Hello, dear readers.
It's been some time and things have been hard for so many. I meant to have these up for Halloween, since they are of the more spooky nature, but better late than never.
I am currently working on some larger pieces. I hope to have them done sooner rather than later.
I hope you enjoy.
I do not own HTTYD, RotG, Brave, or Frozen.
The Selkie
"No water, no life.
No blue, no green."
-Sylvia Earle.
"Jack," Hiccup bemoaned, putting on his drysuit, "I really don't have a good feeling about this…"
"C'mon, man!" His best friend crowed, zipping himself up and beckoning to his pale haired girlfriend, Elsa, to assist her. "It's going to be fun! You've spent the last fourteen dives going through the mediterranean, it's time to go back to our roots!"
"Yeah, because it's nice over there! It's warm, it's clear, it's bright with a million fish! Why would we go diving in the middle of a dirty, freezing cold loch in the middle of nowhere?!"
"Hiccup," Elsa sighed, "Loch Tummel is stunning and has excellent reviews. It's fed through by a river that will help it be fairly clear, even if it is cold." She accepted a brief kiss from Jack. "You've dived in low visibility before, haven't you?"
"Of course," he muttered, knowing that she was well aware of his abilities as a diver bur repeating his credentials to be petty. "Most the sites up near Berk have barely any visibility at all and I have specialities in night-diving."
"And Berk is three times as cold!" Jack commented, coming to take his shoulders and shake him a few times, Hiccup's head lolling. "This is an easy dive, Hic, don't be so worried!"
"I'm not worried! I just…don't want to today!" He couldn't explain his unease beyond that. Still, he was a professional and they were expected to get this done.
"Well, you're in the suit and our tanks are being filled as we speak, so buck up, Buttercup, and get your ass in gear."
Hiccup groaned, yanking on his zipper.
Elsa gave him a tired look, "If you really don't want to dive, Hic, don't put yourself in a situation you don't like. I'll handle Jack, if need be."
"Yeah, thanks," he muttered. "I got it."
She gave a little shrug and walked off, speaking to the dive-center hostess in low tones. The woman was old and stooped, using a bear cane to putter around after them in the dark and musty shop. Her son was a massive man, bigger than even his father or Jack's, dark haired and often responding in grunts. The man carried four stainless steel tanks like he was lifting pillows, completely unencumbered by the weight. He was just referred to as 'Mor'Du' and Hiccup was not all that excited to be stuck with him as his diving partner.
Safety meant smarts and numbers—Hiccup was an experienced diver, along with Jack and Elsa, and even though he felt no fear in renting a boat and dropping off into the water all alone, being reclaimed by it, consumed by it, checking his own position and oxygen, and returning in a safe manner, something felt entirely off about this whole trip. Elsa and Jack would dive together as they had for over two years, but Hiccup would be stuck with Mor'Du the bear-man to explore the loch. Hiccup, when he originally decided to go with Jack, originally believed that the trip to the Highlands was a cover to propose to Elsa and he would be the designated photographer, but so far Jack hasn't revealed any plans to make this trip the one where he finally gave Elsa the ring he had hidden in his pack for about a year.
They met in the main room, Hiccup sitting down to struggle with his leg. He would switch onto his fin prosthetic once he was on the boat and before he was loaded up with the rest of his gear, despite that not being the most traditional way. Still, he wasn't the most traditional diver, and he collected his bag with his hand-designed leg in preparation to leave for the boat. He checked and rechecked his underwater cameras, making sure he could get a clear shot under nearly twenty meters, adjusting the lenses and dials as he projected the settings for the photos he needed.
"Oh, and dearies?" The old biddy stopped them. "Remember—there are gray seals in this loch, so watch yerselves! They are not usually violent, but that does'nae mean they can'nae be if properly provoked!"
Having dealt with much more frightening wildlife than seals in his time, Hiccup nodded along with his fellow divers.
"And, let me perfectly clear: should ye find something, anything in the sand, near the loch, sittin' somewhere that ye think someone might have lost it-leave it and do'nae touch it! D'ye ken?"
"Uh, sure thing," Jack muttered, "Anything in particular? Or, are we talking glass, trash, debris—?"
"Clothes," she murmured, particularly sharp.
"Ooo-kay," Hiccup shared an odd look with his friends. "Don't touch random clothes by the water. Got it."
She nodded, pleased. "Good. Take care of them, Mori-dear, and I'll see ye by…" she checked her watch and sucked her teeth, "Eighteen-hundred hours at the most."
It would be just about dark by then. Hiccup nodded and set his own watch and computer.
"Aye, mum," the beast jerked his dark head. "Come, now."
Another glance between him and his friends with a lot of moving brows as they followed to pile into the back of an old, rusty red truck that bustled and bumped as they drove quite a bit of distance to get into the right area. Jack, ever the gentleman, put Elsa in the cab while he and Hiccup began to freeze in the northern air. Jack was unbothered, but Hiccup was starting to feel the piercing chill as it drove under the protection of the drysuit as they made it to a personal dock. The dingy was no worse than plenty he had seen in Greece and Southern Italy, but the temperature was entirely less pleasant and he bemoaned the freezing water against his face as they piled the tanks into the boat and waited for Mor'Du to crank the old engine and get them to a central spot in the water.
"Excited?!" Jack crowed, turning his face to the wind. "Been a minute since we were in fresh water!"
"Not since the States," Elsa agreed, her braid being tossed around.
They were all photographers and had been traveling for years, barely stopping back home if they didn't really have to. It didn't have the best memories for any of them, isolated and full of hatred as it was, and they hadn't seen the tiny isle of Berk since they went off to become wildlife monitors nearly five years ago. Elsa was the one that went back the most, having a little sister with a husband and their second child on the way, dragging Jack with her most of the time. But Hiccup lost everyone and had no intention of trying to find them again, even the few that were alive held no tenderness in his heart.
"Here, we dive," the man dropped the anchor and they were jostled into movement, fixing the waterproof cuffs at their wrists and ankles, piling their heads of hair under their caps, looking more and more ridiculous as seconds passed.
"You are the sexiest thing alive," Jack joked with Elsa as she put her goggles on her face.
"Shut up," she was nasally but laughing as she adjusted her snorkel, "There is no such thing as sexy in scuba—oof!" She thanked Mor'Du as he helped haul her tank onto her shoulders and kept her from falling back unexpectedly. She leaned forward to tighten the BCD across her waist and arms, then reached for her flippers. "No matter how many times I do this, I feel ridiculous!"
"No matter how many times we do this, we look ridiculous," Hiccup muttered, just as nasally from the goggles. Elsa laughed and waved as she dropped back in the water with a splash, hands flashing on the side of the boat for her camera. Jack lowered it down to her and her attached bag with several other waterproof lenses and a slew of lights and filters to help them capture the right colors and images below the surface.
The three of them had a good range of lenses, depth, and resolution between them to make sure they got a slew of fantastic photos of the seals and the flora.
"How deep is this loch?" Jack asked as Elsa fiddled.
"The maximum depth is forty-four meters," Mor'Du grumbled, situating himself as Hiccup fussed with his leg.
"Did you bring the Go-Pro?"
"Did I bring the Go-Pro?" Jack muttered, flippantly adjusting it on his wrist before he dropped into the water. "Yes, dear!"
"Did you put it in the right housing?!"
"Yes, dear!" Jack laughed.
"Did you put on the right filters?"
He paused and then muttered a furious, Fuck! under his breath when he went searching through his waterproof camera bag to attach the bulky piece to his camera. "I hate this damn thing. Why is it so small?!"
Hiccup rolled his eyes and Jack held his nose and goggles, arm with the camera tucked into his other arm as he threw himself backwards into the water.
"Woo!" He hollered, "Brisk!"
"You next," Mor'Du muttered and Hiccup, assured that the neoprene seal around his false ankle was waterproof and he wouldn't be frozen in twenty minutes, dropped back into the freezing water and hissed as it hit his face. He swam to the back of the boat to meet up with Elsa and Jack, who were muttering over some of the settings of their cameras. Hiccup, adjusting his own before, was pleased when he dropped it blow the surface and got some great images. Around them rose several mountains that Hiccup hoped to return to hike around and see if he could get any shots of birds, wondering through which lens he'd bring to get up into some of those bright yellow and red trees that surround them on all sides like the whole place was burning.
Seeing his attention, Elsa promised they'd go around tomorrow. The inn they were staying with offered them a map upon arrival that contained all the different trails and trips around the area since that was one of the main attractions.
There was a great splash and all of them were rocked by the waves as the beast of a man appeared beside them.
"There are camping spots near that'a'way, so steer clear," he nodded. "I will navigate for us," he tossed Jack a compass, "Ye navigate for yerselves."
Elsa muttered under her breath about the patriarchy at the thought that she couldn't keep track of their position, but Jack dutifully wrapped the monitor around his free wrist. Although they had their own dive computers that would log their information automatically, which included a digital compass, this was just a manual bit of machinery that would make sure that they all got back to the boat.
"If yer oxygen drops below fifty, surface," he groused, like they were novices. "Which should'nae happen, but ye know the deal."
They nodded, checking their regulators and putting them into their mouths. Jack made a cooing noise at Elsa, who certainly appeared less than her finest with her lips and cheeks bulging comically with the plastic mouthpiece settled in it. She flipped him off and deflated her vest, sinking under the water and disappearing like the lady of the lake, the last thing to disappear her rude gesture.
"I'm gonna marry that girl," Jack sighed, shoving his own regulator into his mouth and dropping down, Hiccup and the bear following close behind.
If you ever venture to get a scuba license, the first thing you learn is just what scuba stands for (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) and the next thing you learn is a simple mantra: Plan your dive and dive your plan. Having mapped everything out beforehand, which made Hiccup bowing out all but impossible for him, they signed underwater and began to swim in different directions while still remaining in groups of two. Mor'Du followed at a suitable pace to Hiccup, who was quick to start taking photos of some of the schools of smaller and larger fish that swam by, completely unbothered by the intruders.
Their first dive was only about twelve meters for about forty-five minutes, but the cold made Hiccup's ears ache and he was glad to rise for a bit and take off the bulky tanks and rest. He drifted idly on the surface, holding onto the regulator to keep him and his gear close, and flipped through the many photos he took of the fish that filled the river, deleting and thinking about what he might do in editing.
Something pulled on his false leg and he jerked, "Knock it off, Jack."
"Huh?" A voice called from above, the face of his friend appearing over the edge, one cheek bulging as he chewed on something. He hadn't seen him get back on the boat. "What's up, Hic?"
