The group sat in a solemn silence for a few minutes as everyone darted glanced at each other, almost daring one another to tell their own tale of woe. None was doing this more so than Hiccup who had what looked like a mix between a half-asked glare and a sad expression etched into his face. The others kind of regretted pushing him into telling them about what had happened to his mother now.
"Cannae say I've got much that can match up to that," Merida mumbled, tucking her knees under her chin. "Well...kinda...but I was a wee lass then. Barely remember what 'appened."
"What?" Astrid frowned. Hiccup stared at the redhead with a pressing look in his eyes. Merida sighed and buckled – well, it was only fair. Lifting her hair out of the way with one hand, Merida turned away from the rest of the group and lifted the back of her shirt up with the other hand. Most of her back was covered with the tattoo of the royal crest that had supposedly once belonged to Merida's ancestors...but hidden by her tank top and standing out a fair amount against the dark ink of the tattoo was a series of four long white stripes that stretched across Merida's lower back.
"Oh!" Rapunzel gasped in horror. Eugene retched slightly, as did Jack, whilst Astrid and Hiccup also cried out in horror.
"Holy...mother of nature..." Jack cussed. "What happened?" Merida let her top fall back down her back and let go of her hair, shaking it around her head again.
"Like I said – I was a wee lass back then," she shrugged. "Barely recall everything but...what I do remember...donnae like remembering it."
"We've all got baggage," Hiccup pointed out. Merida nodded in understanding.
"Bear attack," she said bluntly. Rapunzel squealed. "That's what happened...long story short."
"Hey, Hiccup just gave us his long version," Eugene reminded the girl. "We've got all weekend."
"Alright! Fine!" Merida huffed. "I was...what? Five? Mi' fam'ly was out for a picnic."
Merida grinned and ducked behind a large bush, giggling as she heard her mother calling out - they were playing their usual game of hide-and-seek, a staple for any of these family picnics. "Where's my wee princess?" Elinor's cheery, smiling voice called. Merida buried her face in her head of bright red curls and tried to stifle her giggles. "Where is my tiny, noble maiden, fair?" "Has the wee lass won again?" Fergus chuckled from the main picnic area, chugging back some of his wife's homemade elderflower cordial with a Scottish Salmon sandwich in his other hand. "She might have done!" Elinor called back playfully. Merida coughed to stifle a giggle, finding it harder and harder not to burst out laughing. "Ooh, when I find her I'm going to gobble her up if she doesn't reveal herself to me!" Elinor added dramatically. Merida finally lost it and jumped from her hiding place, holding her arms out wide in a dramatic reveal. "Here I am, Mummy!" she grinned joyfully. "I win!" "Aah!" Elinor cheered, lifting her five-year-old daughter daughter off her feet and whirling her round in the air. Merida spread her arms out like wings, her laughter mingling with the sound of the bubbling brook close to the clearing that the family frequented for picnics. "There she is! My little summer firecracker!" "The lass conquers again!" Fergus boomed cheerfully from the picnic blanket. "See how she soars above us mere mortals in her triumph!" "I'm flying! I'm flying!" Merida crowed, flapping her arms as her mother brought her down into a laughing hug. "Let's play again! Again, again!" "Let's take a break for a few minutes, Merida," Elinor suggested, placing her daughter back down again. "Catch your breath for a bit." Merida reluctantly relented and plopped herself down next to her father, helping herself to some sandwiches and some drink, flushing almost as red as her own hair as her mother reprimanded her for eating too quickly and getting crumbs all over her face. As the family chatted and laughed, Merida's five-year-old brain relished in the surroundings - the greenery of the Scottish forest in the summer time, the gentle burble of the brook near the clearing, the sound of birdsong echoed through the branches on occasion… It was a good place to spend a summer afternoon for a five-year-old. "Alright! My turn," Fergus announced. Merida squealed in delight, eager to start playing again. She already had a large winning streak (although that may be a parent allowing their child to feel the thrill of