Ah, bonjour. School is about to start, which means my schedule will become more regular and I'll try to start updating weekly again. I wrote most of this on the train today, so their might be a few errors, I was a bit out of it. Please inform me if their is. Thank you so much for the reviews, favourites and follows! Big thumbs up to all of you!

Stoick

Today was a bad day. I had spent the morning fixing a roof, of which the Twins had destroyed before they disappeared. Even in their absence I was left cleaning up their messes. In public, I kept a brave face. If I wanted others to stay calm, so shall I. But inside, I was scared, terrified. Where was he? What if my only son was dead? I had no way of knowing, and it could be a long time before I did know.

As I walked into my house, I let the charade fall like a clay mask, shattering as it hit the wooden floor. I'm not sure how much longer I could keep this up. I was even worried for those two young ruffians. I didn't know where they were, but knowing them, they were where the trouble was.

Even my own home could not bring me comfort. As I entered the kitchen, I could not help but notice the absence of my son's aura. There was no scribbling of pen on paper, no jingling of contraptions, no metallic thud as he fell over something, forgetting his metal leg.

I climbed up the stairs and entered his room. I had not been here since he left. There was an array of half-finished plans, inventions, hopes and dreams. I sat on his small wooden bed, and it almost caved in under my weight; he was so much smaller than me. Fragile.

I sat and waited. In that time, I imagined him there, hunched over his desk, etching plans and designs onto parchment in the glow of candlelight. I eyed his latest invention. Leather armour, which he claimed would enable him to fly alongside his best friend. Of course, I thought the idea was preposterous, but he insisted it would work. He never got the chance to test it.

Stop it! He wasn't dead. At least, I didn't think so. Please, please, let the Scots be empathetic people, who thought my son was just a small kid with big dreams. Don't let them be the great, treacherous warriors the legends claim them to be.

I was alone now. One family member stolen by dragons, the other by his own aspirations, leaving a tired soldier to mourn on his own.

One large teardrop fell from my left eye, slowly descending down my weathered face. It paused at the tip of my nose, before falling and splattering on my scarred, oversized hand. I quickly flicked it away, disgusted at my own weakness.

There was a sudden loud commotion outside, which was fairly normal, but startled me out my woeful state. There were loud cracks and crashing noises, the sound of a building being destroyed. There was only one entity that could cause that much havoc in such a small amount of time; the Twins were back.

Merida

It is really quite frightening, knowing that your family is about to be responsible for a multitude of deaths, no matter which side they are on. I stride down the halls, my dress sweeping out behind me. I look to my left; soldiers training in the courtyard, how long did they have left? To my right; one of the kitchen staff holding a child close to her chest as she cooed to her in a soft, motherly voice. These are the people we are sworn to protect. Were we doing our duty? I did not know.

If I just had something to give me a forewarning, whether it was a voice from the heavens, a guiding hand from the past, or even just a gut feeling, but I was left with nothing.

Even my parents were conflicted. My father thought a war was the only answer, while my mother insisted there must be another way. As I went further up the hallway, I could hear them arguing, even now. They were in the dining room, my mother begging Dad to see reason, violence would not be the answer to our problems. We didn't even know what our problems were. All we knew is that the Vikings had taken a sudden interest in Scotland, and they had possession of a deadly weapon, one we were powerless against.

"Elinor, dear, what else can we do? They'll flatten us if we don't fight back! We need to be ready!"

"Do you see any Vikings here?" she threw back.

"No, but they will be. If the stories are anything to go by, these people are bloodthirsty, and crazy. They will stop at nothing."

"They have dragons Fergus! We know nothing about dragons. How will we compete with that?"

"We'll find a way. We have to.

"No, we don't."

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

"Just let the dust settle, we need to be able to see the problem clearly, before we can fix it."

"There's no time for that! We need to act, now."

I couldn't bear anymore. This was happening all too quickly. This kingdom was so peaceful. Why did bloody Hiccup have to come and destroy it all!? Peace? He wanted peace? I'll show him peace, a piece of my mind, that is. I ran away from the room, towards Angus' stall. They wouldn't let me out of the castle, we were under complete lockdown, so I threw my arms around Angus, burying my face in his mane and ignored the rest of the world.

In my head, I was a fierce Celtic warrior, solitary, and I bowed to no one. I could stand on the edge of a cliff face, hail raining down and the wind whipping around me, but I did not move. No element could move me, no time could erase me. I was strong and eternal. Emotion was beneath me.

But reality returned, and with it, the turmoil of utter confusion. Why was I so disturbed, what was upsetting me? I didn't really know. I guess I knew, deep down, that no good would come of this, that it would just bring pain.

