Chapter 5:
Hiccup:
Merida leaves the Stone Circle as the sun dips below the horizon, calling to meet her as she goes. I haven't kissed anyone for a good while, Hel, I haven't liked someone like this for a good while. That kiss was great. Merida is amazing, she seems to have come to life over the past day or so, lively, spirited and fiery. I get a smack in the face from Toothless' tail for being lost in thought. I catch him up and scratch behind his ears saying "you couldn't have waited for, like, a couple of minutes more to get my attention, could you Bud?"
I pick up my sketchbook from where it fell and open it to the drawing of Merida in the water. My face heats at the thought of seeing her floating nude in the stream. By Thor, she's beautiful. She looked so serene there, I can't believe she caught me drawing her. I can feel my face redden further at the embarrassment of being caught sketching her. She didn't seem angry. She can move without a sound - I didn't know she was there until she was sitting beside me.
"Come on Bud, let's go meet Merida." I mount Toothless and tether my flight suit to him.
We lurk at the edge of the forest. The moon is full and the night is warm, lights begin to disappear throughout the castle. I begin to worry that she isn't coming. When Toothless picks his head up and chirrups a greeting. Again she has moved soundlessly (to my ears) appearing at my side a few seconds later. In the moonlight I can see that she has changed what she was wearing to a sleeveless tunic that goes to her knees, leggings and tight fitting boots. She smiles broadly in greeting. I redden and rub the back of my neck muttering "Hey"
"Can we fly somewhere please?" She asks.
"Erm... we can, but I don't have the other flight belt with me. You'll have to put your arms around me..."
"I don't think that'll be a problem" she smirks. Toothless rolls his eyes as he lowers himself so that we can get on. This time she does it herself with confidence. I slide on in front of her. I feel my stomach flip as her slender hands reach round my waist. Her curls tickle the back of my neck. Toothless walks into the clearing and mounts the sky.
"Where to?" I ask
"The Fire Falls" she gives me directions. The night is bewitching, the full moon has silvered the landscape and it is easy to see the beauty of the land. I hear the falls before we see them, we land on what she calls the Crone's Tooth. In this light the water looks likes molten metal falling over the cliff. Merida reaches out her hands and drinks the water she has caught. She places her hands under the water and offer some to me. I drink from her outstretched hands.
"It's said that only the ancient kings were brave enough to climb the Crones Tooth and drink from the falls" She says. "It's not the first time I've done it"
"You, You climbed up here yourself?" I ask amazed.
"Yeah, in a dress." She snorts at the memory and smiles. "Me Mum always wanted me to be the perfect princess, she found it hard to accept her wild daughter. I rebelled by becoming a master archer, climbing the falls and rejecting suitors in marriage. I took it a step further and had a witch turn her into a bear." I raise my eyebrows.
"I take it she's not still roaming the countryside as a bear?"
"No, she died six years ago. We were much closer mainly due to the bear thing" She takes my hand and we sit with her head on my shoulder looking out on the moonlit hills and forest. "I'll tell you the story of Mordu..."
She tells me of how a mad bewitched bear took her Dad's leg on her fourth birthday, and how when she turned sixteen her mother arranged games for suitors to compete for her hand in marriage. After she beat the suitors in an archery contest her and her mother had a vicious row and she rode away into the night. The wisps appeared leading her to a witches cottage, where she was given a spell to Change Her Fate. It turned her mother into a bear, and her triplet brothers (by accident). "We had to mend our bond, that we tore with pride." She explains. She managed to broker a peace between the clans, whereby the Clan's descendants could choose who to marry, for love, if they so wanted. She stopped her Dad killing her mother thinking she was a real bear, her mother whilst still a bear pushed a standing stone on to Mordu killing him before he could kill Merida and releasing him from the spell placed upon him by the witch. "The family became much closer after that, but Bad died a few weeks before I turned twenty. I still miss him."
I tell her about how Mom was taken by dragons and how I found her again. The brief time Dad and she spent together before Toothless was forced to kill him by an Alpha dragon and how the other dragon riders and Toothless and I defeated Drago Bludvist and how Toothless became an Alpha, about how I became Chief of Berk. I feel better after telling her the story. Merida looks teary.