"Wha—?" Something grabbed his leg and dragged him underneath the water, distantly making Jack gasp his name in disbelief.
Hiccup, used to diving and having had to do it more than once, opened his eyes underwater to see just what had of hold of him.
Three baby seals blinked back at him, one pulling determinedly on his prosthetic fin as if they wished to take it off. Scrambling for his camera, he took ten shots or so before they swam off and Jack was there, getting him up the surface with a shout.
"What in the fuck, Haddock?!" He snarled once he reached the surface. "What was that?"
"Seals!" He gasped, pulling up his monitor to see the shots. "Thank Thor, my ISO was set so high! Look at them!"
Jack leaned over his shoulder as they bobbed in the water, "Well, I'll be…They wanted your leg."
"His leg?" Elsa called from above, looking suitably worried.
"Playful little guys!" Hiccup cackled, holding up his camera so she could see, "Look!"
She took hold of it and bounced between the few shots he managed to get, "They're fairly young…We need more of them."
"All in favor to use Hic's leg as a bait say 'aye'!"
"Fuck off!" Hiccup laughed as he put his goggles back over his eyes and started peering down into the gloom. After a few meters, everything just went dark and he desperately was looking for any movement, flashes of silver or gray that might hint at them. He popped back up with a gasp.
"They have a gorgeous red sheen," Elsa handed him back his camera, "Do you think that's native to this area? Or perhaps diet?"
That was directed at Mor'Du, who merely grunted in response.
"It might be my filter," he muttered, "Can you guys switch out my tank and throw it back down to me? I'm going to swim around a bit on the surface, see if I can draw their attention again."
Jack was going to do the same, Mor'Du hauling his BCD and going about exchanging the tanks while Jack and Hiccup did circles around the boat. Twice more, Hiccup caught flashes of little gray blurs, but they were hiding away from him. Jack saw nothing, annoyed and frustrated, and pushed Elsa to get back into the water with the bear of man.
"This is the money-maker, not the fish or the mountains or the birds," Jack muttered, "This is what will sell, these little guys. Everybody loves little blubbery babies with gigantic eyes, Hic."
Rolling his own eyes, the other man laid on his back to get back into his heavy gear. There was a couple of splashes as Elsa and Mor'Du joined them back in the water.
"Any idea where they might be?" They asked the suddenly silent man. Elsa was obviously aggravated by his reticence to tell them where the aquatic animals were. "Look, our photos might help keep them protected around these parts?"
"Do'nae ye know," he grunted at a timber Hiccup swore made the water ripple, "That harmin' a seal is considered a grave offense around here? They do'nae need yer protection, lass."
Bristling at the lass part, Elsa opened her pale mouth to begin berating the man when Jack stepped in with all the ease of an FBI trained negotiator.
"No worries!" He smiled at the love of his life, "Let's just go have fun, alright? They like fun, we like fun, everyone likes fun!" He shoved his mouthpiece between his gleaming white teeth and dropped into the water, letting them follow. Elsa rolled her eyes in aggravation but did the same and Hiccup hurried to get back into the water.
He led the massive Mor'Du deeper, chasing little blurs of red-shining skin in the gloom and flashing his light around in hopes to see one of the baby seals. When he felt another tug on his leg, he let out a laugh that spewed bubbles in every direction around him, obscuring his vision for a moment. When it cleared, there they were.
'Smile pretty, little guys,' He immediately started taking pictures, swimming in lazy circles that kept them chasing after him. They definitely wanted his false leg, chewing on it with their sharp little teeth and attempting to yank it from him but not able to get it loose.
'Sorry,' he didn't know why he was apologizing to them for not giving up his leg, but he chocked it up to them being so cute he actually wanted to give them anything and everything they wanted. Three pairs of wide, wide, black eyes blinked at him and then they started pulling at him and nudging for him to follow.
'Where are you taking me?'
Completely uncaring if Mor'Du followed, he was led away by the seals in search of something and taking photos the entire time. At some point, they must have believed him to be a seal as well, because they caught several smaller fishes and were bringing them to him in hopes of feeding him. Setting his camera to continual shots, he turned it to get a few of them bringing the little fish up to his face and mouth to try to get him to eat them and were continuously confused and disappointed. One of them looked saddened, as if he thought he was too weak to eat on his own, another looked annoyed at his stupidity, the last looking almost pensive. They seemed to swim around him and communicating, clicking and clapping in a cacophony of noise that rung in the water.
'Jack is going to lose his mind!'
One zoomed off and he went to follow, but the other two kept him entertained by playfully pulling on his regulator and he shooed them off. He really didn't want to have to shoot to the surface and risk nitrogen poisoning or get the bends. He checked his oxygen and his time, made note of it, and kept shooting the little playful creatures.
'C'mere, you,' he offered his gloved hand as incentive to draw it closer and it all but fell into it, wanting to be touched by him. 'Dear Odin, this is the coolest!'
Hiccup, despite his complaints, was the most fond of birds and aquatic creatures when it came to taking pictures. Nothing made him more excited than climbing to the topmost branches of an impossibly high tree or sinking to the fathomless depths of the seas to get the best shots. His last trip to Italy and Greece was mapping some of the most stunning and colorful fish he'd ever had the great pleasure of seeing, keeping track of their patterns and the current erosion of some of the native coral reefs. He had begged Jack to go instead to the Maldives to catch the manta ray migration that happened in April, but that was too far off and he said he had a buyer in need of images of Scottish seals quickly and succinctly.
And that was the crux of it—a photo may be worth a thousand words, but very rarely is a photograph worth a thousand dollars.
Hiccup's last couple of batches sold well, and Elsa and Jack got several jobs doing weddings in Puglia and Sicily, which kept them afloat and doing well enough to eat and move as they pleased. He never tired of the travel, never tired of the constant hopping around the world, even if this particular trip wasn't the one he originally planned on or wanted.
'But Jack was right,' he fought off another attack on his fake foot, 'I owe him a beer. This is perfect.'
Suddenly, another figure flashed in front of him, much bigger this time and it attempted to yank his camera from him. He was pulled, by the strap around his wrist that he invested in after shooting with a particularly intelligent octopus, forward and around by a much larger seal. Seeing that he couldn't let it go and wouldn't even if he could, it dropped his machine and appeared before him to sniffle and stare into him with a sharp and incredibly intelligent eyes. This one was older, but not by too much, but he guessed it could have been the mother to the three babies. It trailed in lazy circles around him, acknowledging him, sizing him up like she knew exactly who and what he was.
Hiccup couldn't place how he knew it was female, he just did. She swam in calculating loops and it made him a little nervous, a mother surrounding her young could be incredibly dangerous in any species on land or in the water. But, even worse, he was on her turf metaphorically, and if she wanted to drag him under or do some serious damage to his gear, he had no doubt she could manage it. She seemed to be most interested in the camera, however, and he slowly brought it closer to his chest to protect it. Her expression appeared amused and she swam behind him, putting her heavy head on his shoulder as if she wanted him to show her.
Compelled, he scrolled through the pictures he had taken on the screen. There was some clicking and cooing in his ear as if she appreciated his work and he was oddly pleased.
He motioned, feeling ridiculous, but uncaring. 'I can take yours too.'
She swam in a lazy circle, before seeming to agree and he took snapshot after snapshot of her. She was glorious, round and smooth and spotted, moving through the water like she was made of it, born in it, a part of it. Her children joined in some fantastic dance and for a moment, he wondered about all the stories about people falling in love with creatures like this, of half-woman, half-fish and half-seal, and half-fake and half-real, and all the little lines that were drawn across the continents and worlds and lives.
His computer was beeping at him, commanding he ascend and he didn't want to.
Stay with us, they told him, Stay and play with us forever.
He was nearly convinced until they scattered, another presence, much bigger and much fiercer, appearing before Hiccup. Mor'Du, his rage nearly turning the icy waters boiling hot, grabbed him by the vest and started to ascend carefully and slowly. Hiccup was still meters below, with the seals, wanting to remain with them until his head broke water and he was suddenly realizing what he nearly done.
Jack and Elsa were on the boat, Elsa crying and pink as he was literally lifted from the water by Mor'Du and grabbed by his two friends and hauled back into the dingy. Jack sat him straight to get him out of his gear while Elsa cradled him, huffing air so hot it burned against his half frozen cheek.
"You idiot," Jack muttered, throwing his tank to the center and tying it down, "What happened?"
"I-I don't know…I don't know. Check the camera," he held it up to Elsa, who put it aside as Mor'Du was finally back on the boat. Jack was at his feet, getting the flipper off his one real foot and working on taking his prosthetic off. "I got them. I got them."
"They nearly got you, you absolute idiot!" Jack snarled, "Fifteen more minutes! Fifteen, that's all you had! That's not how we work, Hiccup! That's not how we do this! This wasn't—you didn't have a rebreather, you didn't have any way to check in with us! You could have drowned!"
"I was like twenty meters down, I could have shot up and made it," he muttered. "Maybe have to go the hospital, but, really—?"
"Your computer says you were nearly thirty-four meters down," Elsa accused, hotly. "Hiccup, if you shot up to keep from drowning, we'd have no choice but to take you to the nearest hospital with a decompression chamber—which, I'm not even sure where that is!"
"Not close," Mor'Du muttered, cranking the engine.
Hiccup didn't want to leave, though and struggled weakly against his friends' grip.
"Wait, wha-where are we going? We have more dives planned!"
"No," all three declared at different volumes.
"We're done for today," Jack declared, "I don't even think we need to come back."
"We have to come back!" He gasped, "There's a ton of seals down there!"
"Then we might come back, but you need to sit and relax," Elsa swore. "You can't keep doing this to us, Hiccup."
He wanted to snap and snarl, but he bit back the immediate reaction. You press Elsa and she locks up twice as tight.
"I got distracted once in Japan and you can't let it go, huh?"
"We had to take you Okinawa to get decompression treatments, so, no, I won't let it go," she let him breathe as she stripped off her dry suit, yanking at clunky gear to reveal her sweater and leggings underneath. She ran her fingers through her hair, reiterating, "You can't keep doing this, Hiccup."
He huffed at the setting sun, "Just—can you check my photos?"
Jack whipped the camera off the seat and started flipping, muttering half-threats and curses under his breath.
He fell quiet after a few moments.
"I can all most get it, now."
"Jack!"
He passed the machine to Elsa, wordlessly. Hiccup watched her brows rise, lower, then rise again.
