Hello all,

Thank you for a lovely reviews, always good to hear from the readers! Well here is chapter 7 and a lot happens in this one so it is a bit lengthier. Anyway I hope you enjoy it.


Whatever it was that caused Merida to hate Vikings, Hiccup was determined to learn why. However right then he decided he would not push just then, but whatever it was had to be horrible to get the princess to start crying. Merida was quickly wiping the tears on her sleeves and trying to recover from her breakdown. Not wanting to be seen as weak she tried to move past the dragon blocking the cave entrance to get outside. But before she could an arm came around her waist and turned her back to Hiccup who pulled her to him and held her there. At first she tried to squirm lose not wanting to be held by the Viking that kidnapped her. Not realising how cold she had been, Merida soon found herself relaxing a little into the warm hug. It took her a moment to realise Hiccup was apologising for what his clan and other clans did to her people.

Hiccup was just about to ask her to let him take her back to the village, when the crack of thunder made him groan. A moment later the downpour of hard rain, "Looks like were sleeping in the cave tonight bud."

At first the princess moved to the furthest corner to go to sleep, and Hiccup didn't try to argue with her on the choice. He remembered he had not pushed Toothless when they first met, so he couldn't push the princess. As it continued to rain and got colder as night move on, Merida awoke shivering from the cold. In the faint coals of the fire she saw Hiccup across from her asleep under the protective wing of Toothless. Sitting up Merida tried to warm her cold hands over the remains of the fire. She had not thought either awake until she heard Hiccup sigh. "Princess it would be warmer under Toothless' wing."

It took a lot of urging for Hiccup to get Merida to lay down next to Toothless and him under Toothless' wing, and even then Merida was nervous. Toothless and Hiccup soon fell asleep again, but the princess remained awake as she watched the Viking. She had to admit he was handsome and while not as big as other Viking boys, he was not a 'toothpick' any more. He was also caring even though he did kidnap her, if only he wasn't a Viking. In an ideal world she would have picked him, but Vikings were evil barbarians and picking him was not an option. Eventually she fell asleep beneath Toothless' wing.


As morning came Toothless naturally would wake first, but since his rider was beneath his wing he remained still. Especially with the flame haired girl sleeping against Hiccup, instead the dragon closed his eyes and relaxed as he waited for the two humans to wake on their own. It didn't take long Hiccup woke next, a mental alarm clock was set knowing Toothless would want to go flying. However someone was in his arms and his eyes opened wide as he looked at her asleep. Her face was mere inches from his and her breath fanned his face as his heart skipped a beat. For a moment he laid there afraid to move or wake her as he studied her face. Again he moved without fully thinking things through as he gently brushed her wild red hair back from her face, his finger tips skimmed over her cheek and down her jaw to her chin. Curious he ran his thumb over her lips to discover that they were soft, now he was really curious. Sure he had been kissed before, but Astrid kissed him, and her lips were harder. It was becoming a common occurrence to do things without thinking around Merida as he leaned in closer. He stopped just short of their lips touching as he hesitated then gently pressed his lips down on hers.

Better then free falling with Toothless, Hiccup had never kissed a girl like this and it was amazing. Wanting to push the envelope he kissed her a little deeper and her mouth parted as a soft moan escaped her lips. However soon her eyes fluttered open and she awoke to being kissed. For Merida she had never kissed anyone or been kissed and what was worse was it was Hiccup kissing her! The sensation just before she opened her eyes was amazing, but then a sense of panic rushed over her especially since it was a Viking kissing her! With a great shove, Hiccup was pushed away and she quickly rolled to her feet when Toothless lifted his wing. Instantly the cold morning air rushed around her waking her fully.

Hiccup quickly got to his feet too, but stumbled some as he stood upright and faced the princes. "Ye! How could ye do that?! Just kiss me like A' belong to ye or somethin'?!"