()()()()()()

I don't know how long I spent at Angus' stable, but after a long while, I headed back towards the castle. I took the long route, climbing up a ladder and walking along the castle walls. Night was nearing, and a mist was falling, snaking its way towards the large stone walls of the castle. On the way back, I ran into my parents, who were walking in the opposite direction. They often spent their evenings walking together, and due to our current situation, the walls were currently the best place to do so.

We drew to a halt, analysing each other. It looked like my parents were trying to come up with something to say, somehow explain to me how everything could change so quickly, try to comfort me. I didn't really want to hear it. I was about to push past when something caught my eye. My mother and father saw it too.

A man walked straight towards us, alone. He looked as if he had materialised out of the mist below. All three of us froze and stared. He strode up to us with his lanky legs, almost appearing to glide. His clothing looked like it had been made out of the forest itself, vines creeping down his arms and up his neck, framing his face. His mouse brown hair was long and straight, pulled back from his face in a tight pony-tail. We all watched his approach warily.

He stopped short in front of the wall, and looked up. I had to mask a gasp of shock when I saw his face. His ears were upright, and pointy, but that wasn't the most terrifying thing about him. His eyes were large and slanted- and they were completely black, as if his eyes consisted of one large pupil. The remaining light glinted of them, making them even more shocking. What was he? I had to stop myself from quivering.

My dad woke from his trance and turned towards one of the wall guards.

"Get some men down there now! Let's see what it wants."

The guard nodded slowly, and pulled himself away from the spectacle below, looking slightly dazed. Dad took off at run, and climbed down the nearest ladder. My mother gave me a nervous smile, then her face fell when she saw mine.

"Stay right there, don't think for a moment that you are coming!" She then picked up her skirts and followed her husband. I stood, stunned. Maybe for once I would listen to my mother.

I leaned over the wall, trying to get a better look at what was happening. I was lucky, the wind was blowing in just the right direction, meaning that what was said below made its way up the wall towards me.

My father had his sword drawn and his men quickly circled around the stranger. My mother strolled up and took her place at Fergus' side, her face composed into a regal mask.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Dad commanded, all hint of his jolly character removed from his features.

The man gave a slight smile, not looking at all fazed by the drawn weapons. He stood tall, and looked directly at my father, not even glancing at the guards.

"I am Ailis, messenger of the Un-Seelie Court. I have brought a proposal to you, from my Queen."

My mother's eyes widened in shock, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from crying out in surprise.

"I have never heard of such court," my father said in a warning voice.

"Then you are not familiar with the world of Faerie?"

"No," my father practically spat.

Faerie? Surely not, they are just myths, legends, used to explain things that we cannot explain ourselves.

"I am acquainted with the stories of the fae, and most of them end up with the human in a lot of grief. Why should we listen to anything you have to say?" Elinor inquired suspiciously.

"They are just stories," Ailis said, with dismissive flick of his hand, "we are really quite reasonable people, who just want to protect this land."

"Oh, really?" my father asked, his sword still pointed at the faerie.

"Yes, really," he replied with a cold gaze. "My queen wanted to let you know, that her armies are at your disposal, to protect Scotland from the attacks of the Vikings."

"We don't need your help."

"Oh, I think you do. What of the dragons? We fae have fought many of their type before, they would be no trouble for us."

My father's sword lowered a bit, and it looked like he was actually considering the proposal. Elinor saw this as well, and quickly turned to him.

"Fergus, he is a faerie. They are not to be trusted, it will only end in heartache."

However, Dad had stopped listening.

"Alright then, we accept your offer."

"Excellent! We do, however, require one thing in return."

"Oh?" Fergus asked, a hint of a growl in his voice, and he raised his sword again.

"Relax, all we require is the blood of a hero. I'm sure there are many of those in the Viking ranks. If you bring us one, alive, your debt will be repaid. Does that not sound reasonable?"

"I wouldn't be so sure about the hero thing," my father murmured. "I guess it does sound reasonable. Very well, if you lend us your fae army, we will bring you a hero."

"Perfect," Ailis smiled, then winked out of existence. However, just before he disappeared, he glanced up and caught my eye, a terrifying smile still pinned to his face, his teeth ragged and pointy. My heart sped in my chest- and he was gone.

There were so many things that were wrong with what just happened. I turned around and collapsed against the wall, my breathing laboured. Only one thing kept running through my mind. This is bad. This is very bad.

Hiccup

We arrived in typical Twin fashion. They thought that they should let the whole town know that they had returned, so they set light to a house, and then landed on it, causing the roof to cave in, and they fell through.

Sighing loudly, I landed nearby and watched the Twins evacuate the house, a silly grin stuck on both of their faces. Well, we certainly had the village's attention.

My father came out of our hut, his eyes searching the area. When he caught sight of Toothless, his eyes widened, and his gaze moved to find me. I gave him a small, guilty smile.