"We were both similar when we were younger." She says, "Neither of us cared for our clan's traditions, we changed our fate." I kiss the top of her curly head and she wraps her arms around my shoulders.
"We should go Merida, we need to get going early in the morning." I stand and offer her a hand and pull her up. Toothless uncurls and stretches, we climb on, Toothless jumpers off the Crone's Tooth and into the air. We fly over the forest and land on the tallest of the castle's turrets. I help Merida down and kiss her hand as she turns to leave. She watches us descend to the courtyard.
I take Toothless into the stone hut near the stables and find Mom and Cloudjumper asleep there. Toothless begins bedding down, I take off my flight suit and put my sketchbook away. I settle down next to Toothless. He covers me with a wing and we fall into a dreamless sleep together.
I am awakened a few hours later by Mom moving around the room. She appears to be trying not to wake me. "Morning" I say as I stretch. I wiggle out from under Toothless' wing. Mom looks over, she seems inquisitive more than concerned .
"Where did you and Toothless get to last night?" She asks.
I shrug "You know, scouted about, lost track of time sketching, that sort of thing." I smirk turning my back to her
"Best get dressed if you want to get breakfast" she says as she leaves the room. I hurriedly get into my flight suit and leave for the kitchen. When I get there I find the usual hustle and bustle, Mom is sat at the table eating toast and drinking peppermint tea. I sit with her and reach for some strawberries and ladle myself some porridge. Harris walks through the kitchen pinching a tray of cakes from the side, narrowly dodging a whack with a wooden spoon from the cook. He puts them on the table with a clash and begins to stuff them into his mouth.
"Hungry this morning?" I ask him.
"I've been deprived of cooks cakes for nearly a year." He says with a mouth full, spraying me with cake.
"Hey, watch the leather. That doesn't wash out." I wipe crumbs from my suit
"Me and me brothers were always in here causing havoc when we lived in the castle. We're triplets" he explains
"Are they all walking mountains like you?"
"Oh aye, we're the spit of each other. We're the same size as Dad was or bigger."
"Your as big as my dad was when he was alive." I say
"What happened to all of this?" He jokes, gesturing to all of me
"Are you gesturing to all this raw Viking-ness?" I say pointing to myself
"He gets that from me" Chimes in Mom, "Along with the brains"
Merida arrives dressed as she was last night. She has a bag with her, her bow in one hand and quiver full of arrows on her back. She slings the bow on the table and sits across from me with a quick wink. She leans forward to spoon porridge into her bowl as Harris speaks in a high pitched voice
"A Queen does nae place her weapons on the table"
"Ooo, I'm sorry Mother" Says Merida lifting her bow clipping Harris on the head as she puts the bow next to her on the bench. Merida eats the porridge delicately
Harris nudges me and whispers, "She's only eating like that cos yeh here, normally she stuffs her gob like a bear" Merida's eye's narrow at him as she kicks him under the table. Harris chuckles rubbing his knee.
"Yeh, wait until I get Seren on her own and I tell her all the shite yeh got up to as a lad" she says. Harris tenses.
"Yeh wouldn't dare" he says
"Just yeh wait" she replies
I can feel Mom shaking with laughter next to me, this makes me laugh.
"You're just like Ruffnut and Tuffnut" She says "they're twins who have dedicated their lives to Loki, the god of mischief"
"Good job the triplets didn't know them growing up" says Merida rolling her eyes.
Maudie comes bustling in, "Your Majesty, you can't leave looking like that!" She says gesturing to Merida's clothing.
"Looking like what exactly Maudie, like Valka?" Merida waves a hand in Mom's direction
"Erm.. Um...but..." Stutters Maudie
"It's practical, I'm going to be riding a dragon. I found yesterday that dresses don't work riding dragon's." Merida gives Maudie a cast iron stare, Maudie flinches and walks away.
"She gets that from Mum" whispers Harris.
"I had the Stable Master leave two baskets of fish by the stone stable" says Merida still bristling from Maudie's comment. Mom stands, "I'll go see to the dragons". She leaves the kitchen heading for the courtyard. Harris has worked his way through the pile of cakes, he wipes his hand across his mouth and gives me a wink saying "I best go say goodbye to Seren" then he walks up the stairs to the Great Hall. The kitchen bustles with staff to-ing and froing. Merida gives me a serene smile before standing with her bow on her shoulder and bag in her hand. She gently touches her fingertips to mine. "See yeh on the field" she says.