"They were…"
"Treating me like one of them," he nearly cried, "The little ones were trying to feed me! If I had more time, who knows what the mother would have done!"
"Ripped your face off, maybe?" Jack spat, "The smaller ones are cute and cuddly, but the bigger ones are dangerous, Hiccup! This is fucking Iceland with the fucking Humpbacks all over again!"
Hiccup laughed, admittedly a little lightheaded and giddy. "Gods, that was the coolest!"
"No, no, no!" He shook the dark haired man, "No! No, sir! You don't get to do that! You don't get to be excited for nearly dying! Again!"
"Hey, the leg was a car accident and does not get to be mentioned," he snapped, only a little miffed. "The rest is…I don't know, man! I survived nearly dying, what else can I survive?!"
"Not drowning!" Jack threw his hands up, seeing they were getting close to the dock. "Damn you, Haddock, and your adrenaline addiction! I swear, you're going to kill me long before you manage to kill yourself! You are why I've gone white this early!"
"That's a genetic thing, don't blame me, frosty!"
Elsa sighed as she collected all their machines and put them in their right bags, lenses cleaned and back in cases, everything backed up and saved and put away while the other two bickered back and forth. She left the heavy lifting to the men, Hiccup's foot prosthetic back in place as he hurried to put all the empty tanks in the back of the old rickety truck and suddenly consumed by silence. Elsa, stuck with the bear of a man, had little to say in general, while Hiccup and Jack were both in their own worlds. Hiccup was considering the seals, the female, with her young and her big, intelligent eyes that could have dragged him down to the bottom of the loch and kept him there until he drowned.
That should concern him, but it wouldn't be the first time that it happened. He had plenty of issues of getting back up to the surface or down on the ground. He'd been harangued, harassed and yelled at by his team on more than one occasion and this wouldn't be the last. Jack loved him and Elsa at the very least appreciated him, so when he pushed that line between life and death they were always there to yank him right back. Jack, most likely, was fuming about having to go through this with Hiccup again and he was sure to hear more about it once they got back to the inn, but at the moment he was silently fuming.
Hiccup leaned his head back and let the cold air rush past him, letting it carry him off like he was far from the ground.
Hiccup flexed his fingers to order another round, not wanting to return to the inn just yet. The young man offered him a new pour of bourbon before shifting away, leaving him to his liquor and thoughts.
He was trying very hard to cool off, but he was admittedly struggling. Hiccup was well aware that his team was not done harassing him, but things definitely weren't good after they got back to the diving center and were told by Mor'Du that they weren't welcome back under any circumstances. This resulted in a series of reactions—Elsa did that dangerous, icy, quiet thing she does that makes everyone feel small and stupid, Jack immediately put on his best 'grandma loves me' grin and tried to speak with the older owner, and Hiccup sputtered and spat like an overflowing teakettle.
But none of the arguing, harassing, begging, or offering did them any good. Even though the older woman seemed to be swayed a bit, the only person that drives and guides was Mor'Du, and he was having none of it. So they paid for the tanks and packed their gear up and managed to make it back in some of the tensest silence Hiccup had known since his childhood.
But once they were back, Jack couldn't control himself any longer and attacked Hiccup.
"I swore since high school, Hic, that I'd always be there for you, but I don't think I can do this anymore."
It had been so jarring and even still, sitting on his barstool and sipping lukewarm liquor, it gave Hiccup chills.
"You're dangerous, you're a risk, and I don't…I don't know if we can afford that anymore!"
Sighing, the other man resisted the urge to put his head down on the bar.
Elsa had stepped in, calm as the morning after a snowstorm, claiming that they had more than enough photos to sell—and all from Hiccup's hand.
"I always get the shot!" Hiccup had argued, and it was true. While the others might stop and try to figure out how to avoid going too deep or swimming in shark infested waters or not have to hang in a tree eighty feet off the ground or sit in a snowbank for twelve hours straight, Hiccup plowed through. And, more often than not, came out victorious.
And only slightly worse for wear.
(Most the time.)
"At what cost?!" Jack had yelled, pulling at his white hair. "Is the endgame you dying?!"
Elsa had pulled him away, giving Hiccup that tired, disappointed look as she coerced Jack into their adjacent room. There was more arguing on the other side of the wall, the voices rising and falling as they debated whether or not to work with Hiccup any longer.
So he took the keys to his room and walked to the nearest pub and started drinking to help stamp down the slowly boiling rage.
'It's not like I'm actively seeking out death—I'm doing what needs to be done,' he justified with another sip, 'They have each other to look out for, but I'm not held down by fear for my life and a partner. If Jack died, Elsa would go back to Berk and never probably work in wildlife photography again. If Elsa died, Jack wouldn't stop for the rest of his days, he'd never settle down, he'd be a nomad living off the grid in a year! I'm able to do what they can't! Why don't they see that?!'
Ruffling his hair, he suffered a long sigh and polished off his drink with the intention of heading back when the seat next to him was suddenly filled.
"Can I buy ye another round?" The voice lilted and it took all he had not to drop his jaw on the bar like an idiot.
She was stunning, all hues of gold and scarlet and turquoise. Her hair tumbled in waves of bright flames down the back of the bar chair, dangling around her hips and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and see if it emitted heat. The one ear he saw dangled a series of earrings, bright and glimmering against the haunting lights above and her lips were painted a sparkling gloss gold shimmer.
"Well?" She teased again, "Lest ye need to get goin', of course."
"Ah! Right, no, no, I've got, uh, nowhere to be," he attempted to chuckle and nearly missed putting his chin into his hand. "But, shouldn't I be…buying you a drink?"
Her brows tipped just as she showed him her nearly full glass next to his empty one.
"Surely ye're not so backwards, coming from so far away," she teased.
"Ah…yeah, feminism and down with the patriarchy," he commented, lost in her eyes like he was drowning. "Please, by all means—buy me a drink."
She chuckled and motioned to the bartender, who waved familiarly at her before going to fetch the bottle of bourbon.
"I…guess you're from around here?" Hiccup swallowed thickly, wondering idly about the last time he'd taken a girl back to his place for a night of mutual fun.
"I am indeed," she teased, "What gave it away, boy-o?"
"Oh, I don't know," he liked her banter along with her face, which wasn't something he could say for most people. "Probably something to do with the freckles. That's a whole thing, I think."
She snorted, nose crinkling in pleasure.
"Ye're funny!"
"Not that funny," he assured, "But I have my moments."
"Aye?" She cheered him, glasses clinking, "And what about the rest of the time?"
"I take photos," he leaned towards her more, separating each other from the rest of the bar. "I'm a wildlife photographer."
"Really? Or is that just what ye tell the lassies?" She sipped carefully on something as dark and dangerous as whatever he was having.
"No, I really do. I sit in trees and hunker down in ditches and dive beneath the waves to get photos of birds and big cats and fish…" He assured, "My last dive was just in Loch Tummel."
She tilted her head and he was reminded of a bird of paradise or a toucan or a bright red macaw.
"And what might ye find in our dear loch?" She hummed, "Certainly ye were not searchin' for Nessie."
"Oh, no, no, my last trip was hunting down dragons and unicorns, so, y'know," he sucked his teeth, "Avoiding the monsters for now, no. There are gray seals down there."
"Ye do'nae say? Huh," she mused, "I've lived here my whole life. Never once saw a seal."
"They're fantastic," he gushed, still excited, "The-the ones we saw were actually tinged a little—pinky-red? It was amazing, so astounding, I've never seen anything like it before. They-they were swimming all around and pulling on my flipper—!"
"Ye do'nae say!" She leaned in, probably just playing along, but he was too excited to care.
"They are so smart, the most amazing—! I'm sorry," he shook his head, laughing, "I'm—I'm being a bit ridiculous."
"Nay, I'm interested!" She assured, "Ye must be quite talented and have a slew of fancy equipment to do all that. Plus, going so high or so low…sounds kind of dangerous…"
Her saucy smirk made him swallow.
"…Ah-ha-ha," he cleared his throat, "Well…I've got to ask…what do I call you?"
"Merida," she answered easily. "And ye?"
"Hiccup," he shook himself with a little curse, "Well, it's…it's Henryk, but all my friends call me Hiccup, it's a Scandinavian thing…"
"Ye do'nae say?" She shook her head, "Ye must be very brave. A Viking on Scottish lands…bold move, some might say."
"That's me," he swallowed, "Brave as can be. Or stupid, depending on the day."
"Or perhaps just crazy?"
"Crazy can be fun!"
She smiled again, "Oh, aye?"
"Uh…" he put on his most charming grin, attempting to channel Jack. "Yeah. Yeah, I can be fun."
"These photographs…" she finished her drink, "They're at yer place?"
"Um…" he sputtered, "Yes, yes, they are…"
"Well, I'm curious. Let's go."
"I…I walked here, uh, it's about, like—?"
"Ye've got two feet and a heartbeat, so let's go," she counted out the right coins and bills. "If ye want, that is."
"Oh, yeah, I want, yes, let's go," he slapped some bills down himself, hoping he hadn't just overpaid by a mile, and followed her easily through the door. It was the first time he saw her upright and he swallowed thickly at the swell of her hips and the turn of her long neck.
She was part cat, part bird, part serpent. He wasn't sure just what mixture of things she was, but something about the way she moved drew him in, all predator, all teeth and talons and venom that got him keyed up. The adrenaline spike was real, a physical thing that had his heart racing and his throat dry and a promise of marks and bruises in the morning, animal noises in the night, howling at the moon and convening with the stars.
Dangerous.
Gods, did he love to play with that.
"Comin'?"
"Oh, yeah," he swore and took her hand, twisting her just right to crash his mouth into hers, swallowing her little laugh of pleasure.
"No joke about how I'll be cummin' later?" She teased agains his mouth, both of them billowing smoke like dragons in the dark night.
"I can do you one better," he swore as he angled her head back to his with his hand in her wild curls, not wanting to tug or damage the ringlets but just having to touch or he'd lose his mind.
She was fire and lightning on the horizon. She was a volcano, she was a shooting star, she was poetry and danger in motion.
'Merida,' he felt like her name was a sacred chant, something as old as the loch he had nearly lost himself in. 'Merida, Merida, Merida…'
They stumbled through his shitty inn room door, laughing and kissing and touching everywhere they could get their hands on. Merida paused to peel her fine jacket off her arms, putting it over a chair before letting him pull her sweater over her head and reveal the soft pinkness of her skin underneath.
