Merida made her way down the stairs and towards the smithy. She opened the door and saw the 'Dragon Conqueror' hammering away. She walked up towards him. "Hey!" She shouted. He didn't answer her. He didn't even seem like he noticed her. "Hey! Ah'm talkin' to ye!" She shouted louder. He still hammered away at the scrap of metal, oblivious to her presence.

She reached forward and turned grabbed his shoulder before turning him around. He dropped his hammer and looked surprised. "Hey, what in the-?!" He stopped when he saw the red head standing before him. "Oh, Princess! I didn't know you were here!" He said quickly.

"Why did ye nae tell me aboot the wings?!" She snapped.

He raised his eyebrow at her. "Um… excuse me?"

"Ah'm askin' why you did nae warn me aboot the wings! As soon as ah shot the dragon in the leg the blasted thing took te the air!" She said.

He looked nervous. "Well, I thought you knew. I mean taking the wings out is dragon fighting basics. Didn't Gobber teach you that?" He asked.

"No!" She said irritated. "Ah'm not a blasted Viking! Ah do nae know what any of the beasties can do! Why do ye think ah came to ye in the first place?!"

"Desperation?"

She grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him forward. "Do ye think this is funny?! Me and mah friends getting tossed around by those things?! Huh?!" She said angrily.

He quickly shook his head. "No! Of course not milady! I was honestly only trying to help you out." He said holding his hands up.

She sighed. "Why do ye keep calling me that?" She asked annoyed.

"What?"

"Milady. Ah'm not yer lady, so why do you keep calling me that?"

"Um… I just thought that's how you were supposed to refer to royal women."

"Well ye don't." She said sternly.

"So… should I call you princess or your heinous-"

"Merida! Just call me Merida!" She snapped. She shook her head and rubbed her temples. How was anybody supposed to believe that this bumbling nervous wreck was the hero of his tribe?

He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hiccup."

"Whot?"

"That's my name. Hiccup."

She looked at him for a few moments. That's right, his father had introduced him during their first meeting. She still couldn't believe anyone, even a Viking, could have such a ridiculous name. "Right."

"Yeah, ridiculous name, I know. But it's mine." He said shrugging. "Anyway, I'm sorry about what happened. Just tell me the next dragon and I'll make sure to tell you everything I know about it, and I mean everything."

She looked at him for a few moments. "Nae, tha will nae doo."

"What?"

"Tomorrow yoo are comin ta trainin', and yoo can show me jist what ah'm supposed to do against these things." She said

"What?! Wait a second, I can't! I've got a lot of work to do here! And besides, I've already been through dragon training before!" He said hoping to discourage her.

"So have yer friends, but they're still training. Besides, we're nae jist preparing against the dragons, we're going to hand to hand combat as well. And honestly ye don't really look like yer the close combat type."

"Well, can't really argue with you there." He shook his head realizing that he was only making her point more valid. "I mean… I don't… is this a royal order?" He asked.

Merida frowned. "It is now."

"Aw c'mon! I don't want to go to training!"

"To bad!" Merida said. "Ah want ye ta come ta training tomorrow. If ah don't see ye, ah'll come and find ye. And yoo will nae like it when ah do."

Hiccup sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll be there."

"Good." She said nodding. She turned and then began walking off. Honestly she wasn't sure if he would be any help, but at this point she'd try just about anything.

After she left Hiccup sighed. Taming dragons was an easy task for him. But fighting them, one on one… not so much. "What have I gotten myself in to?"

"Today we'll be dealing with one of tha nastier dragons, The Hideous Zippleback. This dragon it is one of the trickier ones, one head spits the gas, the other lights it. Twice the heads, twice the danger. Which is why today's keyword is teamwork." Gobber said looking around at all of them. "I'm going to team each of you up with someone else. One of you will have a bucket, the other a shield. Work together to try and bring down the Zippleback."

Merida looked around annoyed. Where in the world was Hiccup? Was he trying to ditch dragon training? He did seem a bit into his work in the smithy, it wouldn't be a surprise if he ended up losing time down there. Well she would go down there and drag him out of that place if she had to. "Wait, sorry! Sorry I'm late!" They turned and saw Hiccup approaching.

"Well, look who's decided to grace us with their presence today." Gobber said sarcastically.

"Well I couldn't miss one of your Thor like lessons a second day Gobber." He said smiling at his mentor. He jumped over the gate of the den and walked in line with the others. He glanced over at Merida who was giving him a look. "What?" He asked.

"Nothin'. Ah jist was nae sure ye were comin'."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah well, I had to finish up a little project of mine."

