. "And this is Pascal, on my shoulder."
"I'm Merida, nice to meet you both," the other girl said, shaking Rapunzel's hand. "And this is a really weird coincidence, but I'm doing the exact same thing you are. I've been alone for a while and finding company has been my most recent goal. I'd be glad to go with you."
"Great!" Rapunzel exclaimed, grinning at Merida. "We've already got something in common," she lifted up a heap of her hair in one arm, "unmanageable hair." Merida laughed and blew aside a bang with mock anger.
"So what exactly do you do, if you don't mind me asking?" Merida asked Rapunzel. They'd found a bench that was unoccupied in a quieter part of the town and were getting to know each other better.
"I'm not totally sure, actually," Rapunzel admitted. "It's a long story, but I've always been able to heal people, and I just recently discovered that I can also do some other things. Someone called me a cleric, but I don't really know what that means."
"I don't know a whole lot about them, but I've heard that clerics are supposed to be people who channel the power of the gods here on Earth," Merida said. "They can heal people, so I guess it's possible that you could be a cleric. Maybe you should just wait and see what happens."
Rapunzel nodded. She liked Merida, she was funny and reminded her a bit of Eugene. She was also glad to have found another female first, as she'd only had major experience with one male.
"Is there a reason for the hair, or do you just like it being really long?" Merida continued. "It seems like it's probably more trouble than it's worth, if you ask me."
"Um…" Rapunzel hesitated. Her hair was what had gotten her locked up for her entire childhood, and it was why she was in this situation at all. That being said, if she was going to be fighting alongside Merida, she was going to find out sooner or later. Rapunzel had always been trusting, perhaps too much for her own good. Pascal shrugged, and so Rapunzel plowed on. "You know how I said I was a healer? Well, my hair has the ability to heal people, and… some other stuff. But if it gets cut, it turns brown and loses its power."
Merida was silent for a moment before she responded. "So you were kind of forced to grow it out, that's awful! I'm sure that knowing you can't—well I suppose you could but you wouldn't want to— makes you want to cut it even more."
Rapunzel was astounded. "You're not surprised? You don't think it's weird?"
"Oh, it's weird all right. But so is the world we live in. I mean, look at that guy over there with the pure white hair!" Merida pointed, and sure enough, there was a teenager with white hair by a shop in the marketplace. He was holding a staff and appeared to be barefoot.
"Huh," Rapunzel muttered, peeking down at her bare feet.
"Oh, crap!" Merida shrieked suddenly, jumping up and startling Angus. "I completely forgot to look for Hiccup!" She spared a second to soothe Angus and make sure he was still securely tied, and then she started walking quickly out toward the center of the town, where there were more people gathered around.
Rapunzel raised an eyebrow and got up to follow her, habitually gathering up her hair as she did so. "You mean, like the hiccups you get when you eat too fast?" she asked.
"No, there's a guy named Hiccup who's supposed to be around here, that's why I was here in the first place!" Merida explained hurriedly. "Help me look for a guy dressed kind of like me, in earth tones that looks like he lives in the woods."
"Um, okay," Rapunzel agreed. Looking back over towards where the white-haired boy was, she took a closer look at the guy that was with him. He had brown hair and was wearing a green shirt over brown pants. "How's that for earth tones?" she asked, pointing. "Look over at the guy that's with the white-haired guy from earlier."
"Come with me to ask him, even if it's not Hiccup maybe we can recruit him," Merida responded excitedly.
Rapunzel grinned. This was why she liked company— all these little things were so much fun. She missed Eugene, but she was on the right track to get him back, and he wouldn't be mad at her for having fun. She quickly followed Merida, weaving through the crowd to where the possible recruit was. As they walked up to where the two boys were standing, a snippet of their conversation could be heard.
"And I couldn't just let them kill him, you know? It wasn't fair," they heard the brunette say.
Curious, Merida motioned to Rapunzel and then whispered, "I know it's nosy but I want to hear what they're talking about. He said something about someone getting killed." Rapunzel nodded, and started to whistle in an attempt to appear casual while she and Merida pretended to be looking at fruit at a nearby stand.
"Yeah, that's a really bad situation. I think you did the right thing though. Maybe someday you can go back home, once it's been a few years, and talk to them about it. You know, leave Toothless an hour or two away where you know he'd be safe." The white haired teen finished talking and looked straight at Rapunzel. "You ladies need something?" he asked, leaning on his staff.
Merida and Rapunzel looked at each other and flushed a bright red. "Yes, sorry," Merida managed to get out. "I was wondering if your name happened to be Hiccup?" She looked at the brunette, expecting a confused no.
"Yeah, I'm Hiccup, how did you know?" the brunette answered.
"Oh, you are? What a lucky break! I'm Merida, and this is Rapunzel," Merida said, pointing to herself and the blond in turn. "I was just asking around about adventuring types and your name came up, so I figured I'd try and find you."
Hiccup and his companion exchanged a look. "I guess I could be considered an adventuring type," Hiccup said. "Why are you looking for adventurers?"
"Well, I've been by myself for a while, and it's been really lonely," Merida started. "My life lately has included a lot of fighting monsters, so I figured if I was going to find people to travel with they might as well be people who can fight monsters too."
Hiccup nodded. "That makes sense."
"Anyway," Merida continued, "Rapunzel and I have recently decided we want to try adventuring, and adventuring is safer and more fun in a group. So, I figured I'd ask you what you thought about the idea."
As Merida spoke, Rapunzel took a closer look at Hiccup's companion. He was unusually pale, and he had bright blue eyes. She glanced at his staff and couldn't help but notice what she thought was frost on it, but she quickly looked away.
"Well, some company does sound nice," Hiccup said. "I've been by myself for a while too, I just met Jack this morning. This is Jack, by the way." He motioned to the white-haired teenager he had been talking to earlier.
Jack waved at the two girls. "Hi, it's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Jack!" Rapunzel responded enthusiastically. "You can join us too, if you want!"
Jack grinned and turned to Hiccup. "What's the verdict, boss?" he asked. "Hanging out with these lovely ladies sounds like a pretty good idea to me."
Hiccup laughed. "You don't need to convince me! Three new friends in one day, I'm not going to know what to do with myself."
Jack stepped closer to the girls, putting a hand next to his mouth and leaning in dramatically. "Be careful though, if you're not nice to the trees Hiccup might have to destroy you," he whispered loudly.
Hiccup groaned. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"
Merida leaned toward Rapunzel and muttered "I'd like to see him try and destroy me." Rapunzel giggled.
Hiccup directed his attention back to the girls. "It'd be our pleasure to join your company."
"Yay!" Rapunzel squealed. Merida looked at her and laughed, then headed back to the bench where she had tied Angus and quickly tugged the end of the rope, undoing the knot. She then led her horse back to where the others were.
"Where are we going?" Rapunzel asked as the four moved out of the crowded marketplace. She was glad that someone else was leading the way, since she wasn't really sure where to go next. That being said, she was hoping to start getting a feel for the geography around where they were planning to travel. She was also glad that they were moving on quickly, since she wanted to put as much distance between her and Gothel as possible.
"Well, I've got to go and meet back up with someone in the forest before we can go anywhere else," Hiccup said. "From there I don't really have any big travel plans."
"Wait, I thought you said you'd been by yourself for a while," Merida said, confused.
Hiccup froze. "I guess you're right, I wasn't completely alone," he admitted. "It's just that I don't consider him to be the same sort of company as you guys. You'll… you'll understand when you meet him."
Jack snorted. "That's a bit of an understatement."
