Jack strokes the back of Merida's head, gently, as she attempts to breathe steadily and calm herself down. Everything; all of her emotions just come pouring out of her. Every loss, every bruise, every drop of blood...it all makes her head spin. She holds onto Jack, her face, buried in his chest. He is the only thing she has left and she doesn't plan on letting him go.
She remember's President Pitch's proposal, from only days before.
"I want you to kill Jack Frost."
Merida's blood boils. Pitch must be enjoying the games thus far, watching as her entire world falls apart. He had promised her sanctuary; promised her family sanctuary. But in doing so, he'd sacrificed two of her closest companions.
I hope you're happy, Pitch, Merida thinks, because if you think I will let you win this, you're dead wrong.
Her tears have subsided for the time being and she lifts her head. Jack is hesitant to let her go, keeping his arm wrapped around her waist.
"Merida," he says, cautiously, "you shouldn't look back..."
She understands his concern. As far as he knows, she may well lose her mind again, but she is confident that she has control now.
"It's ok," Merida sniffles, looking up at him. "There's something I need to do." Jack doesn't protest. He loosens his grip on her and she breaks away from him.
Taking a deep breath, Merida turns to face Hiccup, laying, lifeless, on the ground. She can feel the waves of emotion, threatening to break through her calm façade, but she swallows her tears. Moving carefully, she reaches her friend and kneels beside him. There is still blood flowing out of the hole in his torso and Merida has to swallow the vomit that forces it's way up her throat.
She reaches down and runs her hand along the hem of his jacket until she feels something cold and hard. She slides her finger across the smooth, golden, horse pin and chews her lower lip.
Merida closes her eyes and unfastens the pin, holding it in the palm of her hand.
The Capitol doesn't deserve this.
The small, golden, horse would be nothing of particular importance to them, but the people of District 10 would be ecstatic to have such a gem.
"Oh, Hic," Merida whispers, "You deserve so much better than this."
She stands, sliding the pin in her pocket, and wipes a tear off of her cheek. Looking to her left, Merida sees the heap of dead lizard and sighs. She moves toward it and rips the arrows from it's scales. All but one are in tact. Stuffing them into her quiver, she heaves a heavy sigh and runs a hand through her hair.
When she turns to look at Jack, she nods, as if to say to him that she's ready to go. She takes a step toward him, but her legs wobble beneath her and she is stumbling to her knees.
Jack is there, of course, to catch her. She frowns.
"What am I going to do without you there," Merida breathes, "to hold me up when I cant walk on my own?" Jack scoffs and scoops her up in his arms. He starts to walk, with surprising ease.
"How about, I promise I won't stop catching you if you promise you won't stop falling." He smiles, but doesn't look at her. Merida rolls her eyes.
"You should write that down," she says, sarcastically. Jack chuckles and shakes his head.
He walks, carrying Merida for a while. She is quite enjoying the time off her feet, but feels a pang of guilt after some time and decides that she wants to walk. Jack complies and sets her down gently. Merida stifles a groan as she takes her first few steps.
Her boots have given her terrible blisters on her heels and toes. They sting with every step but after the first few, the pain becomes tolerable and Merida feels strong enough to keep up a steady pace.
Some time into their walking, after the sun is long gone, the Panem national anthem sounds all around them. Merida stops and looks up.
"Mer," Jack ventures, biting the inside of his cheek, "maybe we should just keep going..." But she doesn't acknowledge him.
The first face in the sky is Carter's, but as much as she stares at the picture before her, the only face she can see is the one with the bloodthirsty look in it's eyes as it prepared to drive a sword into her chest. She has little sympathy for the boy.
The next face is Alodia's. Merida's fingertips twitch, almost as if she was about to reach for her bow. But an arrow would do nothing to the projection in the sky.
"Merida," Jack says again. She flicks her gaze in his direction and can see the concern etched on his face. She looks back up at the stars as Fawn's face appears.
Her arrogant smirk makes Merida remember that she was one of the bad guys and there is no pity for her either. Although something tugs at Merida's heart.
The moment that Fawn and Oceana had stepped into the clearing and met Jack, Hiccup and herself, she must have been seeing for the first time, that her two friends, Alodia and Carter, were dead.
There is no time to process her emotions, because Fawn's picture vanishes and is replaced by one that makes her cringe.