"Hiccup!" he cried, and he ran to give me one of his massive hugs.

"Dad…can't…breathe."

"Sorry son." He let me go and held me at arms-length to appraise me. "Are you all in one piece, do you still have a leg?"

"Yes, Dad. I'm fine, really."

There was a sudden loud racket behind my father, and I leant around him to see what was going on. Astrid had the Twins by the ears and was shouting at them aggressively.

"I can't believe you two would do that to me! Actually, as a matter of fact, I can. You were left in my care and you ran off like toddlers who saw a pretty butterfly! What is wrong with you!?"

"Astrid, we can explain!"

"Oh?"

"Well, err…"

"Umm…"

"We found Hiccup!" Ruffnut offered.

"Oh, really? Where is he then?" she hissed in disbelief.

I thought this was the moment where I should intercede. I stepped out from behind my father, and Toothless followed.

"Uh, hi… Astrid."

"Hiccup?!" Her eyes widened and she dropped the Twins. She walked slowly towards me, as if she were in a dream. I gave her a weak smile. She stopped in front of me.

"You're alive?"

"Umm, yeah, I'm fine."

She looked at me with wide eyes looking as if she might cry. Then they narrowed, and she gave me a very hard punch, knocking me into my father. Her rage was now focused on me.

"Your fine!? How could you do that to us!? We were so worried, and we spent every day look for you, and…" She looked at me again, and she paused. Then she gave me a hug, whispering into my ear.

"…and I missed you so much."

I hugged her back before realising that the entire village was watching us.

"Ahh, Astrid?"

She let me go, and quickly caught onto my train of thought.

"Oh, uh..." she rubbed her arm modestly and gave an embarrassed laugh. My father's booming laugh soon drowned out Astrid's, and the entire village joined in.

"I'm just glad you're safe son."

"Ahh… Dad, about that."

"Hiccup?" My Dad's eyes flashed to mine in alarm.

"No, Dad, its nothing like that."

"Hiccup," he warned, "why are you not safe?"

At this point, the Twins felt they should intervene.

"They made him jump of a cliff! We saved him," Tuffnut informed us.

"What!?"

"No Dad! It wasn't like that."

"They made you jump off a cliff? They were trying to kill you?!" His voice began to rise.

"No, I just had to climb a really tall rock, to prove my worthiness."

"That doesn't make sense. They were trying to kill you!" my father yelled.

"No, they weren't… they were just trying too… oh, this is so messed up."

"Yes, they are."

"Dad! Listen to me!"

But, once again, I had lost his attention. He turned his back to me to address the large crowd, which I was pretty sure consisted of almost the entire village.

"My son has returned from the land of Scotland, safe, thanks to Ruffnut and Tuffnut, but not before they tried to have my son killed! We are Vikings! Do we let them get away with this?"

"No!" the entire crowd cheered.

"No," I said to myself, cynically.

"Tomorrow morning, when the sun rises, we are going down to that horrible country, and we are going to show them that they do not want to tangle with the Hairy Hooligans!"

There was a great cheer, and I felt my face go white. Couldn't they see that this was just history repeating? Different enemy, but same Viking stubbornness.

Astrid had started cheering with them, raising her double headed axe in the air, but then she saw my face, and her cheer caught in her throat. Her eyes widened questioningly and she started walking towards me. As she passed, she gestured at me to follow.

Once we had separated ourselves from the crowd, she turned to me, grabbing my shoulders and holding me at arms-length.

"What's wrong?"

"They really weren't bad people, the Scots. They weren't that different from us, not really."

"And we're about to launch an attack on them?"

"Yeah."

"What about what the Twins said?"

"I was climbing a rock as part of an initiation, to prove that I would risk my life for peace between us. I fell."

"That doesn't make sense!"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Guess not."

She frowned at me, dropping her arms, and leaning back on her heels.

"This is a mess. You must feel terrible." She smiled mockingly.

I returned the smile, "Thank you, for summing that up."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Well, we've done crazy and stupid, so how about insane?"

"I love it. But no losing limbs this time!"

"I'll try my best."

She grinned, "It's good to have you back."

We grabbed the rest of the team, who were scattered around the village, and began to formulate a plan.

Da da da, we're dead. :D And now the poop really hits the fan. Who saw the faerie thing coming?

Ailis- Irish name meaning truth.

Un-Seelie Court- These are the bad guys. You don't want to mess with any faerie, but these guys will purposely go out of their way to hurt you. The Seelie caught is their opposing court, and they're a little friendlier.

I hope that was all clear, and made sense. I apologise if I spell 'faerie' different at different times, there are so many different ways to spell it, and I confuse myself. Please review, I'd love to know your thoughts.*gives creepy grin and reclines in chair, stroking white cat deviously*

Bu-bye. ;)