Merry Christmas! Here's my gift to you guys: a new chapter filled with Mericcup moments! Not only that though. This chapter also features how Hiccup escaped Berk and how he lost his leg.
Have you guys seen the new trailer for HTTYD 2? OH MY GOD! I do NOT want to wait another 6 months! If you read carefully, you'll see that I added some stuff from the trailer. I also added a song title from Brave. If you spot it, well good on you!
Can I ask you guys a small favor? If English is not your native tongue, could you sent your language's variation of "Merry Christmas" in review or pm? Why? Because I'm absolutely fascinated by other languages. And, considering English isn't my native tongue, I may as well say "Vrolijk Kerstfeest." (That is Dutch, by the way)
The second POV that shows up in the chapter will make you guys very, very happy. An extra Christmas present, if you will.
Warnings: I guess you could say some scary images, if you're a person who visualizes everything like me.
Chapter 23: Truth
Merida's POV
The journey back was as agonizing as the party last night. If William attempted to talk to me, attempted to form an excuse, I'd look away. When he tried to ride closer to me, I'd widen the gap between us. I was relieved when he finally gave up on his advances; he wouldn't have succeeded in anyway
I couldn't love William. Not as a friend, not as a fiancée, not as a husband. How could I when someone else had already captured all the love I possess? The mere thought of him made my heart pound and my stomach feel light and make me feel happy and shy too.
I smiled when his smile came to my mind and my heart clenched when I pictured his handsome face.
"Your Majesty." The calm words broke me out of my reverie. I looked at the man who broke it: General Pitchiner.
"Yes?" I asked him. He smiled at me and pointed his hand to something in the distance. He pointed at home. Not caring what William thought or that I looked nothing like a princess, I coaxed Angus into a full gallop. We quickly left the entourage behind us.
It was just me, Angus, the wind, and freedom.
Jack's POV
I groaned when pain suddenly shot through my shoulder. I had been refreshing the hay in the stables and I had accidently moved my arm the wrong way. Aster had immediately taken over the job while I sat down, waiting for the pain to go away.
The physicians had told me that the wound wasn't that severe and that I'd live but it certainly didn't feel that way.
When the pain was gone, I went back to work. I was hardly there for a second when the familiar drumming of a large Clydesdale resounded. I turned around and saw Angus and the undoubted red hair of Merida.
"Good evening, my lady." I chuckled but she didn't smile. She jumped off of Angus and flung her arms around me. She let go when I screamed in pain.
"Sorry." She mumbled,
"Don't worry about it." She suddenly punched me on my uninjured shoulder,
"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" She nearly yelled at me,
"So long as Artair leaves Rapunzel alone, I won't!" I retorted, rubbing my punched shoulder. Merida smiled,
"Then you should be happy to know that Artair stayed behind in MacInroy Castle." I didn't believe her. Why would Artair stay behind when nothing could be done to him? The King and Queen were too afraid of what William would do if they spoke up against him.
"Then who is coming in his place? Cináed?" Merida shook her head,
"No. General Pitchiner is." How was that any better? Merida smiled again when she saw my expression, "Trust me, Jack. Kozmotis has more loyalty, more honor and soul than William could ever hope to have. Besides, his late wife was from England, so why would he hold any prejudices against you?"
"His wife was from England?" She nodded. I looked at her and just shrugged my shoulders.
"Is Hendry still working?" She asked suddenly, rather quietly too.
"He is. He took on an apprentice a few days ago. He should still be in the smithy with the boy." She nodded earnestly and smiled,
"Thank you!" She nearly squealed and ran off towards the castle. I looked at Aster, who shrugged at the princess' sudden excitement. I shook my head and went back to work.
Merida's POV
I was all but running towards the smithy. I couldn't contain my excitement. It took all my inner will not to burst through the smithy door. I took a deep breath and slowly opened it.
And there he was.
Hendry was hammering a sheet of glowing iron. The iron was stuck tightly in-between tongs held by a young boy with gold hair. Whenever Hendry told him, the boy would turn the metal. As the glow started to disappear, Hendry took over the tongs and brought it back to the fire, the boy pulling on a line that blew air into the fire.