Hiccup didn't need to make jokes nor did he consider the noise they made on the other side of the wall that Jack and Elsa surely heard. He fell hard into the burning sea that was this woman, madly beautiful and commanding and strange and ferocious. He wanted to drown in her, succumb to her siren call, let her pull him under the waves where they could both become some kind of whirlpool together.
He was nearly asleep with her hair in his hands, her nails and teeth across his chest and back, marring his tattoos, his neck bearing her mouth print, feeling thoroughly attacked yet monstrously sated. But she moved a little and hummed, sitting up and about to go.
"Going to let me take you to breakfast?" He didn't care if he sounded desperate—he wanted more of her attention, her hands and eyes and mouth on him.
"Nay, I have to go," she cupped his face and kissed him soundly on the mouth. "But maybe I'll see ye around?"
"I'll be here for a week," he sat up, watching her shimmy back into her clothes and uncaring when he got caught staring.
"So short?" She hummed as she leaned over him again, now back in her teal sweater.
"We pick up and move pretty quickly, but it just depends."
"I'd like to see the world one day," she sighed, pressing her mouth to his again before pulling away with a wink. "Maybe next time ye can actually show me yer photos, boy-o."
He didn't care if he was blushing like a baboon, too happy to help himself.
He liked this girl.
"Catch ye around, Hiccup," she whipped her jacket over her shoulders and he moved in heartbeat, uncaring to stand naked by the mostly open door.
It was early, no one should be out except people like them.
"Say you'll see me again," he begged, "Please."
"Och, I do'nae ken—?"
"Swear it," he said, "I'll be at the bar tomorrow and the next night. I want to see you again. Say you'll come."
"…I'll try like Hell, okay?" She shot him a smirk. "I swear, I'll try. Now put yer willy away before someone sees it!"
"I'll wave it around if it makes you stay," he half-begged, "Give me twenty minutes and I'll go for round four, easy."
She gasped and laughed gayly, loudly, commanding even the moon's waning attention. "Ye're a madman!"
"I did tell you—crazy can be fun."
"Ye did, indeed," she blushed in the pale glow of a lamp, "I'll try. I'll see ye before ye go, Hiccup—on that I do swear."
"Good," it was a struggle to close the door behind him, but he managed it.
'You are a grade-A sucker,' a voice commented internally, sounding oddly like Snotlout, 'Maybe you could try a little harder, Haddock! Act like you've been here before!'
'Don't care,' he thought in response. And he honestly didn't.
He didn't even mind only getting four hours of sleep.
"Hiccup, you fucking monster!" Jack grabbed him by the shoulders and nearly spilled his coffee. "You almost made me jealous I wasn't with you last night."
'Guess we're sweeping the fight under the rug,' Hiccup wondered dimly.
"Who was it, huh?" Jack took a chair to his side in the little lobby that was actually the owner's kitchen where she made a fresh pot of coffee and some other little assorted snacks for the visiting photographers that had rented the place. "Some rando, obviously, but—?"
"No, it was the old lady from the shop," he muttered dryly to Jack's cackle of delight.
"Els is pissed, just so you know," Jack took a packet of cookies and tore into them. "You fucked with her sleep and she might murder you."
"Well, just bury me somewhere deep," he advised, "No one will ever know."
Jack shot him a tired look, before moving on to more sordid conversation.
"What'd she look like?"
"Red," Hiccup didn't reveal much. It was never his style to kiss and tell.
"Ooooh. Natural?"
"Jack, shut up."
"Well, I just want to know! Assuming that she's from around here, I'm betting she was. And from the noise last night she was definitely impressive."
"Jack."
"And wild! Look at your neck!" Jack cackled again and Hiccup moved his turtleneck higher up his throat.
"Jack…"
"What a wildcat, I'm almost jealous," he rolled his blue eyes.
"Jack—?"
"No, no, Hiccup, let him finish," Jack's neck popped as he wheeled around to see his beloved standing irately behind him. "Tell me about how you're jealous about fucking random girls from around the globe, because you can go back to that pretty quick."
"Baby! Good morning, my shiny, adorable, sparkling—!"
"Cram it," she plopped down, "Coffee, now. Chop-chop."
"Coming right up, dear," he hurried away and Hiccup made whipping sounds as he moved.
"Damn right I'm whipped!" Jack laughed, "But I much prefer the paddle, don't I, Mistress?"
"Yes, Slave," she drawled as he handed her a mug and Hiccup gagged animatedly.
Elsa dropped a scary amount of creamer and sugar into hers. "You kept me up, Haddock."
"Yeah, I would say sorry, but, uh, erm…I had too much fun," he snorted at her angry glower and the dark purple around her eyes.
"It better have been worth it."
"From the sounds of it, it was. How many times did you go?" Jack was hit with a sugar cube, letting it plunk off his cheek and clatter to the table.
Hiccup ran his hands through his hair and tried not to blush.
"…You met a random girl at a bar and took her back and now you have a crush?"
Elsa was too damn quick on the uptake and Hiccup nearly sputtered a curse at her.
"No! No, I don't have a crush, I'm—just cum-drunk," he waved a hand in hopes that she bought it, but he was doubtful.
Hiccup was a lot of layers, which somehow Elsa saw right through and pierced in an instant. He used to really dislike her, she grated on him, revealing things he didn't want others to know publicly and it got on his nerves like nothing else. Jack found her candor incredibly alluring, the way she could cut to the quick in a a single blow making him swoon like an idiot ever since they met. But Jack was always more open than Hiccup, more easygoing and accepted, having better social grace and standards since their youth and could take her jabs in stride while it took Hiccup sometimes weeks to recuperate.
She was better now, after a few long talks, but she could still somehow manage to see right into him and rip out thoughts even he didn't want to deal with.
"One night and she's got you hooked?!" Jack grinned, "Who is this redheaded siren?!"
"…Her name is Merida and I do not have a crush."
"Merida, Merida, Merida," Immediately Jack whipped out his phone, "Let's find this girl, eh, hon?"
"I want to see," Elsa teased, making Hiccup sigh and put his head in his hands.
"This her?" Jack showed him a photo of a woman that was at least a decade older than his Merida.
"Uh, no!" He laughed, "Here, let me see…"
They scrolled and scrolled and scrolled some more. Elsa got her laptop and tried digging on all the different social media sites, unable to find the girl that Hiccup had spent the night with.
"Red flag," Elsa commented with a sigh. "Fake name. She's probably married or something. Tough luck, Hic."
"It—it wasn't a fake name, she responded to it, she knew it," Hiccup sighed, annoyed.
"Could be a middle name," Jack commented around a cookie, "But, yeah…seems kind of shady, my man."
"Maybe she's just not into social media?"
The other two shared a pained look, equally wincing.
"…Hic, c'mon, it's…it's like…That's not really a thing any—anymore. Unless she's forty?"
"Shut up," Hiccup huffed, mood ruined. "Maybe she's from up towards the hills, which won't have as good internet and reception and shit."
"…Sure…?" Jack's voice shot up an octave and Hiccup rolled his eyes.
"She's real and she's gorgeous and-and-and, why am I telling you anything?!" He threw up his hands. "It's none of your business!"
The two shared a look before standing in sync.
"Let's get our gear and go for a hike, huh?!" Jack corralled Hiccup into a one-armed hug. "Maybe get some pretty birds or squirrels or something!"
"Fuck…off," Hiccup sighed and stood, needing something to do and hoping he'd get the girl out of his head.
He would succeed for awhile, but not entirely.
Back at the bar every night, Hiccup struggled not to make a fool of himself in front of the bartender waiting for Merida to show up again.
A day before he left, she reappeared at his arm and he swallowed a gasp.
"Hiya," she drawled and he nearly swooned.
She was bright and damning, like the rarest fish and birds. She drew attention to her when she moved, the whole bar twisting in tandem to get a glance at the sway of her hips and the fine coat she wore that glinted a pale pink shimmer in the dull bar lights.
"Hi," he murmured, "Can I buy you a drink?"
Merida smiled a little before peering up at him through her long, bloody lashes. "D'ye really want to waste time sippin' whiskey when we could be doin' somethin' much more fun?"
"Y-yeah, let's—uh," he counted a few bills and he ignored how the bartender rolled his eyes, "Let's go."
They raced into the dark, laughing quietly like they were hiding from some unknown authority.
"I've been thinking about you all week," he muttered against her mouth.
"Oh, aye?" She teased, tipping her head back up at him, like the sun rising in the East.
"Aye," he mocked a little back and she chortled, nose crinkling.
"I've been thinkin' of ye, too," she whispered, like it was a secret and he was happy to keep it for her.
They pulled each other back to his place where he intended to show her just how much he'd thought about her and annoy the shit out of Elsa and Jack who had given him so much shit beforehand. Her marks from before had just healed and she was quick to replace them across his body, emblazon her touch on his skin, nails and teeth and fire in her wake.
They spent the night and into the morning, ignoring the ticking clock that separated them both. When she woke, the light pouring through the window, she gasped loud enough to wake him and she threw her clothes on and he couldn't help but wonder if what Elsa said was true and she was hiding some secret family in the moors.
"Can't I just buy you a coffee?" He half-begged while she shimmied into her pants.
"Nay, sorry, laddie," she muttered, throwing her hair back away from her face. "Ye are…well, ye were the best I've ever had, 'kay?"
Like a compliment would sate his greedy heart.
"But…someone's waiting for you?"
"Aye, my little brothers and—! Shit, fuck, Christ!" She snarled, rings catching in her hair.
"Okay, all right, that's fine, here, let me—!" He picked up her coat from off the chair and held it out to her, making her pause and shoot him the most horrified glance he'd ever seen on a human being.
She froze, mouth open, one hand in her hair.
"Here—here's you're coat," he gestured to her and she took a step back.
"Ah…oh, no," she muttered, whipping it from his grip and running out the door.
"Merida?!" He yanked his boxers on and half followed her out the door, seeing her sprinting full-tilt down the hill towards town.
"What in the fuck—?"
Another door opened beside them, revealing a furious Elsa. "Haddock!"
He stared, helpless and cold in more ways than one, as the last glimpse of red disappeared around the bend.
"You are so fucking annoying, you absolute nympho-freak!" She marched over in her pale white nightie, sporting a messy braid and smudged cheeks. "You are a madman, I cannot even begin to—!"
She saw his slack expression and paused her tirade.
"…Hiccup? What happened?"
"I guess you were right," he felt himself slumping, "She must…she must be lying or have someone waiting at home…"
"Hiccup, c'mon," she led him back inside with a frigid touch that didn't even bother him, "It's cold…Let me get Jack."