"I'm sorry Merida, I wasn't thinking. Oh geez I messed up again. I just- you were so close and your lips looked so soft and... and that's not helping. I just wasn't thinking and am sorry." Hiccup was rambling as he followed Merida out of the cave. Toothless had backed away when both wanted up, the girl was upset again, and Hiccup was apologising for something he did. Either way the dragon was confused and so gave them space as he watched the scene. Merida was trying to walk away as Hiccup kept following and apologising. "I-you were so beautiful and I just wanted to kiss a girl not be kissed by a girl. And I know this looks bad, but that kiss was amazing and I'm sorry for upsetting-"

"What?!" Merida whirled surprised to hear him say he thought her beautiful and that the kiss was amazing. Hiccup merely turned a darker shade of red and gave his croaked smile unsure if he should repeat what he had just said. As the princess turned away again, Hiccup slapped his hand to his forehead then looked at Toothless for help. However the dragon just looked back and forth between the two with a curious expression. Meanwhile Merida bit her lip and hid in her curly hair as she faced away from Hiccup. How could he just kiss her like that without permission? Shaking her head she needed him to go so she could find a way off this island before he tried something else. Turning back to Hiccup she glared at him. "A' wanna be alone fer a while."

Rather then argue Hiccup sighed knowing he messed up royally, and so nodded. "Yes princess."

Turning away Hiccup called Toothless to him and quickly got on his dragon before taking off. Once out of sight Merida breathed a sigh of relief and looked around the cove. She was glad to be alone again and have time to think, the Viking was confusing her too much and making her plans to escape even harder. 'Don't let that sweet smile and kind attitude fool you! He is a vicious evil Viking whom just wants to trick you into marrying him!' Merida thought bitterly, 'He kidnapped you after all doesn't that show you the type of person he is?! Just focus on escaping this place before your forced to marry him!'

Moving off she decided she needed to know more about the island to try and escape it. Mapping it out as she had the woods back home was the easiest way to know the best routes of escape and that would mean exploring the island further. Meanwhile Hiccup had intended to go back to the village, but Toothless had other plans and kept trying to land. Hiccup did as the dragon wanted instead of ignoring him and no sooner had he got off to ask Toothless what was up the dragon dashed off back towards the cove. As they reached the edge of the cove Toothless stopped short and didn't dare reveal himself to the one they had left alone.

"Toothless! Why did you do that?" Hiccup whispered as he caught up. Again the dragon looked back and forth between his rider and the red head until Hiccup caught on. Of course! Even if she didn't know he was there he could observe her and learn more about her! "Good thinking bud."


Back in Berk...

"Thank you again Astrid for letting my family and I stay here. We would've accepted the invitation to stay in Scotland, but we were worried some of the people there would blame us for the attacks. Are you sure it's okay that we stay?"

"Oh don't worry about it, Heather." Astrid replied, "The gang will be glad to see you, and I'll help you hide when Snotlout comes to bug you." Heather and her family had just arrived in Berk after dropping the two Scottish sisters back at home weeks before, and so to make them feel at home Astrid and her mother were letting them stay with them.

"It is just we don't want to impose." Heather's mother, Sigrunn; spoke up.

"Really it's no problem, besides if it gets crowded we could always build you a place to stay here." Astrid suggested.

"That was my daughter's innocent way to ask you three to make Berk your permanent home." Astrid's mother, Ingrid; spoke up. "For now Astrid you and Heather go find your friends and let them know the good news. I will take Heather's parents on a tour and inform Stoic." Excited Astrid and Heather dashed out the door and nearly ran into Ruffnut.

"Astrid Chief Stoic wants to see you it's about Hiccup." Ruffnut then noticed Heather, "Oh hey Heather didn't know you had come back."

"I only arrived with my family this morning." Heather said trying to be polite.

"Wait, what about Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

"Well all I know is Hiccup was agitated and messed up a sword he was making in Gobber's shop, so Gobber finally got Hiccup and Toothless to get to know the princess. But he left yesterday to go get her before she would get eaten by dragons or something. Neither of them ever came home last night though, so since your close to Hiccup he wanted to know if you'd seen him." Ruffnut explained, in some sense Ruffnut was much smarter than her twin Tuffnut, but not by much. Astrid had not had the chance to explain to Heather about the kidnapped princess now on the island, nor that Hiccup would be getting married in a matter of weeks. Looking back at Heather her eyes were wide with shock.

"What princess?"

"Well you see the daughter of the Scottish king is here, princess Merida."

"What's a Scottish princess doing in Berk?" Heather asked.

"Hiccup kidnapped her and the two of them are suppose to marry to end this war. Which totally sucks." Ruffnut said, and Astrid face palmed.

"Astrid, please tell me Ruffnut is joking." Heather said nervously.

"I wish she was Heather, but she isn't. Hiccup is to marry the princess in about four weeks time." Astrid went into detail as the three girls walked around the village. Briefly Astrid stopped by to speak to Stoic and explain she had not seen Hiccup or Merida.

