"Hiccup!" Jack Frost called as he sped over the rapids of the river. Where was his friend? He had already gone over this stretch of water twice looking for Hiccup's mousy brown hair to appear in the current or his body to wash upon any of the shores, but there was nothing. "Hiccup! Where are you?" Occasionally he would pass the Eye Patch guy doing to same thing, though he was much slower and a bit more methodical in his searching. At least he had be as unsuccessful as Jack so far.

Following the direction of the current, Jack traveled, still watching for any sign his friend had crawled up the banks to safety. Eventually the river changed to a stream and then a shallow brook. He was deep into the forest now; if Hiccup was anywhere near here, they probably wouldn't get back before the ransom the brothers were planning.

The spirit flew up for an aerial view of the area. Maybe he'll see something he missed up here. There was no activity along the river bank though, except for that of the thug.

Wait. There was someone moving through the forest over there.

Could it be? He flew down closer. Yes. He recognized that hair, that walk. It was Hiccup.

"Hiccup!" He was so excited he flew into the viking, knocking him down as he hugged him. "I'm so glad you're okay. I've been searching the river for you for an hour now."

"Ow." His friend said, his face squished into the dirt by the fall.

Jack called the winds to lift him off of his friend and he help him up. "Sorry. Are you okay? What happened after you jumped? Why did you jump? Do you know how worried I was about you?"

"It seemed like the best option as the time. I couldn't go right or left and I needed to cross the river somehow. How far away from the castle are we now?" Hiccup brushed the dirt from his clothes. Mud and leaves still clung to his wet clothes. He hadn't been out of the water long enough to dry. "Sorry for scaring you."

"At least you're here now." Jack tried to remember what else he saw when he was flying. "We're pretty far away from the castle right now. It'll take us a while to get back, and the Stabbingtons are still planning to use you to get money, though it's more of a con now than an actual ransom.

Hiccup laughed. "They're not going to get any money from my family anyway. You remember how vikings deal with these kind of things."

Oh yeah, Jack definitely remembered the last time someone got off on the wrong foot with Stoic the vast. They started walking the direction of the castle while reminiscing about previous adventures they'd been on together.

They'd reached a well-worn track and started walking along it when the sound of hoof beats filled the air.

A second later a white horse came galloping toward them carrying none other than Flynn Rider, the man Jack had seen hours earlier taken up by the guards. It looked like somehow, Maximus had found a way to help him escape.

"Isn't that-?" Hiccup started.

"Yep." Jack responded, his jaw slightly open in surprise.

"Spirit boy?" Flynn Rider pulled up beside them. Maximus whinnied a greeting and nuzzled Jack's shoulder. "What are you doing out here?"

"Uh, this and that. Running through the forest, rescuing friends."

"Diving into rivers, running from captors." Hiccup added. "The usual."

"How did you get out of prison?" Jack asked. "Did Maximus find a way to free you?"

Flynn raised an eyebrow. "Actually, yeah. I was on my way to the gallows when some friends appeared and suddenly I was on this horses back racing through the town. Did you send Max to help?"

Jack nodded. "I couldn't think of anything else I could do at the time. I was going to come back and help later, though, I swear."

"Well thank you. That was my most spectacular escape yet. I owe you."

"Where are you headed to?" Hiccup asked. He'd noticed that they were heading further into the forest.

Flynn looked toward the thick trees with longing. "I've got to save Rapunzel. Someone needs to get her away from that tower and her mother."

Jack felt a jolt in his stomach at that. Dred started creeping into his heart and he felt like something bad was going to happen to Flynn. Where did those feelings come from? He looked at Hiccup; his friend looked worn out, wet, and ragged. After everything that's happened since yesterday, he needed to get back to the castle to rest. Yet something was pulling him to go with Flynn to make sure he and Rapunzel made it out of the tower safe.

Hiccup looked at his friend and guessed his thoughts. He knew Jack well enough to know he'd do anything that'd help the few people who could see him, and then some. "What do you think, Jack? We could squeeze an extra adventure in today."

