-What? What just happened? - Jack asked when he was able to speak.
-I told you she had a special gift- Hiccup answered sitting up –Thanks by the way- he addressed Rapunzel who blushed lightly and uttered an almost inaudible "You´re welcome".
-Ok, so now that´s taken care of what´s next mates? - Bunnymund inquired. His question was almost immediately answered by Duncan bursting through the door with Merida still in his arms and covered by his cape.
Duncan put her down softly and she stood, shaking a bit on the wooden floor of the cottage.
-Oh lass!- The witch was quick to remark –Ye must be freezing!- She added as she searched inside an old wooden trunk until she found was she was looking for, a thick woolen, blue dress with white cuffs.
-Here, put this on. Et has been waiting for you almost a thousand years-
Merida took the dress carefully and walked towards a corner of the hut, as far from the group as she could get. Duncan followed her and covered her with his cape while she changed into the ancient set of clothes.
Even if he tried not to, the boy couldn´t help but glance a bit at Merida´s bear body, anatomical perfection aside, Duncan noticed a set of tattoos he was completely certain Merida didn´t had before today.
Mainly because some of them extended almost to her elbows; so they would have been easily visible whenever the girl was wearing a t-shirt.
The tattoos themselves were tribal, symmetrical and Celtic in design, a pair extended from her armpits to her elbows in a complicated knot, while a second pair ran around her thighs, also a complex knot but with a very noticeable bear head in the middle.
The final pair of tattoos was right over her waist and was shaped as two bear paws that reached inwards, so that the claws almost touched each other and her belly button.
When she was finally dressed up Merida looked at the dress and moved around a bit, it was like it had been designed for her! Almost as comfortable as Edna´s outfit, but a thousand years older.
-Feels like Ae was born tae wear et- she stated, throwing back her head before asking
-Fine, so we are back in business, whit do we do now? - Seemingly recovered from her experience and ready for more.
To Merida´s great surprise Andhra remained quiet, up to now he had never failed to come up with a plan.
-Now we go back tae the clearing and kick Pitch in the bollocks!- Artair answered slamming his fist into his palm once he had noticed, like Merida, that Andhra wouldn´t be answering their questions this time.
Just then the witch appeared wearing a gigantic welding mask and holding something in a pair of pincers, something small which possessed an eerie blue glow. It was an arrowhead which she fit into a thin, already fletched, wooden shaft.
-While Ae support the idea, Ae think ye might also be in need of these- from the same trunk the woman produced an ancient quiver full of arrows and bow and also gave them to Merida, along with the magical arrowhead she had forged in their absence.
-Save that broad head until ye are completely certain that ye will hit yer target lass- she warned –Inside it resides the spirit of a wisp, the most sincere of the forest´s spirits. Pitch will nae stand et, and et will only fly straight and true if ye trust in et-
The redhead remained quiet, so this was some sort of magical arrowhead, that would hurt Pitch?
-Sae, do ye have a plan? - She asked after the redhead had taken the items and she was sure everyone was paying attention to her.
-We can´t attack Pitch head on like that again, that´s for sure- Hiccup stated getting back on his feet and testing his newly-grown leg.
-Well thank ye fir stating the obvious my dear- The witch answered sarcastically, causing Hiccup to cross his arms and remain quiet.
-Why don´t you go to the point woman? - Bunnymund intruded, beating Merida into making that remark by a split second.
-Hush ye overgrown puppy dog!- The witch replied hitting Bunnymund on top of the head with the pincers. The rabbit complained and clutched his head in pain.
-Sae since none of ye seem to understand the tiniest wee thing of whit is going on here, let me put et this way, fire can´t spread if there´s nothing to burn-
This only caused astonished looks from every member of the group so the witch continued explaining –This creature, Pitch Black, preys on the fear of people. Then he uses that power to corrupt, as he said, the magic in this land- As she explained the witch gave tiny steps around the cottage –Do ye understand now?-
This time Andhra was quick to reply –Sae whit we must do is change the battlefield!- He exclaimed excited –Draw him out of the forest! Show people there´s nothing to fear! If they no longer fear him his power will fade!-
-That´s how we beat him last time- Jack confirmed –But even then, the way I see it, if we get him out of the forest people will get hurt-
-Then Pitch must remain here- Andhra stated –We can however, lure the dragon out, destroying et while thousands of people watch would cripple Pitch´s power supply-
Everyone nodded or otherwise showed their agreement. –Divide and conquer! - North bellowed –Oldest trick in the book!-
-I´ll take care of the Black Death. There´s a whole chapter in The Book of Dragons on how to deal with a seadragonus giganticus maximus- Hiccup offered –You get Pitch-
-Oh nae, there´s nae way in Hel we will let you take on that alone- Artair said –The Highland heroes will go with ye. Et seems tae me anyway that the Guardians are way more used to dealing with Pitch Black than us-
Hiccup however suddenly became quite serious –You must help them deal with Pitch too, that army of his is too much for so few of them, I´ll handle the dragon-
Artair was about to insist but Andhra grabbed his shoulder softly and shook his head –Do ye not understand lad?-
-Understand whit? - Artair answered.
-Hiccup must do this alone, this is his fight remember? - Merida interrupted remembering what she had told Violet back in the airport –Everyone has one-
-Oh, I see- Artair was suddenly ashamed –Sae…ye, ye´re making this personal isn´t et?-
Hiccup nodded while his face remained stone-serious.
-Ok, Ae respect that- Artair patted the back of his own head still feeling terribly awkward. –But Ae still have one question- he asked - when are we doing all of this?-
The look in everyone´s faces provided him with an answer –Right now?-
Ok, so author´s note, I really hate those but this time it is really needed. First I wanted to apologize for taking so long to update and for the poor quality and length in this chapter. However bringing a story back from the dead is really tough and I promise I´m doing my best. More chapters will come at a regular basis now, since my school term is almost over and now that this transition chapter is finished I can move on to the good stuff. So please bear with me, I swear the following chapter will rock this earth. As always thanks for reading and if you leave a review of any kind I would be really grateful. Cheers!