SM chapter 10

Merida flung open the door to her chambers and flounced through with a huff. She swung it closed with a satisfying slam before throwing herself face down on the bed.

"Damn your eyes Hiccup Haddock!" she muttered angrily.

Pounding her fists into the mattress, she squeezed her eyes against the tears that threatened to come.

"...and damn me for a soft-heided fool," she added softly as she rolled over and relaxed into the pillows. Her lower lip trembled. "I will NOT cry, I will NOT."

Getting up in a huff, she reached back to undo her laces and dropped the green homespun dress to the floor. A bit of moonlight came through the window, making her cotton shift glow a bright white. She shivered in the chill air. Used as she was to the damp chill of the castle in all seasons, she wasn't immune to cold entirely. Making her way to the fireplace in the near dark was no matter. Long habit guided her steps through a room she'd inhabited since childhood. Striking flint to tinder, she coaxed the flames to life and sat down on the hearth, tucking her knees up to her chin.

After years spent alone in Dunbroch, after Angus died, she'd begun muttering to herself to fill the silence. It was a habit her mother had had, and in an odd way it made her feel closer to her, when she sat whispering to herself in the quiet darkness. Almost like her mother was there, stroking her hair. It was a habit she was having a hard time breaking, even now that she had company in the castle.

"It's not like he ever said he was interested in you, you silly goose. Of course he has a girlfriend! Besides, you've just been so lonely all these years, you'd be attracted to any ugly brute who walked through the door! After not seeing a man for five years, anyone would seem like a gift! Bah. He's nothing special. It's not as if he were all that handsome, or brave, or kind, or..."

She trailed off, remembering the first time she'd seen him. There had been the rush of giant wings overhead. She'd nocked her arrow and let it fly without thinking, as she always did when she thought a vulture was near. Only it hadn't been one of the cursed carrion eaters at all. It had been a sleek, beautiful creature from a fairy tale. A dragon. And she'd struck it with her arrow. Even in an injured spiral, the beast had fallen with an elegant grace. She saw one rider, a blonde man, flung to the ground like a doll before the creature plummeted limply into the grass. She glimpsed another rider holding tight to its back, staying with it until they both landed with a sickening crunch.

Her heart had been in her throat as soon as she realized her error. The rider lay moaning, pinned beneath his dragon in a pool of spreading blood. She thought she would be sick. Approaching the group of strangers, she had fully expected to be killed for her crime against them, and thought that she couldn't really blame them. After nearly five years here by herself, going positively mad with loneliness, a group of travelers had arrived on her doorstep, and what did she do? Shot their dragon and injured two of them! Bloody fool! She had squared her shoulders and prepared to face up to the consequences, whatever they might be. But the travelers had surprised her, accepting her offer of help and taking up residence with her in the castle. The great hall that sat silent for so long was filled with people talking and even a child's laughter. It nearly broke her heart with longing for her own family, for her people. She'd given up on seeing them ever again, and steeled her heart against the misery.

That first night, with everyone sleeping in the great hall, she'd crept toward the dragon, wanting to touch it. Her desire was both to see that it still lived and to reassure herself that these visitors were, in fact, real. Hic had wakened as she approached, his body tensing with mistrust. His green eyes burned like emeralds, hot with reproach and anger, and she shrunk from his gaze. But she was the first born of Dunbroch. She had straightened her spine and met his anger head on, not only apologizing, but telling him far more than she had intended. Shocked to find herself talking about Angus, she nonetheless spilled her anguish to him as though leaching herself of a poison. Seeing him with the dragon, his regard for and devotion to the creature evident, had convinced her that he would understand about Angus. And he had. When he had forgiven her, she'd felt something icy that had built up inside her over the years give way and melt. The fear and uncertainty had disappeared for a moment, and she'd felt that she truly wasn't alone any longer.

It had taken considerably longer, and took a lot more effort, to get Toothy's forgiveness. With a wry smile, she remembered the countless bribes (all the smoked fish left in the cellar!) and belly rubs that had finally won him over. The first time they went flying had been one of the best days of her life.

"Come on then, unless you're afraid," teased Hic, limping toward the harness secured across the dragon's back.

"Hmmmph!" she responded testily, striding past him and launching herself into the harness ahead of Hic. Toothless's head whipped around and he licked her face with a great messy slurp that made her giggle uproariously.