Gobber looked over at the two. "Hiccup, since ye know the most experienced we'll put ye wit the princess." Zippleback's were much trickier than a Nadder, and more lethal than a Gronkle. The last thing he wanted was for the princess to end up maimed under his watch.

Hiccup nodded in understanding. Merida knew what was going on, and while she didn't like the idea of having someone babysitting her, least of all a string bean like Hiccup, it did give her a chance to learn more about these things.

"Alright Snotlout, you team up with… Ian."

Snotlout turned towards the Macintosh. "Don't slow me down Scott."

Ian glared right back at him. "Jist try an keep up, Viking."

Gobber looked over towards Astrid. "How aboot you team up with Bart." Astrid looked over to the large young lord who simple offered a small wave. She shrugged. It could have been worst. "Tuffnut, you're with Boyd. Fishlegs, you're with Ruff." Everyone got with them partners, and Gobber passed each group one shield and on bucket of water. "One of you will hold them off with the shield, the other will hit it with water. Who's who is up to yoo."

Hiccup turned towards Merida holding both items towards her. She looked back and force between them. She doubted he had the strength to even toss a bucket of water that high, but she didn't like the idea of her safety riding on him either. "Look, the Zippleback's are all fully trained for this. They're not gonna hurt anyone… much."

"Well, in tha case ah suppose ah'll take the water." She said grabbing the bucket.

After everyone sorted out who was doing what, Gobber opened the door and a cloud of green gas seeped out. Everyone took a few steps back, but soon they were all surrounded by the green gas. "Don't breathe too much gas in, makes you dizzy." Hiccup warned.

"Tis nae the gas ah'm worried aboot."

They heard a hissing noise and Merida quickly turned around ready to splash the dragon. She frowned and sighed upon realizing it was just Ian. "Watch where yer flinging tha water princess." He said frowning back.

Snotlout walked up behind him. "Hey pretty boy, stop chatting it up with curls over there and focus, you're the one with the water."

"Hey! Ye do nae have te worry aboot me Viking! Jist be ready with that shield!"

The two began yelling at one another and Merida sighed. It wasn't like she was too thrilled to be working with Vikings either, but they were training for a war. She glanced down and then saw something wrapping around Ian's leg. "Ian! Yer leg!"

The young lord turned around to ask her what she was talking about, but was pulled off into the gas. Merida looked shocked as the bucket of water splash against the ground. Snotlout just laughed. "Ha! I knew that guy couldn't-" Merida saw one of the heads come out and grab him by the back of his shirt. It pulled him off into the gas as well.

She heard both Ian and Snotlout grunting, and yelling. She turned to Hiccup who just smirked. "Their not hurt, Barf and Belch just threw them outside the fence."

"Blasted two headed devil!" She heard Ian yell.

"Tuff! Your dragon's head bit me!" Snout shouted.

Merida looked around carefully trying to spot the dragon, but even with her sharp eyesight she could hardly tell what was what in this cloud of gas. She saw a figure move by and prepared and throw water, but Hiccup stopped her. "Hold on minute, we only have one bucket, make it count." He said eyeing the figure carefully.

As the figures got closer they could see it was only Astrid and Bart. "I forgot how sneaky and clever Barf and Belch used to be before the twins got a hold of them." Astrid said holding her shield. Bart was walking behind her, carrying the bucket. It made sense seeing as he was much taller than her and would have a better chance as dousing the dragon.

Merida noticed that Bart looked a bit fidgety. "Ye can calm down Bart, we'll be fine."

They then hurt Boyd yelping, followed by Tuffnut's laugh. "Ha! He's not gonna touch me, I'm his rider!" They heard a snapping sound. "OW! Hurt! I am very much hurt!"

Bart turned back towards Merida, a fearful look on his face. "Well, they will nae kill ye." She said smiling nervously. She heard a hissing sound next to her ear and then jumped away when she saw on of the heads from the corner of her eye.

The dragon towered over the group, and then swept its tail forward. Hiccup, Merida, and Astrid all jumped up managing to avoid it, but Bart had his legs knocked right from under him. He dropped the bucket and Astrid looked annoyed. The blonde tossed her shield at the dragon and it landed right in its mouth. "That's the gas head! Princess, hit the other with the water!"

Merida nodded and then tossed the bucket of water at the spark head. It shook its head and glared down at her angrily, but then turned away and headed back towards the stable. They heard a whistle, and suddenly the gas was blown away by the wings of a Nadder. It landed down next to Gobber who nodded.