The winter spirit felt a surge of relief, Hiccup wanted to go too. "I don't know, Hic, we're pretty booked already. You okay with some company, Flynn?"

"The more the merrier." He reached out a hand to help Hiccup up.

"A pub? In th' middle of the forest?" Merida asked. She had taken to talking out loud, like she did with Angus back home. The mare didn't react to her words as much her own horse did, but it helped her little to vocalize her thoughts. She had followed the road in hopes that it would take her close to where Hiccup might be. Or maybe Jack would be nearby and she could give him a piece of her mind for leaving her out of the loop. Eventually she had realized that she had no idea where to even start looking. "Maybe someone in there could help?"

The horse twitched her ears.

"Ay mean, it can't hurt, can it?" Merida dismounted and tied the reins to a nearby tree, then went inside, slightly limping. By the side she noticed a few wanted posters, one of which was a picture of a man who looked like Flynn, but with a piggish sort of nose. The other one was of the two thugs who had taken Hiccup. She grabbed that one, hopefully it'd help her. The Stabbington Brothers, 10,000 pieces reward. And they had her best friends friend.

The second the door to the pup was opened, a rush of putrid scent engulfed her. She gagged, then choked when she saw the occupants. They were all mean looking and unwashed, some were helmet wearing, others wielded knives, and some of them had missing limbs replaced with various metal or wood attachments.

All of them were looking at her, hands holding cups in the air like they were in the middle of a toast.

Merida stood there, unsure of what to do for a moment. Finally, she cleared her throat.

"Ay- Ay was wondering if any of you could tell meugh where I could find these two men." She held up the poster.

A smallish, very drunk, white haired man moseyed up to her. "Wha'd you want with them, eh missy?" He almost toppled with the effort of walking. Merida shyed away from him.

Suddenly he was grabbed from behind and tossed into the crowd of thugs. Another of the men stepped up to her. He pointed at the posters. "Them's the Stabbington Brothers. A nasty pair. What would a lass like you want with them." He looked intently at her and she almost gagged at the stench of his breath and body odor.

She coughed. "They have my friend. Ay have to help 'im, and to do that Ay need to know where they are." She felt her ankle twinge painfully.

The thug in front of her, a man with a bald head and hook hand, turned around to look at the others. They shrugged and shook their heads.

"Haven't seen them since yesterday." One said through a tin helmet.

"The castle guards had them didn't they?" Another asked.

"No, no they escaped to chase after Rider." A man with a big nose answered.

Hook hand turned back to Merida, who was watching with wide eyes. These ruthless looking people were acting almost normal and friendly. They were carrying on a conversation and answering her questions civilly, which was way better than the way her father and the other chiefs acted around each other. It contrasted oddly with their appearance.

"No one seems to have seen them recently, sorry lass. Can't help you." He said apologetically.

"What? But, wha' about a secret hideout or a campsite? Don't any of yeugh know where Ay could find them?" She asked. What if they couldn't tell her anything? She still had no idea where to go. She really should have thought this through better.

"Sorry. I would advise you to forget about your friend and avoid those men anyhow. Bad news they are."

She groaned angrily. "Thanks anyway." She said then went out the door, her limp more pronounced.

As the door closed behind her, she heard Hook hand's voice, "Now where were we?" followed by a second voice, "To Flynn Rider and Rapunzel."

"To Dreams." The pub cheered.

Merida scowled. "Worthless, unhelpful lot. How could they not know where one of their own is?" She grumbled all the way to the horse. And what was that cheer all about anyway. She tripped over a rock. Stupid ankle. It hurt so much! Didn't they know that Rapunzel was taken back to her home by her scheming mother?

What was the point of all this, she wondered. She was injured, it was almost midday, and she had no idea where to go. She turned the horse. She would just try going this way and if she found nothing, she would head back, she decided.

"Are you sure we're going the right way" Jack asked. He swore that they had just gone in a circle. He glanced at the sky; it wasn't quite noon yet.

"I'm sure this is the right way this time." Flynn assured. "See those arrows in that log? I dodged them when I was running from the castle guards." Maximus started going faster. It seemed like they did recognize this way. Jack followed until the horse and rider came to a sudden stop, then he found himself flying over a cliff.