"Well perhaps you and your friends wouldn't mind keeping an eye out for them if you venture outside the village?" Stoic asked as the girls were leaving.

"Of course not, if we see them we'll report back." Astrid spoke up and soon they left the chief's house.

"Hopefully the princess will be eaten by a dragon." Ruffnut grumbled earning her glares from Astrid and Heather. "What?"

"Really Ruffnut? Are you that jealous of her? She doesn't even want to be here any more than you want her to be." Astrid pointed out.

"Well then why don't we take her back to Scotland?" Heather asked looking at the other two.

"Umm maybe because the Chief would skin us alive." Ruffnut said trying to sound smarter than she was.

"That is part of the reason," Astrid sighed, "The other part of the reason is it's too late to take her back."

"It's morning Astrid." Ruffnut was again trying to be smart.

"No what I mean is even if we did take her back, King Fergus would know we kidnapped her and our alliance to the Scots would vanish. Next we would be alone fighting Alvin and every other Viking clan out there. So basically we have no choice now but for Hiccup to marry her."

"But it is wrong Astrid." Heather started to say then was going to list the reasons why it was wrong.

"I know! Look I know it is wrong, just like I know I shouldn't be jealous that she will become Hiccup's wife. But I am I can't help it I just am." Astrid groaned as Heather and Ruffnut looked at her surprised. "I need some air, I'm going for a flight on Stormfly."

"Wait we'll come with you." Heather spoke up.

"We will?" Ruffnut asked confused then considered it as she looked at Heather, "Well I guess it would be more fun since Tuffnut is fixing that roof he blew up, and I do need a second rider to do any damage."

Soon the three Vikings girls flew off for some fresh air leaving behind Berk as they flew about the island. The fresh air was doing Astrid some good and helping her think more clearly. Yes she was jealous of the idea that Merida would soon be wed to Hiccup, but knowing the princess did not want to wed him helped some. In a way it was not a matter of Merida 'stealing' Hiccup from her, and so it made Merida more likeable. However for ones like Ruffnut they did not see it that way. At least her and Heather had a bit more understanding in the area.

"So what now? We're up too high to blow anything up." Ruffnut called over the wind as they flew. Astrid could only shake her head, leave it to Ruffnut's destructive tendencies to ruin the quiet moment.

"We are getting some fresh air is all Ruffnut." Heather replied

"That is so boring, blowing stuff up always makes me feel better." Both Astrid and Heather shook their heads as they continued to fly around the outskirts of the island. Because of the impending war with Alvin no one flew far from the island for safety sake. Mainly the three girls flew around the island much like it was done when on patrol. For the most part they were quiet, well other than Ruffnut expressing her boredom at lack of explosions. After a few minutes however Ruffnut spoke up again. "Hey guys-"

"For the last time Ruffnut were not going to blow stuff up!" Astrid interrupted.

"No I mean what is that?" Ruffnut pointed to a section on the beach, and both Viking girls squinted to see what Ruffnut was pointing at. At this distance it was something red, and moving.

"Let's go check." Astrid replied and both dragons swooped lower with their riders. As they flew lower and closer, Astrid's eyes widened. "It's Merida!"

Ruffnut groaned wishing she had not seen the princess, whom must have heard the flapping of wings and looked up at them. She knew Astrid would want to talk to the princess and wordlessly they landed not far from the princess. "Hey Merida."

The princess sighed obviously she had wanted to be left alone. "Hello Astrid. Who are yer friends?"

"Oh this is Heather she is from a neighbouring clan that has joined Alvin, so she and her family had to flee. She's a good friend," Astrid had been gesturing to the raven haired Viking, then gestured to the other blonde haired Viking that Merida recognised from the other day, "And this one is the twin Ruffnut, her brother Tuffnut is having to make repairs; needless to say he is grounded from flying until further notice."

"A pleasure ta meet ye both." Merida answered dully. The four fell silent unsure of what else to say finally Astrid tried to get a conversation going. "So... exploring the island, Merida?"

"Ye could say that." Merida replied cryptically as she brushed back her hair out of her face only to have it fall in the way. She had hoped to explore without anyone finding her and stopping her. If they knew they would try to stop her she was sure. "A also wanted ta be alone and get away from Hiccup."