"No, no, I'm fine." He shrugged her off and headed inside. He still needed to pack for their flight in a few hours, when they would head to Turkey.
Elsa sighed and returned to her room, cutting him to the core with her bright eyes.
Putting things in his pack, he stumbled across Merida's earring. It was a little red stone with a glimmering green teardrop, winking in the light.
In a moment, he realized he had made a decision nights ago and only now had the spine to admit it.
"Hiccup, you can't just…not go!"
"I pushed my flight back. I'll join you in a week or two." He shrugged, "We made good money on my seal photos and this place is crazy cheap."
The two blondes shared a strange look.
"Hiccup, this is…odd behavior, even for you."
"What do you mean?" He crossed his arms to look at Elsa.
"Well…it's…obsessive and kind of manic." She reached out for him and he moved away. "We just want you to think about this decision."
"It's not like I'm giving up my life, here!" He threw up his hands, "Guys, I'm not quitting. I'm just…this is unresolved and-and-and—!" He ran his hands through his hair, "And Elsa pegged it in one! I like her. And…I don't know, maybe…maybe she could be something to me. I'm not sure!"
"Hiccup, you can find a good lay anywhere," Jack ignored the angry glance his girlfriend shot him. "This girl—!"
"C'mon, man. How many times have I taken a girl home for a one night stand? Enough to know what was…what had the chance to be real and what would always just be sex!"
"Hiccup," Elsa spoke in that child-soothing way that made him want to shout. "Hiccup, this isn't okay. You can't barge in on this woman's life and demand some kind of attention she obviously can't give you."
"We don't know what she can or can't give. She thought I was leaving today, but I'm not. Not yet, at least. So…I'm going to find her again. Have a conversation and…"
"And what, Hic?" Jack rubbed his temples. "We move shop every week or two. It's our job, it's our life. No one beyond us can do something like that and you already explained she has brothers here, a life here, expectations here."
"European flight tickets are always cheap. I could come back sometime, when times are slow, or during the holidays," he shrugged, trying to make it make sense to them and himself. "Try…dating?"
The others sighed in sync.
"I don't want to tell you no, Hiccup!" Jack threw his hands in the air. "I want you to be happy, I want you have what you want!"
"And it's been so long since you've…really paid any attention to someone…" Elsa leaned into Jack's grip and shot him a glance.
They spoke without speaking and Jack ended up laughing and shaking his head.
"Fine! Fine, you win!" He pulled out his phone, "I'll cancel the B-and-B. I think we'll get half our deposit back at least."
"I'll call the airline," Elsa grabbed her own phone and Hiccup balked.
"What? No, you guys need to go and start—?"
"And leave without our best photographer?" Jack winked at him over his screen, "C'mon, Hic. What would we do without you? You're the one that always gets the shot."
Hiccup gaped, "Guys…I don't want to hold you back. You should get over there, start making headway and—?"
"Look, you like this girl enough to stay?" Jack grabbed him around the shoulders in a true hug that was as rare as it was cherished. "We'll figure out something. Even if it's just for some closure. You haven't looked twice at a girl since Astrid and I'm willing to figure out anything and everything to at least give you a chance. Okay?"
When he pulled away he patted him on the back a couple times and Hiccup nearly tipped face first into the cheap shag carpet.
"I love you, man. And, shit…who am I to say that this isn't some kind of fate?" He shrugged, "I found the woman of my dreams three steps away from my house and I've traveled all over the world. Why can't yours be here, hidden under some fucking moss or something?"
"Airline handled," Elsa came in, wiping away forced tears that could win her just about anything. "We've had a very bad accident. Hiccup is still recovering and is in need of care."
"Damn right he is!" Jack kissed her solidly on the mouth and she sighed into his familiar touch. It made a part of Hiccup ache with longing, but he pushed it away. "God, you are the best and scariest thing in the world."
"I'm aware," she patted his cheek. "Now—how to handle our dear friend."
"First things first: snacks! Then, we hunt!" Jack swore.
"Guys…you don't have to do this for me…"
"We know, Hiccup. But you're ours and we love you. We wouldn't be us without you scaring the shit out of us every week or so. And, if that means a new girl tagging along with us, well…who knows?" Elsa shrugged, "Maybe she'll be able to help us in ways we don't know!"
"Yeah! Things have a way of working themselves out. So…c'mon!" Jack ushered them forward. "Food! Then the sleuthing begins!"
They managed to make it to a little restaurant that was open early and serving pastries, cakes, teas and coffees. Jack was happy to fill his cappuccino with enough sugar to frighten an elderly woman sitting nearby, Elsa sipping a pot of earl gray and looking out of place against the two grungy appearing men.
"So! What do we have?" Jack asked, rubbing his hands together. "We have—a name, an earring, knowledge of siblings, a local area, and a frequented place."
"We've caught rarer things with less," Elsa smiled a little.
"But it's not a lot," Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair. "I need to go back to the bar. See if I can talk to the bartender, some of the others who are always there."
"Good plan." Jack agreed, "Once we have a bit more to go off, we can localize the search."
"Then what?" Elsa hummed.
"We do what we always do!" Jack shrugged, "We hunker down, still and silent, and wait. Once we have her—!" He held up his fingers like he had a camera against his face, "Gotcha!"
"So…we stalk her?" Elsa rolled her eyes, "That'll go over so well."
"Well—! Okay, Elsa has a point," Jack flushed. "Stalking usually ends up with someone in jail."
"And after Abu Dhabi, we definitely don't want to go through that again."
"At least the Scots speak English," Hiccup rubbed his temples. "We can't just…intrude. Like you said, Elsa, it's creepy and off-putting and definitely not what I want to do."
"Then we use what we have…" Jack chugged his drink. "To the bar, my friends!"
The old lady in the corner gawped.
"Look, boy-o," the young man, dressed in reds and continuously flicking his hair out of his eyes, sneered at Hiccup with derision that nearly burned, "The girl is a regular, but no one kens her."
"And what does that mean?" Jack leaned across the bar.
"She does what she does," he flicked his hair out of his face for what seemed the fourteenth time in the last ten minutes. "She comes, she drinks, she leaves with some poor man she ruins and leaves like him."
"You just gestured to all of me."
"Yes, boy-o, they all look just like ye. Wrung dry and wantin', begging for the lass to pay 'em just a moments more attention. The girl comes, picks someone up that has nay intention of hangin' around, then repeats the cycle."
"I'm sorry, what year is it?" Elsa cocked her hip in a way that meant war and Hiccup almost felt bad for the guy. "Are you seriously shaming this woman for having multiple partners?"
"Ah, nay—!" He looked suitably scared and Jack shot Hiccup a look of pleasure at watching him squirm.
"Because the way it sounds to me, is that you're bitter she never looked twice at you."
"Oi, look here, lass—!"
"Don't point your finger at my girlfriend, buddy," Jack snapped.
"All of ye can fuck—!"
"Enough!" Hiccup spat, "I just want to know if she has a pattern. I have something of hers. I just want to return it. That's all."
The man whipped his long hair over his shoulder. "Aye, fine. Ye see her on Wednesdays and Fridays. Mainly. But I've seen her at the other local bar, McTavish's, across the way. She goes where she likes."
"Thanks," Hiccup grabbed a seething Jack and Elsa and dragged them out the nearest door.
"Well," Hiccup raked his hands through his hair, "That's a bit of a bust…"
"It's Saturday, so…" Elsa calmed herself down, patting Jack's arm to help ease his fury. "What's the plan, Hic?"
"Try McTavish?"
"Lead the way," they moved together to find a spot at the only other bar in town, hoping for more luck there.
Hiccup blindly reached for his screaming phone, putting it to his ear.
"Yeah?"
"Hic…? I think…I think I'm looking at her."
"Els?" He glanced at the clock, seeing it was nearly midnight.
"Hiccup, I'm looking at her. I've found her."
"Shit," he was up and throwing his jacket over his shoulder, having been basically sleeping in his pants and leg for the last three days so he could move faster. "I'm on my way. What's she doing?"
"Drinking."
"Not…Is she picking someone up?"
"No…she looks miserable. I might be wrong, but…"
"What? Is it her or not?"
"It's her. But she looks heartbroken, Hic. Better hurry."
"I'm running," he hung up and took as fast a pace as he could manage down the hill towards the town, lights bleary in the dark fog. Elsa was at McTavish's and Jack was sitting up at the other bar, MacIntosh's. He clutched the little earring in his hand as he caught his breath and pushed his way in, eyes scanning the place. He saw Elsa first, who pointed her chin to a corner, where he swiveled to see the bright head of Merida.
'Gods above…'
Even in the dark, she seemed to glow. She sat sipping something dark and dangerous, hair bedraggled and askew, still wearing her fine coat that glimmered red and brown and green.
(Elsa couldn't help her sigh at the expression her friend made, getting up to pay her tab and leave the rest of the night to fate and the cold moon.)
Hiccup sat across from her, the only thing that got her to look up and she blinked in shock.
"Ye…ye're here? What—?"
"Yeah," he breathed out a laugh. "I…You left this."
He gave her the cheap earring, which now seemed so foolish to have kept and remained for.
"…Thank ye, but…?"
"I had to see you again." He swallowed his embarrassment, his shame. The absolute ridiculousness of the situation wasn't lost on him, but he was struggling to care.
"But ye have to go," she swallowed, "Ye have to. It's yer job."
"I know and, yeah, eventually, I've got to pick up and go."
"Then why prolong the inevitable?" She simpered a bit, some bitterness he was desperate to know, to taste on her mouth, to wipe away. "Why hurt us both?"
"Both?" He breathed. "So…you do feel something for me?"
She rolled her eyes, "I do'nae go with a man twice if I did'nae…"
"I'm glad…I was kind of scared you'd tell me I was a creep and to go fuck myself."
"I half want to, just to make it easier on us."
"Don't," he whispered, "I…I don't know how or why or if you're a witch and you've cursed me but I can't stop thinking about you. I've been looking for you for days."
She put her head in her hands, "Hiccup…?"
"I don't know what you're…I don't know, okay? I don't have any answers. But I do have a question."
Downing the remnant of her drink, she shrugged. "Hit me."
"Can you…Do you want more from me?"
"Do I—? What now?"
"I have to leave, that's a guarantee. I don't know what you have here, but you said you had brothers and I know that means you have obligations and family here. But…if I came back, if I returned, if I called you and talked to you and…and came back to you, would you be willing to have something with me?"
Her brows dipped, "Hiccup…things are more complicated than ye think."