"Good job lads and lasses, teamwork at its finest." The blacksmith said before turning towards Snoutlout and Ian. "Most of ye anyway." He turned back towards Hiccup and the others. "You can all take a lil break. When we get back, we'll take a break from dragon fightin' and get to some combat lessons."

Ian got up and smiled. "Finally! Somethin' I can sink me teeth into!"

"You mean another thing you can screw up." Snotlout said rolling his eyes.

The two turned towards on another, looking ready to get into another argument. "Snotlout, just cool it for a minute would you?" Hiccup said trying to calm his cousin.

Snoutlout turned towards him and then snorted. He walked off looking back at Ian over his shoulder. "I'm watching you…" He said glaring at him.

"Come anytime ye savage." Ian said glaring back.

"Ian." Merida said giving him a harsh stare.

"He started it." Ian said annoyed.

"Well ah'm ended it!" She snapped. He mumbled under his breath and began heading towards the mess hall. Merida was about to follow him, but noticed Astrid staring at her. "Whot?"

Astrid snorted and then began walking off. "You… weren't useless."

Merida looked a bit surprised. Was that a… a compliment? She looked over at Hiccup for conformation. He simply shrugged, and then began following after the blond. Merida felt a hand on his shoulder. She looked up to see Gobber. "The lass is nae tryin' ye, so that's a great start." He said flashing her a smile.

She knew very little about this man. Only that he was Stoick's right hand man. She also figured that his mother must have been a slave, given his accent. "Gobber, may ah ask ye somethin'?"

"Of course princess."

"When ye first saw me, did ye think ah was ah spoiled lil royal?" She asked.

"No." He answered honestly. "Ah could tell wit one look at ye yer were no spoiled stuck up royal. If ah hadn't have been told by the king himself ah would nae have even believed you were the princess." He said locking up the stable.

Merida looked a bit surprised by that. "Really?"

"Aye. Suppose ah'm just good a readin' people." He said cracking his neck. "Same with Hiccup. From tha day he was born ah knew he was nae goin' to be a normal Viking." He took a seat and then grabbed a barrel of water. He lifted it up easily and took a few mouthful before dropping it on the ground.

She amazed by the casual show of strength, but then shook her head. "Ta be fair, sayin' Hiccup is nae a normal Viking does nae really take ah sixth sense."

"Nae if yer judging him by appearance. Ah find that does nae really work out so well most of the time. Hiccup was much weaker than the other Viking. Could nae lift a hammer, a sword, or even a shield. But he was smart. Much smarter than any Viking on Berk. Always making these crazy contraptions in the smithy."

She looked curious. "Really now?"

Gobber nodded. "Aye. He always wanted ta kill dragons, impress his da. I told him it was a waste ah time. See, ah always thought he'd be a weapon smith. He'd make weapons that could bring down dragons before they could even reach the island. But, ah was definitely wrong on that one, cause next thing ah know he comes flying in on a Nightfury."

Merida looked confused. "Nightfury? Is tha the black one he always rudin' around wit?" She asked. She didn't really know why she'd even bothered asking. Of course it was his dragon.

Gobber nodded in answer. "Hiccup downed him wit some contraption one night. Wanted te bring his hide back, impress his father an' all that. But when it came time te doo it, he could nae. Everyone, even his own father thought he was crazy. But in the end the two of em saved the entire village. At the cost of his leg too."

She glanced over at Hiccup and saw his metal leg. "He had the dragon with em' and he still managed to lose ah leg?" She said snorting. She supposed she was being a little unfair. Her dad lost a leg against a bear. Sure it was an immortal demon bear, but still.

"This was no normal dragon they were fightin! It was huge, bigger tha any dragon we hae ever seen before! It scorched every last one of our ship with one shot! It could crushed this whole castle!" He said moving his arms for emphasis. "Oh, but Hiccup and Toothless were going toe to toe with it! We were lucky he came back jist missing a leg."

Merida looked amazed. "He really took down a dragon tha size?"

"Aye, and became the village hero! There's not a name in the history books that can say they've done what he did! First to ride a dragon, and first to slay one that size!" He said patting his knee. "And tha is jist one of many times he saved the village."

She took a seat on the barrel across from him and began listening to Gobber as he started telling stories about Hiccup and the others.

Hiccup and the others sat at their usual table talking about the next part of their training. It had been a while since they'd gone over hand to hand combat. "I don't know what you're all surprised about. You should have been practicing earlier. This is war, like full scale war. We won't always have our dragons to back us up." Astrid said.