Peter Pan's cat-like eyes stare her down and almost seem to be taunting her.
"Merida, please."
Jack is stern now, putting his hand on her shoulder. Merida shrugs him off and shoots him a glare. She knows that he's only trying to protect her from any further heartache, but the only thing that will make this all seem real to her is to see the faces in the stars.
When Rapunzel's brilliant, green eyes smile down at her, Merida feels her heart stutter. The young girl in the picture is so full of life and so...
Confidant.
And just as quickly as she appears, Rapunzel is gone.
Merida feels Jack's fingertips brush the back of her hand as Hiccup's crooked smile is projected into the night sky. She can hardly remember this Hiccup, with the smile and the bright eyes, and his face, flushed and pink, rather than splattered with blood.
Merida closes her eyes, trying to keep that image of him, burned into her memory.
"You're so damn stubborn," Jack mutters, although it isn't hostile. Merida opens her eyes and stares at him as the face of the female tribute that Oceana had killed disappears from the sky and the evening is silent again.
"You're one to talk," she retorts, wrinkling her nose at him. He just rolls his eyes and turns to walk away.
"At least I'll admit it."
Merida narrows her eyes and watches as he moves over the rocky landscape, his hair, tasseled by the wind. She gives a slight smiles and starts to walk again, jogging to catch up with him.
The night is full of silence as the two tributes wander through the arena. At one point, Jack yawns.
"Want to rest for a bit?" Merida asks, silently grateful of his tiredness. He shrugs.
"Only if you think we should." She chews her lip and looks around for somewhere to settle, but there is nothing except the trees.
"I don't see any caves in this part of the arena." Merida tugs at a loch of her hair and sighs. "I mean, we could always just stop here and keep a watch," she suggests. Jack nods slowly and looks around.
"What about the trees?" He asks. Merida tilts her head.
"What about them?"
"What if we settle in one of them? We could climb and rest on the branches."
She squints up into the canopy of pines and nods slowly.
"That...That could work." Jack smiles and struts over to the bottom of a tall pine tree and wiggles his eyebrows.
"Ladies first," he says, holding out his hand. Merida pretends to be flattered, and curtsies, taking his hand. Jack boosts her up onto the lowest branch.
"How does it look?" He asks as she climbs. Merida peers up into the tree.
"Erm... Not sure. I'll go higher."
Merida uses the heels of her boots to get a firm grip on the smooth bark of the trunk. There are long, think branches, poking out that make for good tools to climb with, while others snap under her weight.
"Be careful!" Jack calls from the ground. He sounds rather irritated, as though it were her fault that the branches couldn't hold her.
"Thank you, captain obvious!" She groans, pulling herself onto a thick limb. She positions herself so that she is sitting and bites her lip.
The branch is certainly sturdy, and wide enough to hold the two of them. She looks down.
"I think I have a good spot," Merida hollers. "You can start climbing."
Jack is much swifter at the whole climbing thing. He reaches the limb in a matter of seconds and positions himself beside her. Their feet dangle over the branch, but neither feel a fear of falling.
"Not bad, Red," Jack says with a smirk. Merida glares at him and scowls.
"Don't call me Red," she growls, through gritted teeth. He only scoffs.
"Right, I forgot you were touchy."
"I am not!"
Snapping at him doesn't really help her argument much but she is too irritated to care.
"What's the big deal then?" Jack asks. "Why do you hate being called 'Red' so much?"
Merida has to think about it. She really doesn't have a specific reason as to why. She shrugs.
"There's a boy back home," Merida explains. "His name is Snotlout and he hangs out in the stables where I keep Angus-"
"Who?"
Merida freezes. Had she never mentioned her horse to Jack? It feels odd that such a huge part of her life is a mystery to him, but she remembers that she has only known him for about two weeks. It's odd, because it feels like she's known him for her whole life.
But I guess, when you're forced to give everything up to fight to the death with someone, they kind of become your whole life.
"Angus is my horse, back home," Merida explains.
"Oh," Jack says, nodding. "Sorry...continue." She shakes her head and shrugs. Thinking about her horse and District 10 has made her mind wander too far to recover her thoughts.
"That's ok. I forget what I was saying anyway..."
"Snotlout...?"