"Yech! Leave off, ye great slimy beast!"

"Oh, I see how it is," said Hic, rolling his eyes and grinning as he always did when seeing the bond his dragon had developed with Merida. He pulled himself up awkwardly behind her, his arm and leg still stiff with injury. She helped him to buckle them both in, cinching the straps tight. Hic's arms came up around her, gripping the pommel of the harness in front of them. Abruptly she became very conscious of him pressed tightly against her back. Her cheeks flushed pink and she busied herself with straightening her skirts around her. They were divided for riding, which allowed her to avoid showing Hic a scandalous amount of leg as they rode. Suddenly she felt an irrational, wanton desire to do exactly that and suppressed it with a flash of panic. What would her mother say? Eleanor would no doubt start in with one of her lectures, along the lines of 'A lady does not ride about on dragons showing off her legs like a girl in a traveling show!'

Her cheeks flamed a deeper shade of red. She turned to Hic, intending to ask how far they could fly today, when the dragon suddenly launched into the air with a massive explosion of power. Her heart was in her throat, and not just from the sudden exhilaration of flight. The glimpse she'd caught of Hic's face had shown her he was blushing as scarlet as she. Ha! So she wasn't the only one affected by their sudden proximity.

She pointed east. Hic nudged Toothless, and they were off at a startling rate of speed. Soaring and swooping, the dragon executed deft maneuvers that shocked her with their daring. Merida laughed and whooped with the freedom and the excitement, the wind flowing through her hair and tossing it about like a flaming banner. Their destination became apparent when the cliffs came into view. She tapped Hic's hand and pointed again, this time to the ledge halfway up the immense falls.

They had alighted on the small rock precipice. Toothless craned out his neck to catch some water from the roaring falls. Hic and Merida hopped down from his back and did the same, reaching out their hands to drink from the cold, clear rush.

Hic's eyes were bright with satisfaction as he gazed out at the spectacular view. It was possible to see for miles from this place, high up as they were.

"You knew this place was here?" he asked, a touch of awe in his voice.

"Aye. It's called the Fire Falls. It's said that all the ancient chiefs climbed to this ledge to drink from the falls and prove their bravery," said Merida, breathless with excitement.

"Seriously?" said Hic, his eyes going round as he peered over the edge. "You'd have to be crazy to climb this!"

"I suppose I'm crazy, then," said Merida, laughing as she climbed back into the harness.

"What?!"

Hic's mouth hung open as he goggled at her.

"You climbed this?"

"Aye, that I did. On my birthday the year I came of age," she said, grinning at his stunned expression. "It was much easier this time."

Shaking his head, Hic climbed up behind her and they cinched themselves back into place just in time. Toothless had looked back at them, tongue lolling mischievously, and Merida swore he winked - winked!- before diving face first off the cliff. Merida and Hic both shrieked with the sudden vertigo, as they plummeted toward the valley floor like a rock.

With a sharp snap of his wings extending, Toothless arrested their motion with a smooth, powerful glide that brought them flying low and level just above the forest. Merida shouted and laughed with glee, punching her fists up in the air with the joy of being alive. Hic chuckled behind her, and patted Toothy's side. She turned to him with a broad smile, and saw her expression echoed on his face. His green eyes sparkled with the same joy crackling through her veins. Leather creaking, they lofted back to the castle in high spirits, glowing with the camaraderie of two kindred souls that have, so improbably, found one another.

They'd flown every day since, rain or shine, for training and, in Merida's case at least, for sheer pleasure unlike anything she'd ever felt before. They were an amazing team, right from the start. They worked out a series of hand signals they could employ during battle to synchronize their flying and shooting. Merida had found after much experimenting that she could shoot best from the saddle if she were seated behind Hic and facing away from him, which, if she were honest with herself, she didn't like nearly as well as sitting in front of him, held snugly in his arms.

"None of that matters now, anyway!" she hissed to herself, staring into the flames. "He's got a girlfriend. Quit mooning after the man, you silly flibbertigibbet! He's not interested in you, anyway."

Sniffling, she stayed sitting there with her arms wrapped around her legs as the logs burnt away to ashes and the cold of the stone castle seeped into her bones.