Chapter 22: Legends Are Lessons

When Merida returned to the DunBroch Castle, she went into the kitchens and placed the cake that the Witch Moira Carver gave her onto a tray along with a pot of tea from the stove. She then made her way up to her mother's room and knocked politely.

"Who is it?" Merida's mother said on the other side of the door.

"It's me," Merida replied.

Immediately, the door opened revealing Merida's mother who looked both concerned and angry.

"Where have you been?" Merida's mother demanded. "Your father got so worried when you ran away until his business partners started pestering him about who truly won the games. So I had to calm them down and — is that a cake?"

"Um, yes," Merida lied. "I made it for you."

As Merida's mother looked down at the cake, her face softened a little.

"Would you care to try it?" Merida offered.

"Sure," Merida's mother nodded and took the tray from Merida's hands.

Placing it on her bed, Merida's mother used the fork on the tray to cut a piece of the cake off and eat it. As Merida closed the door behind her as she entered the room, she saw her mother make several odd faces before falling off the bed. Surprised by this, Merida moved to the other side of the bed and saw a large black bear in place of her mother. This caused Merida to gasp, which got the bear's attention. Standing on its hind legs, the bear seemed confused as its human-like eyes stared back at Merida.

"Mum?" Merida muttered.

Hearing that, the bear made a grunting noise and looked down at itself in surprise.

"You're a bear," Merida realized and examined the cake which was still on the tray. "That daft old Witch! I told her to change my Mum's mind not her body!"

The bear that was Merida's mother made several irritated grunting sounds in response.

"Look, I didn't mean for this to happen," Merida insisted. "After I ran away, I found these Wisps and they led me to this cottage where a Witch lived. I asked if she could change your mind about the whole arranged marriage thing, and she gave me this cake after I agreed to buy all her stock on wood carvings which I paid for with that necklace you gave me. Now I'm sure if we go see the Witch together and explain what went wrong, she'll turn you back and maybe I'll get the necklace back too."

Just then, the door opened and Merida's brothers walked in. Naturally, they were frightened by the bear until Merida explained what was going on. After hearing her out, they agreed to help her get out of the castle with their mother in exchange for access to any sweets they wanted. So Merida reluctantly agreed to this and guided her mother out of the castle while avoiding her father's private security force who were currently dressed as medieval soldiers.

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By the time Merida and her mother found Moira's cottage, it was completely empty minus an old answering machine.

"Hello, this is Moira Carver who is definitely not a Witch and only a simple woodcarver. If you have come to my house asking about my stock or spells I may have haphazardly given, I am not here as I have gone to the Wicker Man Festival at Stornoway. Press 1 on the answering machine for questions about my stock, or 2 if it's about my spells."

So Merida pressed the number 2 on the answering machine.

"If you used one of my spells, you should be warned that the changes that may result will become permanent two days from when the spell was cast. To reverse the spell completely, you must mend the bond that was broken by pride."

"What does that mean?" Merida asked out loud as the message repeated itself.

Out of frustration, Merida slammed her fist into the answering machine which didn't break but her hand stung afterward. Meanwhile, Merida's mother was looking towards the open door.

"Don't go, Mum," Merida urged. "If we can get to Stornoway, we'll find the Witch for sure."

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Traveling further north, Merida and her mother soon found ruins resembling a castle that was much older than the DunBroch one. Inside, they found a stone carving depicting three men with one of them covered in large claw marks.

"Do you remember that legend you told me as a kid, Mum? The one about the kingdom that once thrived until the youngest prince decided to change his fate which led to the kingdom's ruin?"

Nodding her head, Merida's mother snorted in response.

"Well, what if this place was that kingdom?" Merida speculated.

Suddenly, a deep growl echoed in the ruins followed by a moving shadow shaped like a bear.

"Mor'du!" Merida exclaimed, recognizing the long scar on the bear's face that her father gave it before losing his leg.

As the monstrous bear approached Merida, her mother charged at Mor'du and growled at him. In turn, he growled back and the two started fighting. Merida got out of the way and looked for some kind of weapon. It was then that she saw the carving again, and remembered what Moira said about a young man that came to her before.

"Stop, Mum!" Merida urged. "Mor'du isn't a bear, but another human who was cursed by Moira just like you! He's the young prince from the legend, who wanted to rule his father's kingdom instead of following tradition and letting his older brother do it. So that means the legend's true, and we're just repeating history."

However, Merida's mother wasn't apparently listening as she kept attacking Mor'du. So Merida picked up a rusted sword and swung it at Mor'du who backed away. This allowed Merida's mother to hit Mor'du out with one swipe from her paw, which knocked him out. But when Merida approached her mother, she noticed her mother's eyes had gone dark like a bear's. As Merida's mother growled, Merida was forced to back away.

"Mum, what's wrong?" Merida said nervously.

Then in an instant, Merida's mother stopped growling as her eyes changed back to the human-like form.

"So that's what Moira meant when she said the change would be permanent," Merida mumbled to herself. Then she realized something and said, "We have to go back to DunBroch Castle!"

This made Merida's mother tilt her head sideways.

"Since Mor'du let pride get the best of him, he was permanently changed. But that doesn't have to be case with you, Mum, because I'm going to settle the arranged marriage issue myself."

End of Chapter 22