"Oh," Merida recalls, "right." Jack gives a small smile as she continues. "I've known him for basically my whole life and he's a real jerk..." She shrugs. "He calls me Red, Ginger, Freckles, Curly... Anything he can come up with really."
"I'm sorry," Jack frowns. He kicks his feet back and forth. Merida shrugs.
"I'm used to it."
They sit there in silence in the dark for a while. Merida looks over at Jack who simply stares off into the night sky.
"Can I ask you a question?" She speaks up. Jack turns to face her and blinks, without giving a verbal response. She averts her eyes, slightly uncomfortable and sighs. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," she reaches up to scratch her neck but catches herself before she can perform the common Hiccup mannerism. "I was just wondering...Why are you here?"
She expects him to be taken aback, but Jack looks quite collected. He takes a deep breath and clasps his hands together, placing them on his lap.
"I volunteered." He shrugs.
"Yes, I know," Merida interjects. "But why?" Jack looks her in the eyes and she can almost feel his sadness.
"My brother Jamie..." He says, "He's only twelve." The pain on his face makes Merida's heart break. She can't help but be reminded of her own brothers. "I didn't think..." His voice catches in his throat. "I never thought that in his first year, that they'd... That he'd..."
"Be Reaped." Merida finishes his sentence for him. She knows how hard it must be to say it. Jack nods.
"His first year... I- I couldn't...he'd never make it." Merida reaches out and rests her hand on his knee.
"I understand," she promises him. "I have three brothers and I-" she shakes her head, "I can't imagine any of them in these games." Jack looks at her, sincerely and gives a half smile.
"Jamie is my whole world," he says. "I would do anything for him."
Both tributes get quiet and Jack leans against the tree's trunk. He looks completely worn out.
"You can sleep, you know," she assures him. He nods.
"Thank you." But he doesn't close his eyes. He shifts his weight so that he can look at her and sighs. "You know, I never got my tattoo."
Merida raises an eyebrow, curiously.
"I could- I mean, if I'm not too girly for you...I could do it."
Jack chuckles and shakes his head.
"I take that back," he says, ruffling his hair. She wrinkles her nose and folds her arms across her chest.
"We don't have any mud up here..."
Jack thinks for a moment and then brings his foot up to rest on the branch.
"How about the mud on my boots?" He says with a grin. Merida nods and snaps a twig off of their pine.
"Sounds like a plan."
Jack rests his head against the tree and closes his eyes as Merida drags the twig across his bare arm. His skin is freezing cold, but it feels nice against the heat of her own.
She etches the word "Rebel" across his arm and pulls an arrow out of her quiver to reach around him to slash open the tree. The sap leaks out onto the tip and she dabs it onto his "tattoo". Jack lets out a small chuckle and Merida raises an eyebrow at his sleepy face.
"What?" She asks.
"It tickled."
"Didn't know you were ticklish." Merida smiles and blows on the sap to make the tattoo dry more quickly.
"I never said I was," Jack opens one of his eyes to look at her. She simply shrugs and sticks her arrow back into her quiver.
"Whatever you say."
Maybe an hour goes by with the two of them sitting in the tree, without saying a word. Merida feels her eyes get heavier as the time ticks away. Jack is sound asleep against the trunk of their tree. His low, steady breathing relaxes her. She feels herself grow more and more tired and decides that sleeping would be best for her. They are high enough up to be safe from Oceana.
Merida hesitates, before leaning her head on Jack's shoulder. She closes her eyes, drinking in his scent. It is calming and nearly puts her right to sleep.
Before she is out, she swears she can feel Jack's arm wrap itself around her and pull her close to him.
Author's Notes:
This chapter took much longer than I had expected it to. It was just kind of slow going compared to the last few. I hope that this wasn't too boring xD
So I have concluded that the Next chapter is THE LAST CHAPTER!
However, there will most likely be an epilogue.
I will also be deciding on a sequel, but most likely that is a no. At least if I did, it would be longer or a little more confusing. ((And wouldn't be written right away because I'm working on like 49 other fics.))
IM SO EXCITED FOR THIS ENDING IVE LITERALLY BEEN PLANNING IT FOR LIKE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE FIC. IM SO EXCITTEEEDDD
I've been really unmotivated lately but HOPEFULLY since the next chapter is epic, it will be up by next Monday! WOOO!