"Oh…Oh!" He swallowed. "Are you…are you, uh, in a relationship?"
Merida scoffed, "Ye think so little of me?"
"Then—what?"
Her eyes turned towards the room, gazing over the few lingering people that had conglomerated for the late evening.
"Ye should know…bein' what ye are to me…"
"What?"
"Come," she put some bills on the table, "It's time ye understand just what ye've done."
"Uh…?"
She dragged him out the door, onto the dirt path. He let her lead him for sometime before he pulled on her grip and joined by her side without being pulled. There was no other light to lead them than the moon, but Hiccup was struggling with his false leg and opened up his phone to use the flashlight even though Merida seemed complexly unbothered by the dark.
"Where are we going?" He was almost nervous to pierce the quiet between them.
"I need to show ye…I need to show ye what ye've done."
"What have I done?"
"Ye'll see."
"…Are you going to murder me?"
She snorted. "Nay, boy-o. Just promise ye will'nae do the same to me?"
"…Try to kill you? Why would I do that?"
She paused in the dark and her eyes flashed pale blue with something that he knew wasn't human and made him take a step back, his throat double-clenching on instinct.
"There's more to these hills than fog and threat," she promised lowly, seemingly normal again.
"…What does that mean, Merida?"
"It means that ye've stepped in a pile of steamin' shite." She ran a hand through her ragged curls. "And it's partially my fault, but…There's no avoiding it."
"What?"
"Just keep up."
He hissed and they kept walking for nearly thirty minutes, Merida refusing to explain where they were heading and what was happening until they came to a little harbor.
She stepped onto the dock, fearlessly moving through the uneven light of a single posted lamp that swung with the gentle breeze.
When she reached the end, Hiccup a little more nervous than her without his suit and his fin and his tank.
"D'ye ken the stories of the old world?"
Her hair whipped around her shoulders, lit up from behind like a bloody halo and making him choke.
"…Some."
"Ye said ye were a Viking. The legends expand towards the north as well."
"…There are plenty of myths. Ymir, the giant, the gods and their many worlds…"
"The monster Jörmungandr, the serpent that chases itself in an endless loop. Fenrir, the wolf that consumes the moon and sun in a single mouthful. But there are more monsters, closer to home, hidden in the dark."
Her eyes shined that same shimmery blue that made his hair stand on end.
"Ye, who have gone so far, have certainly seen the horrors that have remained."
"I…" Hiccup's mind was filled with hazy images of his youth, seeing the long tendrils of a tentacle that could easily yank down a long-boat. He had run to his father, claimed that he saw the Kraken, was told of giant squids, and forgotten about it.
How many other things had he witnessed, then logicked away? How many times had he heard songs in midnight, even though there was no one around for miles beyond him and his crew? Or saw figures in the gloom that looked just a bit too human to be an animal, but surely his imagination? Or woke to find something had messed with the tent despite leaving their goods alone?
"Ye ken the story of the selkie."
The girls that were never content, longing constantly for the ocean or the land, unable to choose between either and wanting both. The women born able to shed the skin of their animal bodies and able to press themselves into a human form, but their sealcoat was the way to win them for a short time.
"Ye touched my coat, ye know."
"…I do."
"And ye gave it back to me."
"I did."
"D'ye know what that means?"
"No idea," he couldn't wrap his head around anything at the moment, the light catching and shattering around his head like fireworks and everything was getting short-circuited.
"It makes ye mine and me, yers."
"…What?"
"It's basically a marriage contract."
"I…woah, what?"
Merida was stripping out of her clothes, bearing her pale skin to the light. A part of Hiccup's mind was still with the expectation of something normal. She was just going to jump in the water, a little skinny-dipping, then laugh at how absurd the whole thing was as their teeth chattered and he warmed her up.
She whipped the coat around her shoulders and then he was blinking at a seal on the dock. Her wide eyes stared up at him, her coat glinting reddish and it took him a few moments to realize that she was the same one that he saw in the loch a week ago.
"Your…brothers…" The little ones that tugged at his leg and tried to drag him down below.
Inhuman.
Monster.
Incorrect.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
His head pounded and he caught the pain in her face, her animal face, her seal eyes, not human, not right. He shook from top to bottom, his head following suit, unable to stop himself as he turned on his heel and started running in the other direction. His ears rung so loud he never heard the splash! of her slick body hitting the water and disappearing below the surface.
Hiccup couldn't stop until he was halfway back to the town, his heart racing, breath catching in his throat. He pulled at his hair, feeling like a wild animal himself, terrible and terrifying, screaming into the woods and wondering if something like a faerie might step out and steal him into the Underground.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
"…So?" Elsa paced outside Hiccup's door, taking Jack's arm as soon as he reappeared.
"…I…I've never seen him like this. I'm this close," He showed an inch between his thumb and pointer finger, "To calling a hospital."
"What'd he say?"
"Nothing. That's the problem."
"What?"
"He's fucking comatose, basically. He's staring at his wall and he won't say anything. He's shaking like a leaf and I know he hasn't eaten…!"
"What did that bitch say to him?!" Elsa hissed, "I swear, if I get my hands on her—!"
"Less about the girl, more about Hic." He ran a hand through his hair. "What do we do, babe?"
"I…I don't know…" Elsa whispered, tearing up. "This is scarier than the shit with him jumping off cliffs and being so foolish…"
"Hey, don't-don't fall apart on me, okay? I can't…I need us both to be strong. We can freak out later, but right now we have to keep it together for his sake."
Elsa nodded.
"Right. I'm here, Jack."
"I know you are."
"So…? Get a cab, take him to the nearest hospital?"
"That's last resort."
"Then what's the plan here, Jack? We can't leave him like this."
"Don't—!" He bared his teeth for a second, taking a deep breath. "Please don't snap at me right now, Elsa."
"I'm sorry," she sighed, rubbing at her tired eyes. "I'm frightened. I don't mean to take it out on you."
"I know that."
"So…?"
"…I don't know…Cold water in the face?"
"Let me google how to treat shock," she was quick to type in the question into a search engine and find solutions. "You think it's shock?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." He leaned over her shoulder. "Maybe I should just slap the shit out of him."
"I wouldn't say he didn't deserve it, scaring as much as he has recently. First nearly suffocating in the loch, then the stuff with this girl, now this…I'd say go ahead for the sheer retribution!"
"Easy," he advised lowly, reading as quick as her. Some had always seen their relationship as odd from the outside, her cool demeanor against his playful and teasing. But they were more equally matched than expected, their minds as sharp and quick to find solutions together. "We can beat him up later, once he's…back to normal."
"Maybe it's a drug overdose?" Her eyes cut through the information in front of her.
"You think he was drugged?" Jack clucked his tongue, "I've done a lot of drugs, I've never seen anything like that…plus it's lasted so long, it doesn't add up."
"Don't tell me," Elsa went typing again, not bothering to hear about the escapades of Jack's youth. "PTSD episodes…?"
"He had those back when he was a kid after his accident…" Jack sighed, "But it wasn't like this…"
"Brain tumor? Mental breakdown?"
"Fuck, I hope not!" Her boyfriend of many years rubbed his tired face. "Let's not dive down this rabbit hole, WebMD is never helpful."
She snapped her laptop closed and put her own head in her hands. "I don't know what to do, Jack."
"I—?"
The door swung open to reveal a pale and nervous looking Hiccup, making them both pause and suck in a nervous breath.
"I need my stuff."
"Hiccup, honey," Elsa reached and he recoiled so hard he banged his shoulder in the doorframe. Elsa retreated, hands up and nearly blubbering at the hurt. "Okay…okay, let's just…take a second."
"Hiccup, sit." Jack demanded, too run dry to bother with kindness. "Before you pass out."
"No, I need…my foot and my camera. I need to get back—?"
"Henryk fucking Haddock, sit the fuck down!" Jack roared and Elsa barely resisted jumping. "For fucks sake!"
Glowering mutely, Hiccup slumped into the threadbare chair by the door and crossed his arms like a petulant teen.
"You are—ooh!" He clenched his fists and struggled not to hit his best friend. "You are pissing me off, Haddock."
Sitting tightlipped, Jack flung his hands open.
"Well? Don't you have anything to say?"
"…I don't mean to worry you or make you upset, but—!"
Jack reached out and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him to his uneven feet and making Elsa smother a gasp.
"You are so fucking selfish I could kill you!" Jack spat, "What the fuck is your problem?!"
Hiccup's hands got purchase on his shoulders but was thrown off when Jack shook him like he was nothing. It was easy to forget sometimes how many sports Jack played, how much strength he carried in his wiry muscles.
"Answer me, you bastard! What the fuck is going on?!"
"I don't know…!" Hiccup gasped, "I honestly don't!"
"What does that mean?!"
"Jack, Jack, put him down," Elsa tried to keep her voice firm but it was thready and high-pitched even to her ears. "Put him down now! You—you're scaring him!"
"He should be scared!" Another shake that had his head lolling, "I'm fucking scared! Elsa's scared! Why shouldn't you be scared, too?!"
"I'm—!" Hiccup yelped, trying to get purchase on the ground and around Jack's hands.
"You pull this shit and you can only think of yourself, you—!" Jack reared his fist back and Elsa grabbed her boyfriend around the back to stop him.
"Enough! Please, stop this!"
Clucking his tongue, Jack threw him down and paced away, out of her reach, breath ragged and matching the panicked gasps of herself and Hiccup.
"You have never done anything like that," Elsa spat hotly, "And you never will again, do you hear me?! Or I will leave your ass on whatever continent and go home!"
He gaped, "What? How are you on his side?"
"This isn't about sides, you prick!" She snarled, "This is about you—you don't ever raise your hands to someone! Not me, not Hiccup! Not ever! Do you understand?!"
He breathed deeply, sitting on the other side of the room. "Right. You're right. I'm sorry, Elsa. I am. I'm sorry."
Reeling, she addressed the other man in the room. "And you! He has a point—what the fuck is going on?!"
"I—! I don't fucking know, okay?!" He finally cried, shocking them both when he began to leak tears of agitation and panic. "I have no fucking clue what the hell has happened! Nothing makes sense, but it all makes sense and now—now the world is different and I don't know what to do!"
The couple shared a glance.
"Hiccup, I'm tired of the dramatics. Explain this to us. Now!" Elsa grabbed onto the tattered edges of her patience.
"…I can't," he gasped, "You guys will think I'm insane. I think I'm insane."
"Start from the top." Jack advised, quieter, more in control.
"…Merida…was…" He put his head in his hands and Elsa felt her blood run cold.
