Merida squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in Hiccups back.
' Am ur never going to get used ta this. Never. Ever.' Merida was shaken from her thoughts as Hiccup patted her hand.
"Open your eyes."
"Nay."
"Please?"
"Nay."
"Merida."
"Ach! Fine!" Merida opened her eyes and peeped out over her shoulder. She gasped in amazement at what lay below her, the water tinted purple with the fading sun. They dipped low, gliding inches above the water. Before her eyes the water was torn apart by spines sticking out of the water. Merida smiled as she traced her fingers along the scales of the water dragon. Hiccup looked back at the Scott and smiled. Merida looked up to him, a grin splitting her face. Hiccup turned Toothless to an island and they took a break.
"Hiccup, tha' was amazin'!"
"So do you like dragons?"
"Like them? A love them!"
"Good, because you're going to get plenty of them. Maybe you'll even be able to get your own soon Merida." Merida smiled and leaned her cheek against Hiccup's back. Hiccup flew Toothless over to smaller island and the two stretched out by the ledge. Toothless lay behind them, encircling them into the small bubble of warmth he gave off. Merida leaned her head on Hiccups shoulder.
"Wha' dae ya think we'll find Hiccup?"
"I'm not too sure Merida, but I hope it's good. I hope it's great actually."
"A bet et will be. A can't wait to see what's in those woods. A've only gotten a little taste of wha' is out there… A don' know what we'll find. A just want ya ta know Hiccup, those woods are dangerous. They'll either lead ya to your fate, or lead ya to your destruction." Hiccup nodded his head and looked out to the ocean, the sun setting on the horizon. Soon enough it got cold, the ocean breeze picked up and the foam started lapping at the tips of their toes. Merida pulled her knees to her chest and leaned more into Hiccup, a shiver running down her spine.
"It's time to leave. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Come on." Hiccup stood up, stretching his hand to Merida. She smiled and the two took off on Toothless and flew back to the warmth of the hut.
The night passed quickly, and soon enough Merida was woken up by screeching at her window. A tiny, blue dragon was sitting on the ledge outside screaming. Groggily she rolled over onto her stomach, burying her face in the pillows. Slowly, with much deliberation, she pushed herself off of the bed. Her weight on the wooden panels made them ache and moan. Merida pulled on a white shirt with long sleeves that hung off her arms, and a pair of brown leather pants. She pulled on a pair of high boots and pulled her mass of curls back into a long braid thrown over her shoulder. Merida climbed down the latter and found Stoick sitting at a large chair behind a long wooden table. A large fire blazed behind him, casting his beastly shadow along the walls.
"Good morn'. How was yer night?"
"Et was good, thank ya."
"Are ya ready for today?"
"A'm as ready as A'll ever be. A little nervous, but excited." It was silent for a few minutes as Stoick nodded his head. "So… what's it like? Being a dragon rider?" Stoick chuckled,
"It's different for everyone. No one feels the same while riding. You'll find out what it means to you." Stoick patted her shoulder, and set a steaming bowl of oatmeal in front of her. "Eat, you'll need your strength for today." Merida nodded and Stoick made his way to the stage in the center of town for a dragon race.
When Merida was done with her breakfast, she went back up the latter and packed a bag. Setting it besides the bed, Merida looked at the room. Two days ago she had woken up in her large room. The marble walls were replaced with stone, and her four poster bed was downgraded to a simple cot-like one. But she really didn't mind. She preferred it actually. She walked over to a large window and looked out at the village. Everyone knew each other here. They were all friends. The chief knew everyone by name and was there for everything. She watched as the dragons flew around, holding onto sheep. Without realizing it, Merida had made her way outside. Her eyes still glued to the world above her, she didn't notice the falling sheep. Next thing she knew, she was on the ground, a person on top of her.
"Haha, you really gotta watch out for weird things like that." Hiccup said, gesturing to the grumpy black sheep. They looked up at the sky, and Merida saw the tail end of a blue dragon with yellow wings and narrowed her eyes.
"Wha's her problem with me? Et's like she's been out ta get me since A got here."
"Who?"
"That blonde, angry girl. She's been treating me like a wee lamb. A can't stand et."
"That's just Astrid. She's always been like that, trust me."
"Et's like she's jealous."
"Jealous? Astrid? Of what?"