winning for a while) and was determined to keep it up. "I'll start by counting, wee one," Fergus continued. "You've got until twenty!" Merida fidgeted with excitement as Elinor covered her eyes to prevent her from 'cheating' by helping her husband before Fergus shut his eyes and began counting. As soon as he did, Merida scampered off to find one of her favourite hiding spots within the trees. She always made sure never to stray too far from the clearing - she didn't want to get lost after all - but went far enough in so that she couldn't be found too easily. Meanwhile, Fergus paused in his counting and glanced at his wife, who was looking a little worried. "What's bothering you, dear?" he asked gently. "I just got a call from the ballet school the other day," Elinor replied. "Apparently Merida's not been paying much attention in class…I donnae want to get complaints about our daughter being a problem child!" "Ah, quit your worrying, dear," Fergus comforted. "She's five and you know her attention span. She'll grow out of it - donnae you worry." "But I do worry, Fergus!" Elinor protested. "I cannae help it! You know that!" "And I barely ever worry - that's why we're a wonderful match," Fergus grinned before turning his attention back to the game of hide-and-seek. "…nineteen, twenty! Ready or not! here comes Daddy!" In the trees, Merida snorted into her palms as she tried her hardest not to giggle. She'd picked a pretty good hiding spot, if she did say so herself. Her green t-shirt and dark skirt also meant that she blent in with the shadows very well. It would take a while for her father to find her. Keeping an eye out for her father acting as the Seeker, Merida's playful smirk remained plastered on her face until she heard a slight rustling in the trees behind her. That rustle was far from the normal sounds that Merida heard in this forest. Her playful joy suddenly dissipating, Merida slowly turned around nervously as the rustling drew closer. The sight that greeted her turned her stifled laughter into an unrepressed scream of terror. "BEAR!" Fergus and Elinor started in horror as Merida burst from the trees, closely pursued by a large bear…larger than was normal for this area of Scotland. Elinor shrieked and ran towards Merida, scooping her into her arms before fleeing towards the edge of the trees, abandoning the picnic. Fergus began racing through the trees to find help but before Merida and Elinor could catch up to him, the bear stormed in front of them, eyes burning madly with crazed hunger…it didn't seem real. With a swipe of its powerful paw, the bear sent both Merida and Elinor flying, sending the five-year-old tumbling from her mother's arms. "ELINOR! MERIDA!" Fergus yelled in terror, skidding to a halt. Elinor fell dazed to the floor, as did the five-year-old redhead but the bear seemed to have interest only in Merida. The young girl screeched and covered her head in a desperate attempt to protect herself, curling facedown on the grassy clearing floor… A searing pain shot through Merida's pain and she didn't even realise that she was hearing her own screams mingled with her mother before she blacked out.
Once again, stunned silence filled Hiccup's living room as Merida recounted her own brush with death, one that had left her with four distinct white scars stretched across the diagonal of her back.
"That's…that must have been horrible," Hiccup remarked, shock filling his own voice. Merida had been so young during that attack…he couldn't begin to imagine how traumatised she must have been.
"How did a bear like that get into a supposedly safe forest anyway?" Jack frowned.
"Nobody knows," Merida replied with a shudder. "All I was told when I woke up is tha' mi' dad came back and fought the bear off, makin' sure me and Mum werenae hurt too bad…"
Rapunzel let out a slight cough but didn't make any further comment - everyone knew what she meant to say regardless. If a nearly fatal bear attack leaving Merida with gashes in her back was 'not hurt too bad' then the others hated to see Merida's idea of a mortal injury.
"…he lost a leg because of it, but it's because of him that Mum and I are still alive," Merida explained. "He kept that bear occupied until the forest rangers arrived."
"Wow…" Astrid murmured. That was all she really do…make a quiet exclamation of horror at the news of her friend's ordeal. Rapunzel shifted awkwardly from her place on the arm of Eugene's chair.