"Whoa." He said, backtracking through the air to land on the edge of the very steep cliff. He looked down and watched a couple of dislodged pebbles fall. It was a long way down.

Flynn paced the edge of the cliff a little. "Aha, here is the place where Maximus and I fell to our doom while fighting over a satchel holding a crown." He looked at Jack's face and laughed. "We're fine, as you can see. It wasn't that bad of a fall."

Hiccup peered down, too. "So what now?" He asked. "Do we jump?"

Flynn and Maximus shook their heads no at the same time. "There must be another way down I think." Flynn said. "Let's try this way."

It turned out there was an easier way to take to the bottom. There was a path that sloped down from the cliff to a lower part of the forest.

"I hope we can find our way from here." Flynn muttered. He was starting to get fidgety. Rapunzel was in trouble, he knew. He just felt it. "Come on Maximus." He urged the horse, which sped up down the grassy slope. Hiccup had to hold on to keep from falling off.

Jack followed, the uneasy feeling in his stomach growing as they got closer to the tower. He needed to make sure that Flynn and Rapunzel ended up okay, though what could happen to them, he didn't know.

"Yeugh'd better tell me where he is right now." Merida drew back her bow and aimed. One of the Stabbington Brothers was standing in front of her, hands in the air as he eyed the arrow pointed at him. She had passed him on the trail and instantly recognized him as one of the men from last night.

"I told you, he escaped early this morning. Now put down the bow like a good girl before you hurt someone." He put his hands down and stepped forward. A second later there was an arrow quivering in the ground a centimeter from the man's foot.

"Dinnae mess wi' me." Merida warned, drawing another arrow. "Now, where is my friend?" She was tempted to put an arrow through his foot or somewhere and leave him for the guards to pick up. There'd be a reward and it would be payback for last night, but she wanted to find Hiccup and Jack and make sure her new friend was okay.

"You're crazy. I don't know where he is. My brother has been searching for the river for him all day. He could have found him or not by now; I don't know."

"River? Which direction?" Finally somewhere to start looking.

The thug pointed.

Now Merida had a choice, to either go find the river and search from there or deal with this wanted criminal now. She didn't have any rope to tie him up though, so she'd have to actually shoot him if she wanted to disable him. The thought of hurting a human being made her feel a little queasy. She lowered her bow and kicked her horse into movement leaving the Stabbington brother standing there in slight shock.

He bent down a pulled the arrow from the ground in front of his feet. It was in deep, almost halfway buried. A little further and his foot would have been run through and trapped. "The Princess' got aim." He murmured.

His twin brother entered the clearing a second later. "Searched the whole river. Never caught a sight of him."

"Looks like we're conning the king of the Barbaric Archipelagos today."

"Frost!" Merida cried. She finally found traces of her friend in the forest. There was a faint set of white footprints in the shady grass next to the track. They were just starting to melt, so it must not have been so long ago. A second set of footprints were imprinted in the grass next to them and horse hooves led away from there into the forest. They were going the same way that Scar face said was the river. Jack must have helped Hiccup and they met up with someone and were heading into the forest. Why?

Think, Merida. Why would Jack and Hiccup go tha' way instead of back to the castle? What was deeper in the forest? Wait, didn't Flynn say that Rapunzel lived in a tower? That wouldn't be on the castle island if her mother wanted to keep her isolated. Could that be where they're heading?

She urged the horse faster. Whatever they're doing, maybe she could catch up with them soon!

Eventually Merida heard voices, and a horse whinny. It sounded like they were just up ahead. She had followed the trail past a stream and down a hill until she came to the edge of a cliff. From here the tracks hugged the wall.

"What do you mean you can't remember which way?" Came one voice.

"I mean, all I remember was falling off a cliff then finding a secret opening covered by ivy. It should be around here somewhere." Said a second voice. They weren't far away now.

"What about over there?" Said a third.

Merida slowed the horse, she recognized those voices. Jack, Hiccup, and Flynn. Finally, she had caught up to them.