Snotlout chuckled. "Ha, the last thing I need practice in is hand to hand combat. I'm pretty much unstoppable." He said flexing her arm.

Hiccup chuckled while Astrid rolled her eyes. As much as they hated to admit it, Snotlout was the best fighter in the group. "I don't know Astrid. You gave the princess a little credit earlier. I say that counts for something." Hiccup said smirking.

She shrugged. "I just said she wasn't useless. She's definitely got more guts than the rest of the scots." She said stabbing down on her haggis. She sniffed at it and then held her nose. "I'm never going to get used to this stuff." She said before tossing it to the twins.

Tuff reached up for it, but Ruff kicked him in his side knocking him over. She stabbed up and caught it on her fork. "Don't know what you're talking about. This stuff taste great." She said taking a bite. Tuff got up and then tackled his sister to the ground.

As the twins fought the others continued with their conversation. "Well, she had been coming to me a lot and asking about dragons. I think she's eager to ride one."

"Man, we've been here less than a month and Hiccup is already getting it on with the princess." Snotlout said chuckling.

Hiccup nearly choked on his food. He hit his chest a few times took a deep breath. "It's not like that, it is not like that at all. I was only giving her some advice." He assured.

"You know, we'd probably be more inclined to believe you if you didn't choke on your food and go into a panic attack." Astrid said smirking.

He sighed and ran his hand over his face. Fishlegs patted him on the shoulder. "Hey look, we're only teasing you a bit. You've been really on edge since we got here. You should relax some."

"Yeah, I know. It's just that between the shaky alliance, dealing with the cranky dragons, and the princess hounding me over training, I'm kind of stressed out." As if on cue, he heard a plate land down beside him and then turned around to see Merida looking down at him. "Oh no."

"Oh yeah." She said sitting down next to him. "Ah have a few questions ah wanted te ask ye before we git back ye trainin'." She said as she began eating.

Hiccup could have cut through the tension with a knife. The room had gone completely silent, and all eyes were on them. The princess of scots sitting at a table of Vikings. It was just… weird. "Uh… like what?" Hiccup asked nervously.

"Gobber said the net dragon we're gonna be fightin' is the Monstrous Nightmare. Ah want te know everything there is aboot this thing."

"Armed with scary fangs, extra extendable claws. Defenses 2. Radar 0. Poison 3. Hunting Ability 10. Speed 16. Fear and Fight Factor 10. Violent, stubborn, and tenacious. Its attack strategy is to coat itself in fire, and attack you as it's flaming from nose to tail." Fishlegs informed.

Everyone looked at him, eyebrows raised. "So… ah'm assuming this is Fishlegs."

Fishlegs looked nervous. "Um, yes. Fishlegs Ingerman your majesty! It's an honor to be able to speak to you and-"

Merida held her hand up to stop him. "First, thank ye for all the information. Two, please jist call me Merida." He nodded nervously. She looked around the table. "So, tha' would make yoo two Ruffnut an' Tuffnut, and yoo Astrid, and yoo…" She glanced over towards Snotlout who was wiggling his eyebrows at her. "…Snotlout."

"The one and only."

She ignored him and then turned back to Hiccup. "Anyway, ah have another thing ah want to ask ye about. Ah want te train a dragon. And ah don't mean when Gobber gets around to it, ah mean as soon as possible."

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "Princess…" She glared at him. "Merida, there are a lot of things you need to learn about dragons before you start training."

She snorted. "Yer the dragon conqueror, if anyone can teach me, it's yoo."

He still looked hesitant. Teaching the princess to ride dragons might help ease the tension between the scots and Vikings. But if something went wrong, then it was a one way ticket to war. "If I teach you, you have to trust me, and listen to everything I say."

She smiled. "Alright then! If everything works out, then ah'll convince me da to let tha dragons out of tha stable." She said holding her hands out.

He smiled. Toothless and the others were getting incredibly tired of that stable. If this could get them out, then he was totally on board. "You got a deal."

A/N: Sup! Been a while since I updated this story, but I was lacking inspiration. I've been thinking about a few ways to take this story. I'm definitely going to have the first half focus on younger Hiccup and Merida, but I thought maybe the second half would be years later, and have an older Hiccup and co.

I was also thinking of adding other movies into the crossover. (Maybe having them go to Corona or Anrendelle for help.) Keep in mind, this would be in the second half of the story. Still, I want to see what you guys think of it first. Should I think about taking it in a different direction, or just keep the whole story focused on HTTYD and Brave?

Anyway, hope you like the chapter. Read and Review!