The boy noticed me first and tapped Hendry lightly on his shoulder. He meet my eyes and we just look. He left the metal in the fire and slowly walked to me. My breathing became unintentionally heavy and my heart began to pound again.
He still felt too far from me when he bowed and muttered something. He stood back up; that's when I noticed the stubble that was growing on his chin.
"Sandy," He called to the boy, "Why don't you go home? It's nearly sunset." The boy nodded and quietly ran out the room, bowing his head towards me as he ran by.
"Your apprentice?" I inquired after the boy had closed the door. Hendry nodded.
"How was MacInroy Castle?" He muttered. I sighed and sat down on a table,
"A nightmare. How was your time here?" Hendry crossed his arms and leaned against the anvil, right across from me,
"Eventful but lonely." Lonely? Had he missed me too?
"Lonely?" He sighed but smiled,
"Well, not very lonely. I made a really good friend."
"Who?" He stood up,
"I'll introduce you to him." He walked to the door and opened it, "Meet me by the edge of the forest." And he was gone.
Still Merida's POV
"Where are we going?" I whined as Hendry continued to drag me through the forest. He looked over his shoulder and smiled,
"You'll see." He kept pulling me and kept refusing to answer my questions. He walked through very familiar sections of the forest but eventually we went to areas I had ever to let alone even knew existed.
After a while, we entered a cove and I gasped at the sheer beauty of it. I hardly noticed that Hendry let go of my hand as I looked around. I couldn't see a lot. I spotted a large, seemingly black rock and tried to climb onto it but when I touched it, it moved!
I fell to the ground as it turned around to face me menacingly, spreading it large wings and baring it's teeth.
I screamed,
"DRAGON!" The dragon crept closer and closer. I tried to get up but my legs collapsed each time.
"Toothless! STOP!" The growling of the dragon stopped. When I looked at him, he was completely docile and Hendry was petting its nose! I stood up, my shaking legs barely able to carry me.
That when I noticed that Hendry had put on some kind of leather armor. He looked at me, apologetically. He took a step towards me but I took a step back,
"I-I'm so sorry." He stuttered, all the while keeping the beast from approaching me, "He usually isn't like that."
"He?" I barely managed to say. He straightened his back and stepped aside so I could see the dragon
"Merida, I want you to meet Toothless." The dragon gave me a dirty look and growled at me. He made a hand signal to it and the dragon sat down on its hind legs. Hendry came to me and whispered, "Do you trust me?" I look straight into his green eyes, the sight calming me. I nodded. He took my hand and pulled me slowly to the dragon.
I heard him whisper something to the dragon and it came slowly towards me. A wave of fear caused me to squeeze Hendry's hand,
"It's alright." He cooed. When the dragon was close enough, Hendry wrapped his free arm around its neck to keep it in place and brought my hand closer to its snout. The dragon closed its eyes as my hand touched the hard scales.
The dragon opened its large eyes and stared at me, calm. He growled and crooned.
"He says you're pretty." I pulled my hand from Toothless' snout.
"You understand him?" Hendry smiled and gave Toothless a pat on his neck,
"Every single word." The dragon crooned again, "Toothless, no!" Hendry yelled at him. Toothless rolled his eyes and crooned again, "Well, try this one." and Hendry wrapped himself around Toothless throat, trying to push him. Toothless stood up and carried Hendry easily over to the pond, "Yeah," I heard Hendry challenge, "You wouldn't hurt a one-legged-," He looked over his shoulder and screamed when he saw the water Toothless was threatening to throw him into.
Toothless rolled onto his back and pushed Hendry to the ground. He began to mock punch Toothless, "Dragons, enemies again!" The dragon simply let his head fall onto Hendry's stomach, causing the man to groan loudly. Then Toothless began to lick him. Somehow, Hendry managed to get out from under the dragon and look at his dragon saliva covered form. I burst out laughing.
Hendry looked at me to his drenched self then back at me before he started laughing too. Toothless seemed to smile with us and even laugh!