She came around a large bush and saw them. Flynn was standing facing a cliff covered with ivy, scratching his head. Jack had his arms folded and was standing on the ground, tapping his foot impatiently, while Hiccup was moving the vines around and looking underneath them. A rush of relief flooded through Merida in seeing the viking safe and apparently unhurt. All that worry for nothing though.

Maximus suddenly looked up, as if he sensed Merida's presence, and gave a greeting nicker. The mare she was riding neighed in return.

All three guys looked up and noticed her at the edge of the clearing.

"Merida? What are you doing here?" Jack asked. She could see a worried crease in his expression. "You should be in bed resting." His tone turned from surprised to scolding. A breeze started to blow.

"Ay was looking for Hiccup to help him. It was my fault that he was kidnapped yeugh know. But it looks like tha's been all taken care of withou' me." Merida answered. She gave him a point look. "Thanks for telling me what was going on."

Jack face palmed. "Sorry, I got a little preoccupied. Last time I saw you though, you were exhausted and needed to sleep."

"That's no excuse." Merida answered. "Yeugh promised, Jack." She was so tired with this day.

"I was going to come back; I just got caught up with a few other things." Jack answered.

"Don't be mad at him." Hiccup added. "He was helping me. Without him I'd probably be getting ransomed right now."

"Well, it would've been nice if Ay knew what was going on." Her voice was rising. "Ay've bin wandering this blasted forest all morning looking for those Stabbington's to help Hiccup get away because it was might fault you got taken. And, I've had no idea what's been going on anywhere all day." She started pacing the horse as she ranted, letting out all her pent up frustration of the day. "And then I actually find them to learn that yeugh already escaped. Ay'm tired, and achy, and frustrated, and- and hungry, and those people at the pup were strange and unhelpful." She finished, finding nothing more to complain about. She had only just realized that she was kind of hungry.

"It's not my fault that you went wandering about when you've been ordered to stay in bed." Jack argued.

"Yeugh should have come told me."

"You were sleeping."

"Whoa whoa. You ran into the Stabbington Brothers while searching for me?" Hiccup asked.

"I had my bow on him. He wasn't goin' tae get near me."
"I hate to interrupt, but I really do need to find Rapunzel." Flynn cut in. "She's in danger if she stays with that woman any longer, so I'll just be going unless all three of you would like to come with me."

Flynn Rider had been watching the teenagers exchange with a mixture of amusement and impatience, and finally he felt that it had gone on long enough. He was worried about Rapunzel.

Hiccup, Jack, and Merida all stopped and looked at the third person, remembering that he was still there.

"Sorry." Jack apologized. "We should get going." He looked at Merida. "And you should head back to the castle. I promise that I will come back and tell you everything that happens."

Merida snorted. "Yeah, right. Ay'm coming with you. I haven't been riding about all day for nothing."

Jack looked at the determined set in his friend's face and knew there was no arguing with her, he looked to Flynn for help. The other man just shrugged.

"Let her come," He said. "Just let's go already." He mounted Maximus and helped Hiccup up behind and started along the cliff wall, looking for anything that would indicate the hidden tunnel he had found. The other two followed.

A few minutes later, Flynn spotted the rock he had hid behind while Maximus was looking for him. He peeled back the curtain of ivy on the cliff wall to reveal an opening in the mountain. Seconds later they were racing through the tunnel to the valley of Rapunzel's tower. Clouds were covering the sun here and the shadows made the valley dark.

Flynn, desperate now to see if Rapunzel was safe practically fell off the horse when they got there and called up the top.

"Rapunzel? Rapunzel, let down your hair." He called up. There was no sign of any movement. Worried he started to climb the tower by hand.

Suddenly, from above, they all heard a creak as a shutter was opened, and a second later a flood of hair was thrown from the widow to the ground. Flynn looked to the others, then began to climb the hair.

If you guys want to know what would have happened if Hiccup hadn't been able to escape from the Stabbington Brothers, you should check out this story on my friends account. This version is taking a slightly different turn, though the major points are still staying the same.

Hope you guys are enjoying this and I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for your support.