"Your avoiding Hiccup?" Astrid asked surprised, but she then thought about it. Why wouldn't she avoid him after what he said the other night.

"Is she insane avoiding Hiccup?" Ruffnut asked bluntly.

"I told you Ruffnut she doesn't want to be here, be nice." Astrid replied then looked back at Merida, "Sorry Ruffnut sometimes doesn't get things. That aside I think if you spent more time with him, you would find Hiccup to be a very nice guy."

"Oh A' spent time wit' him and learned plenty now A wanna avoid him." Merida said not wishing to elaborate on just how she had gotten to know the Viking. Especially since she had never been kissed before and he had had no right to do that to her.

"Okay," Astrid replied trying to be nice and welcoming, "You know though you will have to interact with him more. I mean you can't stay out here in the wilds it is getting to the dead of winter, you would freeze Merida. I mean I would have you stay at my house, but Heather and her family are staying with me, it would be too crowded."

The concern in Astrid's voice made Merida do a double take, why would this female Viking be so concerned over her safety? Obviously Astrid felt bad about this entire situation, but would not help her get out of it. Perhaps if Astrid did try to help her, she would get into a lot of trouble. Something told Merida that she did want to help her off of Berk, but was just as helpless in the situation. Knowing that, Merida found that despite the girl being a Viking she couldn't be rude or cold towards her or her friends. After all Merida imagined that even female Vikings were treated poorly.

Astrid seemed to notice the uncertain expression on Merida's face and took advantage to try and urge her to return to the Viking village. "Please Merida, even in Viking clothes the winters here are a bit much even by Viking standards. None of us want you to freeze to death."

Ruffnut gave a snort, which made Astrid turn and glare at her fellow Viking. The deadly glare transmitted the words easily. 'Shut up Ruffnut!' Then Astrid looked back to Merida hoping the red head did not catch what went on between the two Vikings. Heather took the opportunity to agree with Astrid. "Astrid is right, I mean I know you must feel that Berk is not a safe place for you. But it is safer then braving the harsh cold weather here."

For a long time Merida stood silently thinking as the Viking girls watched her hopefully, then gave a disheartened sigh. "Alright A'll return wit ye, but if Hiccup touches me A'll beat him senseless! Understand? A want it made clear as day ta him and his da that he is not ta touch me!"

Astrid could understand that, after all this princess was a master archer and a warrior according to the stories she heard of the competition. Any warrior did not like being pushed around, this was bordering on pushing a fellow warrior around. Merida was merely laying down ground rules if she was to return to Berk, and if Astrid was to get Merida back to the village she knew she had to agree. "I can understand that."

"Really?" Merida asked in disbelief.

"When Stoic and Hiccup returned from the competition three years ago they described you as a master archer and excellent in a fight. A warrior right?"

"Aye." Merida replied perplexed.

"Well, I was raised and taught to be a warrior myself. One of the lessons taught is a warrior must be treated with respect and honour. Without respect or honour we are nothing, so it would go against everything I have been taught if I don't respect and honour your wishes." Astrid explained which seemed to sooth Merida some. The Viking girl viewed her as a warrior?

"They told ye about the competition? What all did they say?" Merida asked.

"They talked about the entire competition, and bear incident." Astrid admitted, "My favourite part was the part where you fought off the lords, and your father to protect your mother. Stoic said you fight better than some Viking women he knew." 'Oh great no wonder they are insistent on me marrying Hiccup!' Merica groaned as it struck her impressing Vikings was usually a bad thing. Still it was nice to hear her skills were appreciated and admired. Many people viewed her as some delicate stuffy princess that was afraid of breaking a nail.

"A- thank ye. It is nice ta be noticed fer who A really am nae just my title. Usually people view me as this prissy weaklin princess whom spends her days in a castle and doin girlly things."Merida had to admit she wished girls back home were like Astrid and Heather, but most were learning to be servants or proper ladies. Which was probably why she had no girls her age as friends, just Angus and her family. 'Well at least I get along with someone on this island.' The four girls didn't take off right away, they had a full day yet, and so Astrid decided she would try to learn more about Merida to help Hiccup. Instead Astrid said they could explore the island with her and tell her more about Berk before heading back.

As they moved about the island Astrid told Merida all about Hiccup shooting down Toothless and how they became friends. She talked about how all the events leading up to the Green Death, and even the start of the dragon academy. Eventually they talked of Alvin trying to get a hold of Hiccup and learn his secrets and even when Heather came into the picture. "So Alvin tried ta learn the secrets ta tamin dragons?"