The dragon nudged the back of Hendry. He turned around and patted the dragon's muzzle. I watched the two, the love and bond they shared reminding me of Angus,
"What do you think of him?" Hendry suddenly asked. I walked to the dragon and stroked his neck,
"He's amazing." I said in awe. I slowly moved my hand to Toothless' muzzle, still amazed at the dragon. When I reached his muzzle, my hand touched something else. Not the dragon's muzzle but Hendry's hand. I pulled my hand away, shyly and awkwardly. My cheeks flared as Hendry looked shyly at the ground.
"Would you- Would you like to go for a ride?" The question took me aback for a moment. Ride on a dragon? Do something that I never believed to be possible?
A smile crept upon my face as I nodded. Hendry smiled and nodded briefly as he gracefully placed himself on the saddle. He looked down at me and held out his hand. I took it, trying to ignore the burning in my cheeks, and sat behind him, wrapping my arms around him.
"Let's go, Toothless. But be gentle." Hendry warned. The dragon crooned and before I could blink my eyes, had spread his wings and gone into the sky. I shut my eyes tight and held on to Hendry like my life depended on it. The whistling of wind I could hear in my ears for a minute before it disappeared. I felt Hendry's warm hand touching mine,
"Open your eyes." I did. I've often told myself that riding on Angus was freedom itself but flying on Toothless in the clouds was twice that sensation. Never in my life could I have imagined that I would see the world from so high. Never could I imagine I would be able to touch the sky. I reached up to touch a cloud. I was surprised to only feel air pass through and the light feel of water on them.
I gasped when Toothless suddenly dropped a little bit. My arms automatically clutched themselves around Hendry. He patted my hand before turning Toothless towards the sunset.
"What do you think?" He asked. I could barely talk. What I saw, how I felt could hardly be described in words,
"It's-" I started, "It's incredible." I caught him looking at me and I smiled. He averted my gaze. I didn't miss him sighing and his shoulders tensing, "Hendry, what's wrong?"
"There's-" He paused, "There's something I want to show you."
Hiccup's POV
I turned Toothless to the north, down the same route we accidently took during our first flight.
I was flying to Berk.
Only an hour had passed when we arrived. During that time, Arevndole's Fire lit the skies but I didn't look; the weight of what I was going to do too heavy to ignore.
Instead of landing on the beach, I landed in the former town center.
"What is this place?" Merida asked as I slid off Toothless. I held a hand out to her,
"This is where I was born." I explained as she took my hand and I helped her down, "In that house." I pointed to the highest hill, where the ruins of my old home could still be seen. She walked away from Toothless and looked around with her mouth open slightly,
"But this," She put her hand on a beam of black wood, "This isn't Scottish land. This is-" She gasped. Her hand dropped and she looked at me, realizing the truth, "You- You're-"
"Yes," Her eyes widened, "I'm a Viking" I went onto my knees and bowed my head to expose my neck, "Throw me in jail and lob off my head." Merida was quiet,
"You're a Viking." She gasped. I lifted my head,
"Yes." She became silent again, looking around at the ruins then back at me,
"I thought Vikings were bigger." I looked at her, having expected her to say anything but that. I shook my head as I stood back up,
"Why'd you think they called me Hiccup?"
"Hiccup?" I nodded "Just like to son of Stoick the Vast." I took a step back and spread my arms, hoping she was prepared for more truths,
"I am the son of Stoick the Vast." As they had so many times already that day, her eyes widened,
"You're supposed to be dead." She all but yelled. I chuckled sarcastically,
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you," I gave a mocking bow, "Your Majesty." Merida became silent again, looking again at the destruction, the ruins of my old home. She must have heard stories of how the Scots had destroyed his place and now she could actually see the damage. I joined her when she stopped at the ruins of what once was the smithy.
"How did you escape?" She whispered as she saw the remains of tools and bent swords and broken shafts of axes. I looked away to the ground, the memories flooding back,
"It isn't a pretty story." She placed a hand on my shoulder,
"Tell me. Please."