"Me! Hiccup. Aye know jealous. Aye spent all my life being competed over." Hiccup looked into Merida's determined eyes.
"Jealous or not, she'll have to get over it. You're going to be here for a long time." Hiccup grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. Merida smiled at him and leaned her forehead against his. Hiccup bit his lip and they closed their eyes. They leaned in slowly.
"Oops! Well. I'll just… I'll go… somewhere that isn't here!" Gobber yelled. He scooped up the sheep and hobbled away, casting backwards glances every few seconds. Hiccup let out a deep sigh and stood up. He pulled Merida to her feet and the two walked to Stoick hand in hand.
They watched the dragon race, Ruffnut was the winner, due to Snotlout "accidentally" dropping the black sheep into her net.
"Well, that was a great race, wasn't it folks?" The crowd roared in response. "Well, I hope you have a good morning!" The villagers dispersed and Stoick turned to Hiccup and Merida. "You're leaving now, aren't you?"
"Yeah…" Hiccup said, rubbing the back of his head, "we're going to take off. We just have to pack up Toothless and we'll be in Scotland by noon."
"Okay, be careful son. You don't know what's in those woods."
"I know dad, I'll be fine. I promise." Stoick patted Hiccups shoulder and moved closer to Merida.
"Take care of him… He gets… headstrong." Merida smiled.
"A will." Stoick smiled down at the girl and embraced her. Merida's eyes widened and she smiled halfway through it and wrapped her arms around the large man. They pulled away and gave each other knowing nods and they went their separate ways.
Hiccup tightened the straps on Toothless, making sure the bags and pillows wouldn't fall off midflight. Hiccup mounted Toothless and Merida climbed on behind him.
"You ready?"
"As ready as A'll ever be." Hiccup chuckled and they took off into the sky, the pink had faded and a brilliant blue sky enveloped them. They flew over the sea, the fog still sticking to the clapping waves. Merida took a deep breath, taking in the familiar smell of salt water. She closed her eyes and imagined sitting on the docks, waiting for the letters from Hiccup. As they flew higher the salty smell dissipated and was replaced with the smell of rain. Merida opened her eyes and smiled at the cotton candy clouds around her. She sat up a little straighter and looked all around her. She smiled as she saw bright green trees poking up from the clouds. She grinned when she saw her family flag flying high in their view.
When they landed Merida took off like a bat out of hell. She ran through the double doors of the castle, her feet clipping against the stone floors. She burst through the doors of the throne room.
"Merida! A princess never gallivants into a room. She enters with dignity and gra- oompf!" Merida gripped her mother in a bone crushing hug. Elinor smiled and patted her daughters back and squeezed her back.
"A missed ya mum!"
"A missed ya too dear." Just then, Hiccup walked in with Fergus.
"LOOK WHAT A FOUND IN THA' YARD ELINOR!" Merida and Elinor separated and Merida ran into her father's out stretched arms. Hiccup walked to Elinor's side with his arms crossed. He leaned over to his soon to be mother-in- law and smiled.
"Well, we'll defiantly be visiting frequently." Elinor shook her head and laughed softly.
"Aye, that ya will." Hiccup nodded his head and walked back outside with Merida and her parents.
When they made it outside they all laughed at the sight in front of them. The triplets had undone all of the belts and straps on Toothless, except for his saddle, and all of the bags were thrown everywhere. They were now investigating the black, cat-like dragon. Toothless was sitting on his back legs, with an exceptionally bored look on his face. Harris was hanging off of his neck, Hubert was trying-and failing- to lift up Toothless's tail, and Hamish was trying desperately to open Toothless's mouth. Fergus was rolling with laughter and when he caught his breath he called out,
"Welcome to the family!"
Happy New Years! I'd like to say thank you to all the people who have commented. And now, it's time to personally thank you.
- I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I'm glad you like the story.
Momijifan Low-Ki- Thank you! And I know it's been a while since I posted that chapter. I've been busy. It's my senior year, and I was in a college class. Now that I'm on break I'm still focusing on graduating and finding a job. I'll try my best to write more(:
- Oh, I will(: thank you for your support
TheChickWithTheAwesomeUsername – Yes. Very much so.
xXTigress1776Xx – Defiantly not. I'm going to try and update more often, but I don't like posting chapters less than 1,000 words.
Alrighty then! Keep commenting on it! I love getting comments! Alright people, time to work on chapter five! Into the woods we go(;