"Hic…Hiccup, look at me," she knelt at his side, "Hiccup…did you…did you hurt her? Is she…?"
"What?" His eyes widened so much she could see white around his whole iris. "No! I didn't—! She's—fine, I guess!"
She gasped in relief, falling to her side and just barely catching herself with her hand.
"Oh, thank God…"
"What do you mean you guess?" Jack stepped in while she pulled herself together.
"She…she said she wanted to show me what I've done…" He blinked away tears. "She walked me to the loch, on the edge of a private dock. She said she was a gods-damn selkie."
Elsa tittered, nervous and panicky.
"Then…?" Jack pushed.
"Then she turned into a fucking seal." Hiccup peered up at him. "One of the ones I have on my camera. One of the ones we saw."
There was a beat of quiet as they all attempted to come to terms with that statement.
"Hiccup—?"
"I know, okay? I know. I know how it sounds, I know what you're thinking. But…it's…it's true. She…she transformed right in front of me."
"That's not possible," Elsa shook her head. "You must be mistaken."
"I wish I was." He pulled at his hair. "I wish beyond wishing that I just head a psychotic break or something. I would be comforted to know that! But I'm one-hundred percent sane."
"Hiccup, you have to be mistaken."
"Selkies and mermaids and Jotuns and monsters in the dark—they're just myths! We've seen the world, how are you dragging Berk all the way down here?!"
"But you know—!" Hiccup was on his feet, finger pointing, "You know we've seen things that don't make sense! Not one hundred percent! Not always!"
"If you say that fucking bullshit from when we were kids—!"
"—It was the kraken—!"
He advanced with dangerous steps, "I'll kill him, Els, step aside!"
"Enough!" She put her hands up, "Stop!"
They panted in sync.
"We are reporters first, photographers second. We find rare and exotic animals all the time. And we've never seen anything like—the sagas, the myths might suggest. So, tell me, Hiccup, how do you think we are to believe somehow, someway, there's such a thing out there?"
He shrugged his shoulders helplessly, "Because—! They're good at masking themselves as something else? I don't know! But-but-but even the old lady at the shop! She said, she said, to leave things in the sand alone! Old clothes, that's what she said!"
"Oh, you are not citing the old bat as a credible source!"
"Jack, what else could she be referring to than the myth of the Selkie? If you stole her skin, she'd be stuck on land until she found it again!"
"That's it!" He threw his hands up, "I'm calling the hospital. I hope you like white, buddy, because you're going to be seeing a lot of it."
"Jack, stop!" Elsa hissed.
"You are not considering even entertaining this!" He spat back. "He's lost his fucking mind, Elsa!"
"He might just have or he thinks he saw something he didn't. We find Merida again, we get this mess sorted out, we go to Turkey as planned."
"With him off his fucking rocker?!"
"Hey, I'm still standing right here," Hiccup quipped in that painfully sarcastic way.
"Once he has proof—sorry, Hiccup, once you have proof that Merida is just a regular human being you'll feel better and we can get back on track. Right?"
Jack shook his pale head.
"Well?" Elsa shot Hiccup a furious glance. "Is that something that will help, Hiccup? Will that put this whole thing to rest?"
"I—I guess, sure?"
"You better say yes, or else you're headed to the nearest psychiatric ward."
"Elsa, I'm telling you, I know what I saw—!"
"See? He's nuts. He needs meds and a sterile bed."
"Jack, shut up!"
"He might not be fucking wrong, I'm not sure!" Hiccup cried, "But—I know what I saw! Okay?! I saw a girl turn into a fucking seal and it-it sure didn't feel like a hallucination!"
"Okay, okay, Hiccup, shh…" Elsa sat on the side of the chair and carded her fingers through his hair while he huffed great plumes of air.
Jack's furious expression relaxed a little.
"Just breathe, okay?" Elsa murmured, rocking him against her, "Relax, it's okay…"
"How is it ever going to be okay again? If I'm insane, I'm fucking insane. If I'm right…there are fucking monsters everywhere."
Elsa's brows dipped in exhaustion and worry.
"Medication has made leaps and bounds," Jack offered, only somewhat helpfully. Elsa glowered at him. "What? My mother was on shit for years, before she was a mess and after she was fine."
"Jack...?"
"No, he's right…" Hiccup swallowed, "We…If that's what it is, then he's right. But…Elsa, you have to believe me…it didn't feel fake. It wasn't a trick of the light, I know what I saw…"
"I know, I know, shh," she comforted him with a heavy sigh. "Let's…let's make this right, okay?"
"How?" He whimpered.
"We do what we do best. Jack, get our things. Hiccup, clean yourself up. It's time to get to the bottom of this."
"I told ye after yer wee fiasco, ye'd not use our equipment again—!"
"Ma'am, please, we're willing to pay a great price," Elsa assured. "We need those photos and will be much more professional than before—!"
"I said—!" She paused, her massive son moving as if to lift them all bodily and toss them out, but she stopped him. "Ye…!"
Pointing her gnarled hand at Hiccup, he pointed to himself after a moment. "Me?"
"Ye…ye're marked with the touch of the Selkie."
"Mum...?"
"Oh, so we believe this now too?" Jack muttered behind Elsa and she slapped his hand in warning.
"You know of the selkies in the loch?" He asked, breathless. "You warned us, before…"
"Of course I ken them!" She muttered, "My son looks mighty different than me, do'nae ye say?"
"Ah…I suppose…?"
"Born of the water, he kens it better than any human might. How d'ye think he found ye, out of the whole loch, hidden in the murk below?"
"You are seriously suggesting you fucked and bred with a seal?" Jack shook his head at Elsa's furious mutter, throwing his hands into the air. "Nope! I'm sitting this out. I'll be outside."
The old woman watched him go.
"Maybe it's best if you handle this alone, Hic…I'll be with Jack," Elsa moved away and disappeared with the ring of the bell above the door.
"Let me guess, ye touched the sealcoat."
"Y-yeah," he admitted.
"Did ye keep it? Are ye hidin' it somewhere? Because—!" She shook her bear-headed cane and Hiccup jerked back.
"No! I know the stories. I won't trap her, that wasn't the point."
She huffed, "Then what?"
"I…I lifted it. I touched it, returned it to her. She said…she told me that it was a kind of contract. An agreement, a bond. And then…"
"Yes, boy, sometime this year!" She threatened and he sighed.
"She transformed. I ran. I hurt her and I…"
"Ye do'nae want to be cursed, do ye? Good idea," she shook her head, "Ye must set it right. Or else yer life will be plagued with death and misfortune 'til the end of yer days."
Swallowing a curse of his own, Hiccup just nodded.
"Right. So…will you help us out? Once again?"
She hummed. "Ye only."
"W-what? No, I need my team—?"
"Nay, only ye may go and set this to rights. Come back at midnight."
"But—?!"
"Ye have no other choice, boy-o. I'll see ye at midnight on the dot. Do'nae be late."
Hiccup stormed out, Jack and Elsa stopping their furious whispers as if they made them seem any less suspicious.
"You're not going to like this."
Jack pulled at his hair. "Great. Lay it on us."
"Only I can go."
"Nope! No deal!" Jack was already moving away with pounding, furious steps. "Let's go!"
"Jack—!"
"No!" He wheeled around, "I've had it! No way! No fucking way! Two letters—N-O!"
"Then what do you suggest?"
"Find the girl! The human, very much alive, somewhere in this city, human girl."
"Okay, I like this plan," Elsa suggested with a nod. "We find her and everything will make sense. Okay, Hiccup?"
"I don't think she'll—?"
"If you say something about her coming out of the water, Hiccup…I will…I don't know. But it was involve your dick and a bear-trap."
Hiccup sighed. "Jack, please…I know you think I'm crazy, but I am good at what I do. Can you maybe, just this once, put some faith in me?"
His old friend stared through him, "How? How do you expect me to do that when you behave like you have lives to spare? How many times has Els and I yanked you back over that threshold? If we're not there for you, who's to stop you from tumbling right over the edge?"
"Oh, Jack…" Elsa put her head on his shoulders.
"Jack, I'm not her," Hiccup finally accused, shoulders shaking. "I'm not some—stand-in for your sister. You can't make this seem like it's always about me when it's clearly more about you and what happened to you!"
Elsa gaped at him while Jack turned to pure stone, his eyes becoming cold and hateful.
"Jack, baby—?" She muttered when he yanked out of her hands and went pacing away down the road. "Hiccup, what have you done? What have you done?"
On lithe feet, Elsa ran after the man she loved and hoped she could help pick up the pieces of his heart along the way.
Hiccup remained, feeling more hollow with every passing second.
A eleven-thirty, Hiccup was leaving the hotel when he spotted a bright head waiting by the door next to his own. At first he hoped it was Jack, but it was Elsa that watched him with her cruel, bright eyes.
"We have tickets for tomorrow at noon," she informed him in a whisper. "If you're not on that plane with us, don't bother catching up."
It was the coldest he'd ever seen her be, Hiccup thinks.
"And if you are, if you come," she continued, stepping down the tiny porch to stand in front of him, terrifying despite being shorter than him. "I will expect you to start to act like the adult you are, Haddock."
He nodded, tight-lipped.
"I'm tired of picking up after your messes." Something in her glinted like starlight and he swallowed a hiss of fear. "Do you understand?"
"I do."
"And if you ever hurt Jack like that again, bringing up the sorrow of his little sister's death, I'll drown you myself and make it look like an accident."
He didn't doubt it. "I understand."
"Good. Now go and un-fuck yourself," she shook her blonde head. "I don't care how or why or what you do. Just make this right and get yourself handled before it kills us all."
Hiccup sighed. "I know you think I'm crazy—?"
"I don't think anything," she whispered, furious and bright and dangerous. "I've seen things. You've seen things. Even Jack has seen things, but we like our ignorance. Is that so wrong? If you want to live in a world of monsters, Hiccup, that's fine by me."
"…What are you talking about, Elsa?" He wanted to take her, shake her. Demand answers, even if it hurt them both to have them. "What have you seen?"
Her eyes danced like the sun on ice, half-blinding him. "Enough."
It choked him, silenced his questions.
"Go," she jerked her chin, "Go. Do what you have to do, make this right in your mind. Figure it out, Hiccup. But know that nothing will ever be the same."
