Hello y'all! Wow am I having a writer's block right now... but I still have a few chapters written so there shouldn't be a problem with uploading on time... YET.

So yeah here you go with chapter 9 ~ Enjoy the hell out of it!

Once they were outside, Toothless approached "Hiccup" directly, but when he felt Merida's scent, he retreated and growled.

"Toothless, calm down! I'm right here!" the dragon couldn't believe that the red headed girl was now his trainer. He did smell him in that body, though, so the dragon simply sat by his side and accepted the new situation as it was. Too much for a dragon to bother in processing, I guess.

And so, the four teenagers sat on the grass, wondering what to do next.

"Aam nae stayin' like thes forever, that's fur sure" the strong Highlander stuck in a Viking's body stated.

"That's certainly not the plan" Merida heard her own voice replying. It was certainly weird to hear it without an accent and sounding so kind and thoughtful, but that was just how Hiccup made it sound. "But… I have no idea what the plan is, either."

"Since we're stuck this way, maybe we should just… try and get used to it" Rapunzel shyly suggested. It was nothing but strange to see and hear "Jack" acting so lady like and so shyly and moderately.

"Get used to it? Are you kidding me?" the real Jack snapped. Of course. "I'm stuck with a female body, with a shit ton of hair, with boobs and without powers. How am I supposed to get used to it?"

"The same way I do, Jack" this time, Rapunzel's reply was harsh, and Jack had to shut his mouth. He obviously hadn't considered that what he was coping with right now was the same thing Rapunzel coped with every single day of her life. And then, the situation got a whole new meaning to them.

"Hiccup, what ur ye doin'?" Merida saw her own body fidgeting and unable to stay still.

"I don't know!" the boy inside her body replied. "I just… I feel so full of energy, I need to do something!" he suddenly got up and began steadily jumping. "Aaaaah… I just can't stay still!"

"But stayin' still is what ye like tae do th' most…" Merida felt baffled by seeing herself acting so… unlike herself. Merida herself found out that she actually felt like staying still and just drawing something or petting Toothless. "Why do Ah feel sae… serene?"

"I want to freeze something" Rapunzel suddenly declared, and twirled Jack's staff as if it was some sort of magic wand.

"H-hey, be careful with that!" Jack warned her, getting out of her reach just in case.

"For now, we should focus on solving the riddle" Hiccup said as he jumped in place, almost tripping with Merida's long dress.

"Yeah. Any ideas on that?" Jack asked, playing with Rapunzel's frying pan.

"Nope" was the general response.

"I had a feeling" Jack smiled sarcastically. That expression looked strange in Rapunzel's face, always so innocent.

"While we solve that riddle" Rapunzel intervened, passing Jack's staff from one hand to the other. "we should see this as a chance to understand each other. I do think the riddle could be headed that way."

Hiccup thought about it for a moment (still frantically moving in place) and nodded. "You have a point. You must put yourself aside and try to understand… sounds like we need to be more… empathic."

"I am empathic!" Jack protested, receiving sarcastical glares in response. "Well… whatever. Let's move. It's obvious that the witch isn't coming back, and we can't stay here forever."

"Except that we don't know where the heck we are yet" Hiccup replied from Merida's body.

"Maybe you don't, but I do" Jack said, very full of himself, and majestically walked forward. "Follow me, ladies and gentlemen, or… whatever it is we are now."

"Cannae we jest go flyin'?" Merida asked. She still was walking uncomfortably in Hiccup's heavy boots.

"Well, you see, Rapunzel is now in my body and she doesn't know the way" Jack answered, pointing at Rapunzel (his own body) and then at him, enclosed in Rapunzel's body. "And I'm quite sure that the dragon is not very willing to accept you as its new rider."

He was right, obviously. Toothless still wouldn't let Merida ride him (Merida or anyone else for that matter) and it was quite obvious that Hiccup couldn't ride him while wearing that extremely uncomfortable dress.

And so, off they went. They walked through the forest for some hours while Toothless flew the sky above them; they weren't exactly in a hurry, so they decided to walk more slowly so they wouldn't need to stop to rest in a longer time. While they walked, they argued. It was becoming kinda like a hobby to them, or so it seemed. They argued over the smallest things.

"Ugh, Rapunzel, your hair is constantly getting on the way!" Jack complained.

"Well, your body is constantly incredibly cold! It's a miracle I haven't frozen by now!"

"Hiccup, yer boots are makin' me nervous!" Merida groaned, and suddenly took them off and threw them away.

"AH! Why did you do that!?" Hiccup quickly went to fetch them, tripped over the long dress and fell right on his face. "Ugh, this is why I'm not into long dresses…"

"Are you okay, Hiccup?" Rapunzel helped him up, but her now cold touch made him shudder.

"Yeah, thanks" Hiccup handed the boots over to his own body, which was crossing its arms and pouting. "Now, Merida, be so kind as to put them back on…"

"Aam nae goin' tae!" she was adamant in her refusal. "They're uncomfortable an' Ah can barely walk in 'em!"