Merida:
I go to the field near the castle. In the early morning I am alone as I await for the others to join me. I lie on the grass in the warm new day sunshine. Last night with Hiccup was amazing, he's amazing. We have so much in common from when we were younger. Gods and Goddesses, that kiss at the stone circle was great, I haven't kissed anyone in ages. I sigh. A shadow goes over the sun, I open my eyes to see Hiccup smiling down at me. I smile back.
"Come on, Sleeping Beauty, time to get moving" He says and offers me a hand which I bat away, before rolling over and standing up. I look towards the castle, Valka and Harris are leaving the courtyard, heading in our direction. I can see Valka laughing as Harris leans in to tell her something. He's a giant flirt, he'd flirt with anything female or male. I sigh again. Hiccup is handing me the flying belt, which I buckle around myself. I move over to Toothless and greet him by rubbing behind his ears.
"Morning Toothless" I say as I climb onto the saddle. Hiccup also gives Toothless an affectionate touch of meeting his forehead to the dragons and strokes his hand over the side of the dragons face. He gets on in front of me and flashes me his half smile as he tethers us to one another.
Valka and Harris are settling on Cloudjumper. Hiccup brings his arm up and points forward, both Toothless and Cloudjumper leap into the sky. We climb higher into the sky, that feeling of freedom intensifies as the ground falls away.
"Does flying always feel like this?" I ask Hiccup
"Everytime" He replies smiling through his beard
We fly north west over the hills and forests, coming up to the Dingwall Clan late afternoon. We land in the Forest out of sight of the village as planned. We walk a for a bit and come across a cave where we can keep the dragons until we introduce them to the Dingwall's. We decide it's best if Hiccup and Valka stay with them until we get back with Lord Dingwall and Wee.
Harris and I move through the forest towards the village, we walk briskly as we need to be back before nightfall.
"Soo, you and Hiccup?" Says Harris, By Morrigan, he sounds just like Dad. I immediately walk straighter with my head up, my face deadpan.
"There is no me and Hiccup." I say, Gods, I sound just like Mum. I'm getting old.
"I've seen the way yeh look at him" he says nudging me with his arm
"Look at him how?" I do the Mum thing and become calm and condescending.
"Not so much the way yeh look at him, it's the way yeh are with him" He explains. I forgot Harris could be astute when he wanted to be. Just like Dad. "Yeh not like this..." He gestures to all of me. "Yeh not doing yeh Queen Merida thing with him. Yeh like yeh used to be around me, Hu and Hamish. Yeh got yeh spark back. I like it"
I bristle with resentment. "Yeh talking shite as usual, Harris" I storm away as Harris shrugs and follows behind me. I refuse to talk anymore until we reach the edge of the forest.
I can see the village through the trees, there are few buildings left undamaged. Repairs to the wattle and daub houses is continuing into the evening, the castle being stone is relatively unscathed. Villagers spot Harris and myself and drop what they are doing they walk over asking how we go there so fast. We ask after Dingwall Senior and Wee. They have left for the castle having just completed thatching a cottage. We head there hoping to catch up with them. They are in the courtyard. Lord Dingwall looks the same as ever, MacIntosh's comment that he looks like a troll is as applicable now as it was nineteen years ago. Wee had a lucky late growth spurt and is taller than his dad, he still has that dreamy expression. Harris says he's a decent sparring partner - I didn't expect that. Though apparently he likes to recite his own epic poems of a winter evening. I'm glad it's nearing mid-summer.
"Greetings Lord Dingwall, Wee." I say nodding to each of them, we catch them off guard and they look shocked for a moment before Wee bows, then so does Lord Dingwall with a bit of effort. He looks in pain though he'd never admit it. "We've come to remedy the dragon problem"
"Yeh Majesty, Harris, I was nae expecting yeh back so fast" says Lord Dingwall, Wee claps Harris on his back with genuine affection.
"How are Morag and the bairns, Wee?" I ask.
"Well, Thank yeh, Yeh Majesty. Morag's expecting her sixth any day now."
"I can see where Seren gets it from." I give him a wink – Wee looks shocked.
"We got back so fast as we came by dragon." interrupts Harris.