Merida's POV
We sat down on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea and the endless sky filled with stars and a full moon. I listened as Hendry- Hiccup started his tale,
"It happened two years into the war, about 11 years ago. It was nighttime; I was at home, trying to fall asleep but too scared to do so. The ice had recently melted and that meant that the war would start again. After a while, I fell asleep but only a few hours later, I woke up to the sound of an alarm; the Scots were attacking." He looked down at his hands, his eyes having a rim of tears in them, "Though I don't remember clearly, I know I went to the smithy as I was an apprentice back then. Somehow, the smithy caught fire and the blacksmith, Gobber, yelled at me to run and hide. I ran into the havoc of the fighting. I only remember sounds; the sound of metal clashing, men shouting orders, wood burning and," He bit into his fist and the tears were closer to winning the fight, "Gods, the screaming. The screams of children being burnt alive in the houses that were supposed to shield them. The screams of men and women as a sword ran through the armor that was supposed to protect them."
"Somehow in the inferno, I ran into my father. Remember how I said that he never showed any sign that he loved me?" I nodded, "At that moment, he said something that might prove that wrong. It was one word and the last thing he ever said to me. He said- No, he yelled: run!
"I ran and hid and every day after that I regret choosing that hiding spot. I could clearly see the Scots rounding up anybody that was still alive. Among them was my dad." A tear rolled down his cheek, "I watched them forcing him onto his knees and they held him down by his shoulders as another took aim at his neck. I didn't watch it happen but I heard the sword swing and something hitting the ground." He wrapped his arms around himself and looked down again. I placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping to bring him some comfort. He looked at me and smiled, though it disappeared as he continued,
"Next thing I knew, I was running to the docks, desperate to escape the island and the same fate. I did find a boat with a mast but no sail. I tried to find one but when I heard voices and saw light, I took my chances and pushed it out." He wiped the tears away and hugged himself again, staring at the ocean,
"The journey was horrible. I had no food, no water, nothing but a rusty blunt axe but that wasn't the worst that happened." He brought his legs from over the cliff and put them back on solid land. He placed a hand on his prosthetic, "One day into the journey, I don't know how but the mast broke and it landed on my leg, crushing the bone completely. At that moment, I had a choice: I could die a slow death by starvation or dehydration or meet a quicker end by bleeding to death; I was desperate and saw no hope so I took the axe and cut off my leg." I felt the nausea hit me,
"You cut off your own leg?" I uttered slowly. He nodded,
"Yes." My hand went to my mouth, trying to suppress the feeling coming up my throat. When it was gone, I asked,
"How did you survive?" He stood up. He held out his hands and I took them, my heart pounding again when we touched. When I was fully straight, I noticed how close our faces were. Hiccup must've noticed too as he took a step back and let go of my hands.
"I barely did. The boat began to spring leaks shortly afterwards. The salt water infected my wound badly. The pain was unbearable and I prayed until my inner thoughts were dry and scratchy. Just before I blacked out, I remember I heard footsteps and men shouting. I woke up in the house of the family that took me in and ever since I've been Hendry Gallach." He sighed and walked away from me.
"We're you going to run away?" I called out. He stopped and turned around,
"To where?"
"To England?"
"Yes. Aileen Fletcher found me and offered to send me there. I wanted to live, not just survive." He sighed and looked to the ground, "But I'm not going anymore."
"What? Why?" He pointed at me,
"Because of you." He walked towards me, "This is something I've been trying to deny ever since the night we danced together and tried to forget but I couldn't. Merida," He stopped so close to me and took my hand. He looked straight in my eyes and I felt myself drown in his, "Meeting you was fate and becoming your friend was a choice but," He bit his lip, nervously, "Falling in love with you was beyond my control." I gasped, realizing what he just told me,
"You love me?" He nodded, "I love you too." I threw my arms around his neck while wrapped one around my waist and the other entwined in my hair. We stood silently, "If William finds out, he'll kill you." I whispered into his shoulder. He briefly tightened his grip on me,
"I know."
"I don't want to lose you."
"I know." He loosened his grip and looked at me, our faces so close we could fell each other's breaths, "I know it's risky but it's a risk I'm willing to take." I couldn't reply as he placed his lips on mine. They were rough yet so soft. As he pulled me closer, as he deepened the kiss, I was, for the first time since William entered my life, truly and utterly happy.
Inspiration came from a few sources on DA mostly "Beyond my Control" by grandduchesscrazy and "I Know" by kailet97. I honestly got nothing else to say except that I loved writing this chapter. Merry Christmas! Review, favorite, follow.