"But you can't just throw them away! Besides, if you walk like that, I'll have my feet sore when I get back in my body!"

Yeah, there you have a glimpse of their whole walk. They kept on walking, arguing for one thing and another, even when they got out of the forest. They mostly discussed ways to get back to their own bodies, but always ended up criticizing their new state, and of course, the original owner of the criticized body would get offended and criticize their newly acquired body, and everything would get stuck in an infinite loop. So, of course, Rapunzel just couldn't let it go on. She didn't know how to stop them, though. They really were stubborn.

They were now in a wide field, crossed by a river that got lost back inside the forest. Upon seeing the river, Rapunzel decided that would be a good chance to test out her newly acquired winter spirit powers. And so she walked towards the running water, with the other three following her behind, very upset about something… again. The girl trapped inside a mischievous winter spirit's body touched the water with the staff she was carrying, and her eyes (originally green, but now icy blue) watched in awe as the liquid froze as soon as it was touched. Ice created beautiful and intrincate patterns, expanding through the river as she moved the staff along the flow. How did Jack manage not to spend hours staring at the wonderful things he was able to do with that wand? She didn't realize, but the other three had stopped arguing and were now watching her, Hiccup and Merida in amazement and Jack in amusement. Seeing her (well, himself) so mesmerized with something so normal for him as freezing water, made him think. He hadn't worn such an amazed and filled with wonder expression in forever… it was strange, but his face seemed happy. And he realized he hadn't been happy in a long time.

"Ummm, Rapunzel" he said, running a hand through his now blond and extremely long hair. "Can you, um, teach me the song? The one you use to, you know, lit up your hair?"

"Oh?" she smiled, and the smile turned out lopsided, like Jack's smile always was. "Well, why not?"

And she sang, slowly, to make sure he'd remember the lyrics. Jack's voice wasn't really fitted for singing, but Rapunzel managed to harmonize it just enough for it to sound good. She sang it twice for them, and Jack thought he was ready to try it out. But of course, it turned out that… well, Rapunzel's voice was melodious and fitted to sing, but Jack just couldn't sing. He did remember the lyrics, though, and he tried his best. Merida covered her ears (not really hers, but Hiccup's) and faked an expression of extreme suffering, but Rapunzel clapped for his effort and Hiccup just stared, because Jack, however good or bad he may sing, had managed to lit up Rapunzel's hair. He watched in utter wonder as all the strands of hair around him lit up and shone beautifully. Merida was so amazed that she made Hiccup's mouth hung open for an entire minute without fidgeting. It was just too incredible not to fall in amazement at its sight.

"It's so… pretty" Jack breathed. Rapunzel smiled at that.

"Well, not having powers doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves too… right?" Hiccup smiled, still fidgeting from time to time, unsettled. It was the first time in forever he'd felt this active, wanting to do something to waste all of that unused energy on. It felt good… for once.

"Heh! Aam always up tae enjoy mahself!" Merida smiled too. Being Hiccup wasn't so bad, actually. She was sure it had been really long since she'd last felt so willing to just merge in her own thoughts. "But yer dragon won't lemme ride him" she snorted, pointing at Toothless, who stuck his tongue out at her.

"Yeah, well… sorry about that" Hiccup managed to make Merida's smile look goofy, as his own was.

"It's sae weird tae be talkin' tae mahself" Merida laughed.

"I know, right?" Rapunzel giggled. Jack's voice sounded so feminine when giggling, it was hilarious.

"Hey, Hiccup, now that you're inside Merida's body, you shouldn't be as much of a wimp as you were before" Jack smiled, pointing Rapunzel's frying pan at the Viking.

"Jack!" Rapunzel scolded him. It was definitely weird to be scolded by his own voice.

"What? It's true! Now he should be able of doing really awesome things with archery and stuffs!"

"Huh" Hiccup examined Merida's bow, trying it out on his hands. Normally, he wouldn't even bother in trying, but since he was inside Merida's body, maybe her fantastic skills would be transferred to him… It was worth a shot.

"Try tae hit 'at tree over there" Merida said, pointing at a tree a little separated from the rest of the forest. "Shood be an easy targit."

Hiccup sighed and readied an arrow to shoot. He concentrated and tried to aim the best he could. But…

"My, my, if it isn't the chosen ones. How pleasant!" The voice startled Hiccup, and the arrow he unconsciously loosened fell and got lost in the waters of the river.

The voice seemed to echo all over their heads, and dark sand surrounded them. Toothless crouched, fiercely growling and looking everywhere, trying to find the source of the voice. The four teens cooped up in a circle, back against back; they seemed ready to attack, but actually they were too terrified to even try.

Ta-da, there it is! Ooooh, did I leave a cliffhanger or something? My bad ~ See ya soon!