"Yeh shitting me!" exclaims Wee, earning smack up the back of the head from Lord Dingwall. I cough to cover a laugh.
"No Wee, we are not." I fold my hands in front of me and explain "I invited the Dragon Riders of Berk to advise us on the problem. Their Chief Hiccup and another dragon expert, Valka, came with their bonded dragons to advise us on how to deal with the issues we are having. We flew here with them. Yeh can meet them in the wood or we can bring them here to introduce yeh. If we bring them here yeh must put yeh weapons away and give me yeh word that no harm will come to either the riders or their dragons. We may never solve the problem without their help."
"Bring them here," says old Dingwall "I guarantee their safety"
We are given horses as the day begins to ebb. Harris and I ride back through the forest to meet with Hiccup and Valka.
"Yeh look happier on that horse than Yeh did on Cloudjumper." I say to Harris
"Yeh looked happier on that dragon, though I think that had more to do with the rider than anything" he retorts.
"There yeh go, talking bollocks again" I roll my eyes. What would he actually think if he knew what had gone on last night?
We reach the cave and dismount. Valka then Hiccup come out to meet us.
"We're to take yeh to the village to meet the Dingwall's. Merida set the ground rules. They won't bother yeh." Says Harris to the Vikings
Hiccup nods once.
"We have a fire going in the cave, Valka caught a couple hares, you're welcome to share, you both look tired" Hiccup says looking at me. My stomach give a loud rumble. They all laugh, we move into the entrance. The cavern smells of roasted meat. I am hungry. I sit on the ground near the fire. Hiccup takes the hares off the spit and breaks them apart giving me first choice before passing the metal dish around the others.
"Tomorrow morning we'll track the dragons from the air to find their nest. Once we've tackled the queen the dragon attacks will stop. Night Fury's are fish eaters, most dragons are. They just need other food sources to give to the queen as they're so large." Hiccup says
"I'm coming with yeh." They begin to protest. "It's traditional for monarch to meet threats against their kingdom. I'll be there." Hiccup meets my gaze and his shoulder drop.
"Fine, but it will be dangerous. Even with Toothless being an Alpha."
"Same here. I'm coming." Chips in Harris. "It was my village that was attacked"
"I don't mind taking you, but you have to do as we say" responds Valka
Harris and I nod in agreement. We enjoy the rest of the rabbit and kick earth over the fire to put it out. The sun is dipping over the worlds edge as we mount the horses and make a procession through the woods. It is fully dark by the time we reach the Dingwall village.
The villagers have lit torches and are awaiting our arrival, the Dingwall family at the forefront. True to his word Lord Dingwall has persuaded the village to put away their weapons. The people are in awe of the dragons and their riders, crowding round to see Toothless and Cloudjumper. Hiccup stands on Toothless' back raising his arms to quiet the gatherers. Once the susurrus has stopped Hiccup begins to speak.
"We are the Dragon Riders of Berk, we are here to try and help sort your problem with the dragons. The Queen will ride with us to the dragons nest in the morning, where we shall try and remedy the difficulties you are having." Hiccup commands the attention of those who have come to welcome us, you can see the chief in him. To those here he must look like something from legend come to life. Standing on a moving dragon and talking to a crowd of onlookers, every inch the Dragon Rider we have heard about around the fire side during winter. The crowd begin to talk with one another and disperse to walk home. The Dingwall's approach us and I introduce them to the Viking Legends.
"Lord Dingwall, Wee, may I introduce Chief Hiccup and Valka of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe from Berk." Lord Dingwall inclines his head to the pair and offers his hand to Hiccup who shakes it.
"We have made rooms up for you, Your Majesty, Chief Hiccup, Valka." Says Dingwall Senior
"Thank you Lord Dingwall, it's most kind of you to offer, but myself and Valka would rather stay with the dragons. Mainly to prevent any misunderstanding, if you get my meaning." Hiccup says.
"I do, we shall make arrangements for you in the stables" Says Wee, eager to be of assistance.
We are lead to the Castle courtyard and Harris helps me off my horse. I say goodnight to my hosts and to Hiccup and Valka. Harris leads me to a small, but comfortable room. I quickly undress to my underwear and slide into the cool bed. I sleep dreamlessly until morning.