Hiccup nodded, lips pursed, and turned to make his way back to the diving center. It was a slow walk, he was in his mind, unable to come to terms with what he knew, what he wondered, where he was going and what was going to happen to him. In the back of his mind he had to ask himself if this was really what he wanted—to strip the curtains back on all that he was comfortable with and face the ugly truth that the world was not what he once knew it to be. If one story was real, then perhaps they all were and he might have the opportunity to meet his father once again in Valhalla, dine with the gods Odin and Thor, ride with the Valkyries.
If he was given a choice, between the land he knew and the world full of questions, which would he take? Where would he go, what would he seek out, if given the chance? Would he race into danger, as he was always so prone to do, or would he finally find the cautiousness that his peers and family members begged for him to have?
A part of him already knew the answer, what he wanted. It made his chest tighten with excitement and anxiety curled into one, his mouth twisted into a grin. It made his palms and lower back sweat, his heart race, his mind come to a brilliant halt. It was falling out of the sky and waiting until the last second to pull a shoot, it was diving too deep with too little oxygen to spare, it was dancing with the devils of the world and laughing the whole time. It was the madness of Loki in his blood, passed down perhaps from the real god, and it made him grin into the dark and his blood sing and his muscles turn to lead.
"I'm coming, Merida," he whispered to the dark, hoping the spirits and nymphs of woods would run to her in the dark waters of her homeland and speak to her, let her know. "I'm coming for you."
What would happen when he got there, only the fates could decide.
"But—the suit, my fins—?!"
"You don't need one for this, boy-o," the old crone muttered furiously, puttering with her bear-shaped cane. Her son carried a flashlight, but the whole thing felt medieval, like he was being marched to his death.
There would be no gear, no drysuit, no tanks. There was nothing to keep him safe from the water, the elements, the darkness. The boat lumbered beneath them, the wind already whipping through Hiccup's small frame, biting at him, furious and demanding. He knew how terrible the water would be when it hit him, how little time he'd have before his muscles seized and it would take him, flood his lungs, sink him to the bottom.
The dinghy lurched to a stop and Hiccup felt his heart stutter.
"Ready?"
"I—?"
With a shove in the chest with her cane, it tipped him back over the side. He sputtered, the cold shocking his lungs, making him flail even though he knew that it was only going to make things worse. He gasped, head bobbing above the surface for a moment, getting dragged down just like he knew that he would.
"It's a leap of faith, boy-o," the woman's voice garbled in his flooded ears. "Let's hope she's worth it."
It only took a few more seconds before he couldn't keep himself afloat and he began to sink. He let himself go, feeling almost natural for a moment, floating peacefully, before he began to feel the burning in his lungs. He resisted the urge to fight, to flail, to scream and lose the oxygen he still had in him.
His mind twisted and whirled like bracken in the water, tearing at him and making him hate every decision that drove him here. The choice to get involved with Merida to begin with, trusting his own judgment, arguing with his friends, landing in this water. It was nothing that he should have done, against all his better judgement and his friends, making him wonder how he didn't manage to die long before now. His chest felt like it was being crushed, his ribs creaking and breaking, his head pounding at his temples while his vision began to fade.
'Merida,' he still thought of her, bright in the darkness. 'Merida, I'm so sorry…'
The darkness took him just as his toes brushed the gooey bottom of the loch.
"—Absolute madman—!"
Pain, searing hot across his chest.
"—Wake up—!"
Another push. He was rolled, water out of his nose and mouth making him gag.
"—Do'nae ye dare pass on to the next world until I wallop ye, lad!"
Warm hands—human hands—rubbed at his shoulders and slapped his face, making him blink.
"Hiccup! Do'nae die on me!"
Her face was round and pale as the moon, her hair coppery and dark from the water. Around her waist was the seal coat, all but forgotten, her nude body draped over his. He could feel where she separated—smooth skin contrasted with thick fur, breasts with a wide tail.
"Hey…" He gasped, throat raw.
"Hiccup!" She gasped, somehow hot despite how cold it was. "What have ye done, man?"
"It was…ugh," he tried to sit, but she crushed him with her weight. "An act of good faith…"
"What?" She spat, looking sharper and more dangerous in the darkness. "Who told ye such shite?"
"Uh…an old woman?" He shrugged into the silt, "She seemed to know what she was talking about…"
"I do'nae ken nor care! Och, ye're freezin'…" Her voice was pitched. "Humans can'nae survive such things…"
"Then make me like you…" he murmured, watching her blue eyes widen.
"Ye do'nae ken what ye ask," she spat, sharp teeth glinting. "Ye're a fool."
"I know," he rasped. "I ran, Merida. I'm sorry. I shouldn't've…I wish I had stayed. I'm sorry."
"Humans just can'nae ken it," she petted his face, the wetness possibly water, maybe tears. "I understand."
"But I do," he fought, struggling to sit up. "I do understand."
Her eyes flashed again, reflecting light. "Hiccup…"
"Just—shut up for a minute, let me—let me say this…" he grabbed her hands, "I know what you are. From the moment I laid eyes on you, we were connected. I know it, you know it. And then…then I fucked up and I touched your coat, but maybe it was all just-just-just meant to be?"
"Hiccup—?"
"So—! Take me, Merida," he grabbed at her face, kissing her soundly, tasting the bracken of the water, the deep, the unknown that tempted him from the moment he was born. "Take me. I'm here, so…so do it."
She shook her head, "Hiccup, that's not how this works…"
"Isn't it?" He ran his nose against hers, gasping a little.
"I…I honestly do'nae know…" She shook, hair in every direction, "I've never…even thought about it before!"
"C'mon," he stumbled forward, crawling back to the water, before he lost his nerve, turned back, too afraid and never able to move on. "Come, Merida. C'mon."
Something dangerous moved, around them both. She felt it, sucking the breath from her lungs, the feeling of shedding her coat, of being both and neither all at once. She dragged herself back to her first form, blubber and wide eyes and sharp teeth, her mouth on his leg hauling him below the surface.
She took him to the bottom to keep.
Forever.
"Jack?" Elsa's hand took his shoulder. "Hey…"
His head turned, seeing the bright sparkle of the ring he'd bought dance against her pale skin. It was an excellent choice. A choice that Hiccup had helped him make, agonizing over a shop off the coast of Spain.
"It's been four years, babe," he murmured. "Just seems…"
She moved around him, wedging herself under his arms, making him hold her as she gripped him back. Her bony chin dug into his collarbone and the pain helped draw him a little out of his memory.
"Maybe this was a bad idea, Jack," she whispered, "Maybe we should go home or…Hell, to the states. Anywhere but here…"
After Hiccup failed to meet them in Turkey, they had let him stew. It was his right, they swore, if he wanted to stay abroad and figure things out with Merida, whether she was a Selkie or no. But Jack could only go so long without texting. When he didn't answer, he tried calling. When that didn't work, he contacted the little hotel they stayed in, only to hear that his best friend had never returned for his things. Then another call to the diving center, only to be told such a place didn't exist and never had. Elsa and him scoured the internet, then returned to Scotland, interrogating the bartenders, the restauranteurs, anyone and everyone. The police were typically fruitless and eventually stopped listening, even after they scoured the lake with Elsa and Jack leading the search, spending hours underwater and nearly making themselves sick with the pressure.
In the end, they had to realize he was well and truly gone.
Putting themselves back together had been nearly impossible. They had to go home—back to Berk, of all places—and tell Hiccup's only remaining family Gobber the Belch, that his beloved nephew was lost somewhere. The blond man had cried a few tears before looking them both in the eyes, "He'll show up again." Neither knew really how to process that, but they nodded and agreed, and left the man to his mourning.
"Unfair," he finally murmured, hissing a little. "It feels so fucking unfair."
Elsa gripped him tighter.
"C'mon, let's go inside, Jack…"
"No," he shook his pale head, the light of the full moon glinting off his white hair. He forced a grin that seemed sharp and dangerous. "C'mon, sweetness. Let me take you out."
"Jack, no, I don't want—?"
"Please," he begged, "Let's…let's get out of here. Get a drink, drown our sorrows."
"We've done enough of that in the last four years for a lifetime, Jack."
"Come out anyway," he pressed his could mouth to her temple and she sighed. "One more round. For Hiccup."
Her eyes seemed to dance a hundred shades in the dark. "Fine. For Hiccup."
"Thank you," he squeezed her hand as they began a short trek to McTavish's. The large man that once owned the place had passed it down to his son, a mild man that seemed a lot like their old friend Fishlegs back on Berk. He remembered them from before and was always extra kind, so they tipped as best the could.
Sitting down at the bar, they had a few shots. Elsa ordered food, but Jack was happy to drink. Around midnight, suitably tipsy, Jack a little more so, they began headed back.
"Jack? Els?"
They'd never spun so fast in their lives, a tiger getting too close once in India included.
Hiccup stood, broad and tall, with a woman under his arm with wild, jewel colored hair. Elsa knew her, even if Jack never spotted her before. Their eyes seemed to glint in the low lights that lit the main roadways.
"Hiccup?" Jack whispered, stumbling out of her arms to stand unevenly. "Hic…?"
"It's so good to see you!" He was bearded now, which was odd to say the least. He wrapped him close, patting his shoulders, feeling the ridge of cartilage and bone. "You look so skinny, man! Elsa not feeding you?"
"I thought you were dead," Jack gasped, pushing him away to take him in. "I thought you were dead!"
"Well," the girl called a little, "He died for a moment, but then he was fine."
"What?" He rounded on her. "What the fuck did you say?!"
"Easy," Hiccup held him again. "It was just part of it, y'know? C'mon, it's okay."
"What are you talking about?" He started to cry. "Hiccup…?"
"We're the same now, me and her," he shrugged, putting his hands in the pockets of his fine coat.
A coat of slick fur that matched Merida's.
Jack stumbled back. "…A Selkie?"
Hiccup shrugged again, his smile happy and serene.
"Want to come out with us?" Merida offered, her hand on his chest, claiming, resolute. "We only get so many nights a month, ye see…"
"Especially with the pups," he nudged her brow with his nose. "You guys going diving? We'll see you!"
Jack and Elsa, crying, just nodded.
"Yeah," they sobbed, falling together, then into the two creatures in front of them. "We'll find you."
"Good," Hiccup grinned. Jack choked on his appearance, how inhuman he seemed. "I've missed you guys."
He was better. He looked strong and wide and without any of the madness that clung to him before, the frayed edges that had him seeking out the darkness in the bottom of lakes, under dark hedges, seeking out what he so obviously found in Merida. In a way, he felt betrayed, but another part of him was relieved—not only was he alive, he was happy.
"I've missed you, too, Hic."
Above them, the moon glinted, a pearl at the bottom of the loch.
