Well, here we are at the end.
I do not own Brave or HTTYD.
Epiloge: Freedom
Six Months Later
Merida sat on top of the Crone's Tooth, smiling as she leaned back into her hands. The front of her dress was still wet from her sloshing the near frigid waters against her as she drank from the Fire Falls, the last chance she'd have for some time to achieve such a feat. She had shucked her long coat at the bottom of the gorge and she felt the lack of warmth but didn't want to miss the blazing glory of the sunset rivaling even the brightness of her own hair.
The scream of wings were approaching and she knew that Hiccup was probably half out of his mind with worry. Since the war, he clung a bit to closely and fussed a bit too much over small things. He had gotten much better over the course of their time together, but every once in a while she needed to escape from her husband.
They had no ceremony, no words or stuffy dresses or robes. She took his hand before her bloodied father after the battle and declared them wed, which he took as a shock but agreed that he was a fine choice for a partner and he would not argue with the child that assured their victory against Ivar and the Bloody Brothers.
She waved at him as he flew by, swinging Toothless in a wide circle to approach her. The horse that she had ridden was below, giving a whinny of concern and prancing in agitation that a dragon was so near to it.
She stood and brushed her dress off, long to soothe her mother's nerves—worse now than ever before with her departure so soon—blowing his annoyed face a kiss.
"I've been looking for you for hours," he groused, "I was worried."
"Ye worry too much," she shrugged, "I felt the need to achieve the impossible. Ye ready for tomorrow? All packed?"
"Yes," he rolled his eyes, "Although I still think we should wait until the spring thaw."
She hummed, "I think it's time we set out on our own, don'cha' think?"
He gave her an lopsided grin, "I wouldn't mind a little island of our own."
"How about…four islands?"
"I'll give you any you want."
She threw her head back and laughed, her hands on her hips.
"How about givin' a lass a ride down, then? Or shall I jump?"
"No!" He laughed, uneasily at her poised body, not liking her joke, "No, just get on the damn dragon, woman."
"As my husband wishes," she bowed and gracefully pranced across Toothless' outstretched wing like a bridge, settling behind the rider. Her hands wrapped around his waist and he leaned back to give her a single chaste kiss.
"How about a ride across the sunset?" He offered, not wanting to share her.
"How about a thousand?" She sighed, running her nose along the column of his throat.
"I'll give you all of them," he swore softly and she sighed against him as the dragon soared across the bay, into the open ocean near the setting sun.
"To the end of the world," she promised.
"And back," he finished, relishing in her closeness.
This was the way it would be, he swore.
From now until the end.
As it turns out, they traveled for nearly six years before finding an island near enough, yet far enough, to DunBerk—the new colonies now completely integrated and ruled by Fergus and Stoick the Vast, Queen Elinor and Astrid leading by the sides of the men. Valka had returned to her travels, hurting Stoick but they remained amicable and Hiccup hoped for a reunion one day. It was as Merida had seen it, clans and peoples mixed in a peace that was incredibly powerful and their lands prospering more than ever since they had bound themselves together through bloodshed and eventual peace.
Hiccup enlisted Gobber and the help of dragons to erect a house that any man or woman would be proud of. Hiccup could make just about anything he wanted and he wanted to give Merida a home that rivaled her castle, a wooden hut that was a testament to their time together. On the central wall of the main room, across from the hearth, he carved the map he had slowly created across the wood. He carved her home and his and the creation of the new one, adding their little island with striations that drew the eye to show that, when you stood in their home, you were here.
Dragons flocked from every direction to join the island of the alpha Toothless and his mate. They had already had six hatchlings, usually around three or four Nightfuries each year without fail, and the island was starting to fill with the dark, salamander like bodies that took several years to grow to maturation. Merida was a brood mother to every dragon, who would usually lead her to their nest and let her play and coo over the new clutch of eggs that were sure to hatch soon.
Her magic grew slowly, but was still a force to be reckoned with. One one trip visiting home, she had put up a thick barrier that hid DunBerk from all those that would attempt to harm it. Gobber stayed on the island with his adoptive son and wife, working diligently in the forge heated constantly with dragon fire.
Some time later, when he was beginning to go gray and become more stooped, Merida approached him with a proposition—Grump loved him and would be his forever, if he wanted to join with the dragon than Merida could easily complete the spell that would ensure that the old man would be alive for many years to come. He denied her, claiming he had lived too many years as is, but was convinced by Hiccup who wanted the large man to meet those that would happily call him grandpa.
But magic, as Merida would come to realize, had a dear price. She realized after many years that her body was no longer able to give the man she loved children. She had offered to leave him, let him have a life without her and find another bride that could keep his line going for more generations.
"Don't be ridiculous," he had replied to her teary admission, "Come sit down before dinner gets cold."
Fate was already beginning to intervene, as it was so prone to do. They often visited the growing clan that was the combination of their families, glad to see their friends while they traded goods and services for more bags of apples than Toothless could carry on his own. Hiccup had, unsuccessfully tried to plant her an orchard, but dragons found the flowers irritating to their noses and they had to be dug up after a few years of flaming dragon boogers nearly burning their house down.
On one such visit, Merida found a babe crawling in the mud, a stump where it's left foot should have been. She knelt and lifted his dirty body from the ground without thinking about who's child it could have been as she wiped at its cheek.
A woman, much younger than she, came rushing forward.
"I'm sorry, my Lady!" She squawked, "For lackin' a leg, he moves faster than any of the others!"
She saw a collection of dirty faces peering up at her, nearly twenty.
"Are they all…yers?"
"What? Oh! Oh, no," she chuckled, "I help run the orphanage."