"Exactly, that creep has been after Hiccup and the book of Dragons from day one. We still don't know how he has learned to tame dragons, and with the threat of war we don't have time to figure it out." Astrid explained. As they walked on exploring further, Merida soon repeated the story to Heather about the competition three years ago and changing her mom into a bear, since Heather was the only one that had not heard the story before.

"Wow all that to escape marriage?" Heather giggled trying to imagine it.

"Aye, A wanted my freedom. A was tired of bein told ye gotta do this, ye gotta do that. Yer ta marry one o' the lord's sons, ye donnae git a say in yer own life. My ma finally understood when she was made human again, which is why it was agreed A'd pick who A wanted ta wed when A was ready and fell in love. Now this happens, it's dishonourable." Merida sighed.

"Are you saying Vikings are dishonourable?" Ruffnut glared at the princess.

"Nae," Merida denied not wanting to insult the three girls, "A say it is dishonourable to agree ta terms, then break yer word. Us highlanders take a promise very seriously, and shamefully Lords Dingwall, Macintosh, and MacGuffin have broken their word too. When a highlander agrees ta terms they do so on their honour, and when they break terms they dishonour themselves. All four o' my suitors and their fathers agreed ta the terms that A would choose when ready, they all have acted dishonourably."

Astrid would have taken offence just as Ruffnut had started to, but Merida admitting that the other three Scottish lords acted equally dishonourable made her stop short. The Scots may be strange skirt wearing folk that many could not understand, but Merida was merely pointing out that there was a much higher value to someone's word or promise in Scotland. For a bit longer they explored unaware of someone following and taking notes. They stopped for dinner, catching some fish and cooking them before deciding they would need to return to Berk.


Knowing the girls would be heading back to Berk, Hiccup and Toothless snuck off to head home as the girls put out the fire used to cook their fish and got ready to head home. Soon they flew back with Merida hitching a ride on Stormfly with Astrid. As promised Astrid went with Merida back to the Chiefs house to make sure Merida's wishes were heard. Once she told both Stoic and Hiccup of Merida's ground rules, she said goodbye to Merida and left for home.

"So Hiccup is not to touch you. Hmmm I wonder how well that will work on your wedding night." Stoic said as he took to poking the fire, and ignoring the bright red that now covered his son and future daught-in-laws cheeks. Merida wanted to tell Stoic that there would be no wedding night because she was not marrying his son. Instead she gave an annoyed growl and whirled away heading for where she had been sleeping. No sooner did she go to Hiccup's room, Hiccup was right behind her.

"Wait Merida about earlier I am so sorry." Hiccup started to say then noticed how she looked at the bed surprised. Before Merida and Astrid arrived, Hiccup decided to make the bed softer for Merida to sleep by putting layer after layer of furrs on the hard wooden boards, a total of four furrs covered the bed. "Oh yeah I umm wanted to make the bed softer for you and hopefully it will help ease the pain in your shoulder at night."

Again the Viking boy could certainly surprise her when she least expected it. "Well thank ye fer thinking o' that, Hiccup."

The confused look was better then the annoyed glare she usually wore for him. "Your welcome princess, please let me know if the bed is too hard still. I can throw some extra furrs on there for you. And again I am sorry about earlier."

Not wanting to overstay his welcome with her he quickly left his room and headed back downstairs. Something told Merida that this was only the beginning, it had only been a couple of days and the days meshed together. Between all that the Scottish lords and Wisps betrayed her, A dragon tried to steal her bathing towel, Hiccup stole her first kiss, and she had somehow become friends with three Viking girls. Still the biggest question was how was she going to get out of here?


Author's Note:

Just addressing some possible concerns readers may have about this chapter. First off I read a lot of the other series some have written for this and other subjects so a lot of stories I noticed makes Astrid out to be abnormally mean. While it suites the other stories that Astrid be mean towards Merida I wanted to go a different direction. I actually like Astrid as a character and she strikes me as being a bit nicer. Also because she and Merida are very much alike I imagine that they would get along a lot better. So yes Astrid in this story does befriend Merida there is a slight jealousy but no animosity towards each other.

Also yes Heather has joined the story. I have also done this because the Viking girls Astrid, Heather and Ruffnut do play a big part in the story ahead.

Anyway hope you liked the chapter and please review away.