"Well…I guess…it's my turn now…" she mumbled nervously. "I can't say my story's got anything on how horrible Hiccup's and Merida's were, though…"
"We're listening, Rapunzel - no one's judging who has had the worst near-death experience," Jack comforted. "If you want to get it off your chest, go right ahead."
"I…I kind of need to, now that I've heard your stories," Rapunzel admitted. "I don't know much of it…I was pretty much a baby. All I know is what Mother's told me."
"Gothel?" Eugene clarified. Rapunzel nodded.
"So…what is your story?" Astrid asked softly. Rapunzel shrugged.
"Well…I've…never really known my real parents," she explained. "It's obvious to anyone with eyes that I'm not Gothel's daughter. But…the way we became a family…it's…"
"…complicated," Eugene grimaced, finishing his girlfriend's sentence for her. Rapunzel nodded before continuing.
"It was April, I think," she began. "I was very, very small…too young to really remember anything. Gothic told me that…one night there was a massive storm and she was on her way home from work at the local florists and…she found me."
"Wait…you were abandoned on the roadside?!" Hiccup spluttered in shock.
"Not quite," Rapunzel shook her head. "I was lucky Gothel saw me, honestly. She told me that there was a flash of lightning and something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye from a nearby alleyway."
"Taking a second look, she saw a tiny figure curled up in a puddle," Eugene explained. "Looking closer, she found out that it was a baby."
"You?" Merida blinked in shocked horror, looking at Rapunzel who nodded in reply.
"I was so lucky she found me," she sniffed. "If no one had found me…there's no way I would have made it."
"Have you ever tried to find your real parents?" Jack asked cautiously.
"Oh, sure!" Rapunzel confirmed. "Mother's still looking to this day - she says she might close to finding them," she explained, hopefully. "I…I don't want to think that they left me to die…" she choked slightly. "I want it to just be some mistake…I want them to be looking for me…"
"You'll find them," Eugene promised. "You'll see." Rapunzel smiled ever so slight and squeezed his hand. Hiccup smiled sadly from his seat.
"You know…at least we all got a happy ending out of all this," he shrugged without the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I don't know if anyone else has any death defying tales to tell but…"
"Oh, no - I'm good…in fact, I'm seriously recounting my lucky stars now," Jack said quickly, darting a concerned gaze around his friends. Eugene put his hands up.
"Hey, I don't do sob-back-story, remember?" he pointed out. "Mine's pretty much the unlucky orphan tale. Nothing like what you three have been through," he added, gesturing to Rapunzel, Hiccup and Merida. Astrid forced a smile which grew more genuine as she spoke.
"I guess…here's to a happy ending?" she suggested, holding up he mug which contained the dregs of a coffee within. The others smiled, happy to have their dark pasts off their chests as they collected their own mugs and joined the toast, regardless of whether or not there actually was any drink left in their mugs.
"To a happy ending," they chorused.
Deep within the woods outside Burgess, the woman paced through her tiny cottage once again, watched closely by her dog and cat. A large pestle with an equally large mortar rested on the side, the vessel bubbling with a cloudy substance that couldn't seem to make up its mind as to whether it was liquid or gas.
"Is it not the time?" the cat asked nervously, its ears flat against its head.
"Soon enough," the woman replied. "The timing must be perfect."
"But why so precise? Why all of them at the same moment?" the dog whined, its tail tucked underneath its body.
"I told you before," the woman answered with a soft calm that chilled the room without the late autumn winds rattling the windows. "I won't let my food get away from me again."
"But spirits?!" the cat mewed.
"A change in palette," the woman shrugged. "And what better than four of the most revered beings of the Realm of Moonlight?"
Double update today because I missed it on Wednesday. We get another glimpse at the villain, and some more of the gang's backstory. I'll see you guys on Wednesday with the next chapter!
Also, trivia for this story is now being added to the Trivia segment of my profile page. If you want to see any of the background information for the story so far, be sure to check it out (more will be added as the story gets updated).