JoJo felt a little weirded out as Merida was wrapping her blue hair around his hand. The two had made camp near the river, built a fire and now were completely dried off. Merida was focusing on JoJo's injured hand. Merida finished wrapping. "JoJo, promise me something?" JoJo looked at her. "Of coarse, anything." Merida winced. "Just, don't freak out." JoJo raised an eyebrow. What was she talking about?
Merida closed her eyes and started to sing. "Fate be changed, look inside, mend the bond, torn by pride. Merida's hair started to glow, like in the cave. The glow flowed all through her hair, each strand, all different colored, turned a glowing bright baby blue. Merida sang her song again, by the time the glow went to JoJo's hand. JoJo was amazed. Her singing caused this? How?
Merida opened her eyes and the glow stopped. She looked horrified at JoJo. JoJo unwrapped the hair from his hand, and was amazed when he saw no cut, and the pain was gone. 'How did she do that?' All kinds of questions ran through his head, but he couldn't decide which one to ask. He became overwhelmed, and opened his mouth to scream in horror. Merida quickly covered his mouth. "Pleasedon'tfreakout!" JoJo still held his mouth open, but tiny squeaks came out. He removed her hand and spoke. "I'mnotfreakingoutareyoufreakingoutnoI'mjustveryaazedbyyourhairandthemagicalqualitiesitpossesses." JoJo realized he was speaking too fast. He cleared his throat. "How long has it been doing that?"
Merida smiled. "Forever, since birth, I guess." She looked unhappy for a moment. "The witch says when I was a baby, people tried to cut it and keep it for themselves." She brushed back some hair and revealed one lock that was very different from the rest of her hair. "Once its cut, it turns orange and loses its power." JoJo looked at the one orange lock. True, it was a bright orange, with tiny strands of light orange and red joining it. "A gift like this, it has to be protected." Merida twirled the orange lock. "That's why Witch never let me, *sigh*, that's why I never left, and..." She sighed and looked away.
JoJo suddenly felt understanding. "You never left that tower." He said. Merida looked at him with a look that meant he was right. "And you still wanna go back?" Merida looked scared. "No! Yes?" She covered her face. "It's... complicated." JoJo pulled her into a hug. "It's okay, Merida."
The girl pulled her hair away in a sigh. She looked at JoJo. "So, the mayor's son, huh?" JoJo sighed. "Well, yeah, I'll spare you my story, I was a bit of a... downer, so to speak." Merida scooted closer to him, waiting for more. JoJo laughed. "Okay, it all started when my dad started talking to me about becoming mayor, I was excited at first, and I wanted to make my dad proud. I realized not all sons make their fathers proud, and I didn't want to disappoint him, so I started reclusing myself and started making music. It was therapeutic. I decreased talking to my dad to stop him from being disappointed in me. He kept trying to tell me all the great things about being mayor. One event, however, made me start talking again." JoJo decided to not tell her about his heroic deed with Horton, as she spent her whole life locked away, she probably wouldn't believe him. "The mayor talks got worse. So, I ran away. I've been on the run ever since, some boys who hated me made me their servant. That's why I am on the Wanted signs and the Missing Person signs."
Merida blinked. "Wow." JoJo looked at her. "You can't tell anyone, it could ruin my reputation with my dad." Merida laugh. "We wouldn't want that." JoJo blushed when he saw he beautiful blue eyes. Embarrassed, he stood up. "I'm gonna get some more firewood." He started walking away, but stopped when Merida spoke. "Hey, for the record, I don't think you're a disappointment." JoJo looked at the hand she healed. "Well, you'd be the first, thank you." He walked away.
Merida sighed. She jumped when she heard a voice behind her. "Well, I thought he'd never leave." Shocked, she looked behind her, seeing a person she didn't want to see. "Witch? How did you find me?" "That doesn't matter, we're going home." The witch grabbed her hand. "No, you don't understand, I had great fun today, and I even met someone." "Yes, the missing boy, I'm so proud." The witch pulled her. "No, I think, I think he likes me." Merida cooed. "Likes you, please, Merida, he likes to lie, and steal and cheat. He's using you." Merida looked angry. "He is not! I made a deal with him!"
The witch pulled out JoJo's backpack from her cloak. Merida was shocked. "How did you...?" "You were never good at hiding things, you left this in my cauldron, and I figured out who you went with when I saw the book of Whonatomy open on the shelf." Merida yanked her arm away. "I'm not going with you, I have to see the lanterns." The witch looked angry. "Fine, give this to him, and you'll see, he'll leave you in the dust within a second, and I'll tell you I told you so." The witch swept off.
Merida held the crown in her hand with fear in her heart. Surely JoJo wouldn't lie to her, or leave her in the dust. She suddenly had second thoughts. She heard JoJo coming. The boy struggled to carry a huge pile of firewood. He saw Merida wasn't moving from her spot. "Hey, Freckles, you okay?" Merida turned. "Aye, just lost in thought I guess." JoJo shrugged. "Well, I found some berries and nuts, perhaps we could hunt some game for supper. Then, we'll head to bed, get to the kingdom in the morning for the lanterns tomorrow night." Merida still looked unsure. "Okay."
Deep in the woods, the witch, teamed with Vince and Percy, watched the two. Vince started to get up, but the witch stopped him. "Patience, boys. It's a virtue."
