Discovering the Meaning of Life Chapter 14: Colonel, a Brave, 2012 + Rise of the Guardians Crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: "Discovering the Meaning of Life" is a non-profit fan fiction based on Tales of the Abyss © Bandai Namco. All characters and many other references belong to their rightful owner. Please support the official media. OR ELSE!

[Music stops]

"Nathaniel! We've got trouble!"

Merida dusted herself off in a huff, then heard a cough. She looked up and gulped. A man stared down at her, then looked up at her captors.

"Hush! We've got an important guest from the military here. Calm down!" The man gave the villagers who had dragged Merida off a look. Peering past the woman, Merida could see a young teen boy. An important guest from the military? This guy really?

The boy sipped his drink from her glass, opening one eyes to catch her sight. He is rather scrawny for someone who looks younger than her. He wears a light-green, long-sleeved shirt, lined with blue accents and gold buttons. Over it, he wears a long-sleeved brown coat with gold buttons that keep each sleeve tied together. He also wears brown boots and on his wrist has a wristwatch.

"It's the food thief!" one of the men complained.

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. "Huh? This girl?"

"She took from my shop without paying!" the vendor complained again.

"She could be part of the Stabbington Brothers!" another villager added.

Merida groaned. "I told you, that's-"

The military boy set his cup back in its saucer with a clink. "My, my, you're pretty lively, aren't you?" he commented as he walked up to stand beside Nathaniel. Now Merida could say that this boy is tiny. "Let's all just settle down first, all right?"

Merida crossed her arms. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Colonel Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, Third Division, Mared Krows Imperial Forces," the boy introduced himself with a welcoming smile, though his eyes tell another story.

Merida snorted. "Hah! What a lousy name!" Nearly everybody in the room glared at her.

"Young lady-"

"No, it is fine," Hiccup said calmly, stopping Nathaniel from snapping. "I get that a lot." He turned back to the girl. "And who might you be?"

"Merida! Merida àn -" Suddenly a hand suddenly covered her mouth and she was pulled back. Even Hiccup was surprised at the addition member at the arguments.

[Tales of the Abyss Anime OST - Dark Designs]

"Have you forgotten?" A familiar voice filled Merida's ear. "This is enemy territory. I you reveal who you are, you won't get off that easily."

"Is something wrong?" Hiccup asked.

Ezra raised his eyes toward the colonel before letting his hand off Merida's mouth. The girl used the back of her hand to wipe her mouth. "I am so sorry, Colonel," Ezra said with a lazy grin. "She's Merida. I'm Ezra. We were headed for Duloc, but we boarded the wrong coach and wound up here."

Merida glanced at the boy. Did he just… lie to the military?

Ezra continued, "Also, the Mared Krows military forced the real Stabbington Brothers to the other side of Breakneck Bridge."

Hiccup nodded. "Ah... I see. So you were on that coach from earlier."

Nathaniel turned to the young boy. "What is all this about, Colonel?"

"Just as Ezra said, a group of bandits thought to be the Stabbington Brothers fled toward Edisyn. I can assure you these two are not with them," he said. Before anyone could comment a scream of a boy caught their ears.

"COLONEL!"

[Music stops]

The men clustered around the door stepped aside to let them step through, and Merida and Ezra both also stepped out of the path for a young boy, younger that any of them ran into the house. He stopped, gasping for breath, in front of the crowd.

The boy has unkept brown hair and brown eyes. He has a round and youthful face, and an obvious missing a tooth. His clothing consists of a cream gown which is overlaid by a plain, long and sky-blue one. The sky-blue piece is fluffy and long-sleeved by the arms as well as having silver ribbons embroidered at each end. It also has a carved-design where the cream robe is visible at the shoulders which is outlined by red highlight-lacing, which is then finished off by the sailor-fuku style ribbon, tie and flap. Over his clothes, he wears a thick, leather ring which takes the form of a neck-collar finished off by a hanging bell. He wears pale-blue leggings as pants and dull-green pump-like slippers as well as a pouch that shaped like a giant bottle attached to the back of his robe.

"Fon Master... Ran off... Fairy Woods." He swallowed and coughed. "Said something about fairy feather in the storehouse. Turned my back and he was gone."

The young colonel frowned. "Are you sure, Jamie?"

Jamie bobbed his head. "Yes, now come on!"

Looks like there will be more trouble. With the colonel and the boy are busy, and the accusation of Merida being a thief is solved, Ezra gave money to the apple seller, then pulled Merida away before she could cause any more trouble.

"I thought you said you're poor."

"I'm may be poor, but I'm not broke."

My dragon son has arrived! A smol boi leading the army, just like in canon! Also, Jamie is here!

Cast:

Nathaniel Hawthorne from Rise of the Guardians © DreamWorks (according to the Wiki, he's the founder of Burgess when Jack's still alive. The town was originally named Hawthorne)

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III from How to Train Your Dragon © Cressida Cowell & DreamWorks (This is HTTYD 1 Hiccup, because I like my smol boi. His outfit is based on Asbel Lhant's (Tales of Graces)).

Jamie Bennett from Rise of the Guardians © DreamWorks (originally I want Jack's sister for this role, but after some consideration and suggestion on the Discord group, Jamie get the role. His outfit is based on Laphicet 's (Tales of Berseria))

(Did someone mentioned 'Fon Master'?)