"Orphanage?"
"Sure," she shrugged, "Parents die, y'know. Dragons may not attack anymore, but illness still lingers and poverty leads to some babes being dropped off at our doorstep. He was given up because…well…ye see."
She looked at his little stump, obviously something born and not done to him. She stared at his eyes, blue as the sky and with a bright mop of red hair that reminded her of her own wee brothers.
"Are they any others?" She found herself asking, "Without limbs?"
"Not at the moment, no, just wee little Jamie there," she held out her arms for him, "I'll take him now, if it suits ye."
She tucked him closer, "Actually…I think I'll take this one off yer hands. And," she added, "Any others that don't have all their pieces. Send a Terrible Terror should any more come to ye."
And she picked up her dress and marched down the hill to the main bazaar where her husband was selling a few blades and a potions she had made.
"What did you find?" He barely looked up as she approached.
"Hiccup," she breathed and her tone made him glance at her, "Meet yer son, Jamie."
And that was the first of many. Their travels led them to plenty of isles with orphans that lacked body parts, either injured or maimed or simply born without. Hiccup constructed prosthetics for all of his children and after a few more years, Merida had the brilliant idea of enchanting them. First so that they would grow with the wearer or wouldn't fall off, but then more complicated spells that let them move and bend as if they were truly part of the body.
"…And years and years and years passed," the wheezing voice continued, a dozen or so pair of wide eyes watching her, enraptured, "The Isle was full of life and laughter! Dragon and humans had never been so close or so deeply understood by one another.
"Merida and Hiccup lived for centuries—their friends and family would eventually all bind themselves to dragons that kept them on the earth for greater lengths than anticipated. But after their children and their children's children, and their children's children's children had grown up strong and well, versed in smithing and magic both, they knew that their time had come to pass over into the next world.
"By that time, Saorsa and Toothless were as big as mountains! Each year they had a clutch of a hundred eggs or more, Nightfuries no longer extinct but flourishing on Blackheart Island. They followed their riders to the top of the mountain, where they finally ascended to the heavens where they remain.
"If you look up, when the sky is bright an full, you will see them—a pair of figures that stand and two swirling dragons, two pairs of mates that will never be separated. Some have heard that they are twins or fish—this is nonsense!" She banged her bear-headed staff against the wooden floor, making the children jump, "They are Merida and Hiccup and Toothless and Saorsa.
"It is their power that allows the island to be hidden from all except those who need us and it is their teaching that lead us to have a Binding ritual each year. Some of you probably have family or friends who will be participating in this year's ritual."
There were bobbing heads and some ventured information like, "My brother is!" and "My sister, too!"
She laughed heartily, "I know it! It is a big clutch this year, of dragons and men and women coming together. Are ye excited?"
There was clapping and cheering and many of the children devolved into spouting which dragon they would choose and how amazing it would be when they were finally allowed to fly and weild powerful magic like the ancestors of their home and village.
"Mother," a voice called outside the dark hut, the door opened to reveal a man that was dark haired and bearded, black armor across his chest, "Mother, the time comes. Is everyone ready?"
The children gave another cheer of glee and went scurrying around the mans legs-one very much his own and one of dark black metal-and into the village that was decorated on every surface with flowers and bright ribbons. The older man offered his stooped mother his arm.
"Ah, Hiccup," she patted his arm, "Thank ye for helpin' a wee old lady like myself."
"Where would be without our witch, eh? Come, where is your Nightbane? He must be close."
She whistled and a massive dragon fell from the sky, his four wings whipping violently through the air. She cooed to the Stormcutter like a cat while Hiccup Horrendous Haddock IX coughed from the dust having been kicked up from his descent.
"My baby!" She laughed as he nuzzled her, careful of her teetering body. Hiccup lifted her bodily onto the dragons back, who cawed in pleasure to have his rider on his back once again, and she waved, "I shall see ye at the stones!"
He waved and eyes turned toward the witch and her dragon, everyone mounting and riding across the sky towards the valley between two mountains that looked suspiciously round from above. Between them was another calm, much bigger than the one around DunBerk. The Völva landed and slid from the back of her dragon without too much fuss, herds of dragons following and surrounding them outside the magical barrier. She teetered, patting her Nightbane on his darkly patterned shoulder, as six youths filed into the space. It was quite a mix, she saw, slightly laughing under her breath at the menagerie of monsters before her. A girl with hair like the sun in a long braid stood next to a docile Fireworm Queen. A pale boy with a long staff had miraculously tamed a Snow Wraith, his claws leaving ice where he stood. The two sisters that were well known stood by side, next to their respective choices, a Snowfury and a Raincutter, their colors of white and purple reflecting their dragons'. Two males stood on their side, a pale haired young man with broad shoulders that was kind with a protective streak a mile wide, which made his choice of the Crimson Goregutter a good match. The last was a darker boy, his little brother having been with her just a little bit before and heard the story, standing next to a pale Lightfury with blue eyes that glinted like the sky.
Clearing her throat, the crone smiled at them.
"So! What all would ye do to change yer fate?!"
The End.
That's all folks. If you didn't catch it, the last bit included some other characters-Repunzel (Tangled), Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians , Anna and Elsa (Frozen 1&2) and Tadashi Hamada (Big Hero 6).
I hope you've had fun on this journey and that you made it until the end. It felt rushed to me, rereading it, but like I said from the start-it has plenty of issues I don't have the time to fix. But it was a fun time to write and I would like to revisit the whole thing and finally post it to give it new life.
I hope this was as soothing to you as it was to me, that in a way it helped the ending of the films a little bit more bearable.