Chapter Thirty-One
Rapunzel-
Rapunzel kept close to Merida during the walk to the Forbidden Forest. Jack and Hiccup kept in the front, lost in their own conversation.
"So what's up with you and Frost?" Merida asked quietly. Rapunzel glanced at her.
"He's going through a rough time right now so I'm just giving him his space," she said slowly. Merida didn't look convinced, but she tried to act like it.
"Oh, yeah. Probably a good idea," she nodded. "So what about you and Liam?" she changed the subject. Rapunzel raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.
"Are you going to interrogate me about every boy I know?" she demanded.
"Just the important ones," Merida laughed.
"Then what about you and Hiccup?" Rapunzel asked slyly. Even in the dark Merida's blush was clearly visible.
"Nothing to discuss," she stated.
"Oh come on. You two have been spending a lot of time together lately," Rapunzel pointed out.
"That's because you and Jack have been a little on the moody side lately," Merida snapped. Rapunzel laughed. "Weren't you the one who insisted we were too young to date last year?" Merida asked. Rapunzel nodded. "What makes this year any different?"
"Nothing. We're still too young," Rapunzel answered.
"Then no more talking about guys," Merida decided.
"Agreed," Rapunzel gave a nod. Merida grinned.
"What's agreed?" Hiccup asked. He and Jack glanced back at them, using their wands to light the girls' faces.
"None of you business," Rapunzel smiled. Hiccup rolled his eyes, Jack remained silent. "Come on, I wanna see Toothless and Simpion," Rapunzel urged. The boys turned back around and trudged deeper into the woods. Merida and Rapunzel glanced at each other before following them.
The forest was alive with activity. Owls hooted, bats squealed, wolves howled, and unknown creatures thudded past them in the protective boundaries of the shadows. It had never been so loud in the Forbidden Forest before. Rapunzel briefly wondered if this had something to do with what Simpion had told them after the acromantula attack, that there was an unusually large amount of creatures in the forest.
She had little time to dwell on the matter before they reached the small clearing where they always trained. Hiccup went straight to Toothless, as always, and Merida approached Simpion, as always. Rapunzel and Jack stood next to each other rather awkwardly.
"Hello Simpion. We've come for some more lessons," Merida greeted the silver centaur.
"I know," he's deep voice resounded against the trees. It sounded more familiar each time she heard it. By now it was a very comforting sound.
"What are we learning today?" Rapunzel asked, approaching Merida and Simpion.
"There is something else you must do first," Simpion said. All four of them exchanged glances.
"What do we have to do?" Jack asked. He looked a little weary. Obviously he still didn't completely trust Simpion.
"There's someone I think you should meet," Simpion turned away from them and headed deeper into the forest. They watched him walk for a moment then exchanged the same glances again.
"After you," Jack looked at Merida. She gave him a look them headed after Simpion. Rapunzel followed her with Jack and Hiccup at the back. They paused next to some long, wispy willow branches. They hung all the way to the ground and swayed in the gentle breeze.
"I present to you," Simpion stretched his arm in front of the branches, preparing to sweep them away, "Lady Whitewind."
Merida-
Merida gasped. Standing before them in a small grove of willow trees just slightly bathed in moonlight was a unicorn. Her coat of silvery hair looked soft and glossy while her mane and tail resembled rays of moonlight shinning through the branches of the trees. Protruding from her forehead was a single, twisted horn, whiter than marble. Her four hooves glittered with starlight and shone like the sun. Clear blue eyes, like the sky before storm clouds form watched them with more wisdom than any of the teachers at Hogwarts.
"She's gorgeous," Merida breathed. Lady Whitewind blinked her liquid eyes and stepped one twinkling hoof forward. Unable to stop herself, Merida moved forward too. She slowly stretched out one hand, desperate to touch the beautiful creature before her.
Lady Whitewind watched her movements carefully. She sniffed her hand with soft puffs of warm air. For what felt like two seconds, but was really much longer, their blue eyes connected. Finally the unicorn pressed her nose against Merida's palm.
Almost immediately Merida's vision shifted. She was no longer in the Forbidden Forest with her friends, she was somewhere and yet nowhere at the same time. Everything was dark, there was no ground and no sky. Whatever Merida was standing on, she couldn't feel it. It was almost like a giant black void.
"Pay attention to what I show you Merida Dunbroch. It just might save your life," a voice said from beside her. It was female from the sound of it, and probably young, maybe late twenties. She sounded very intelligent and kind. Yet at the same time was full of pain and strength. Each word revealed how regal and elegant she was.
"Lady Whitewind?" Merida asked.
"Yes. It is me you hear," the voice came again. "Now I need you to focus. This is the only time I'll ever be able to do this. Unicorn magic is strange and sometimes unpredictable. You must watch while I can show."
"I'm ready," Merida stated.
A face flashed before her. It was Nicholas. He looked like he was in pain with tears in his eyes. As she watched his lips turned up in a smile and he closed his eyes. His face faded to be replaced with Alex. He looked serious and angry. After he too smiled, his face faded away.
Next came Hiccup. He was farther away than the others and Merida could see his whole body. He was bleeding badly on one leg and he looked like he was in a lot of pain. "Hiccup," Merida reached out one hand to him, longing to help. A loud howl ripped through the air and distorted the picture. Hiccup had become four animals; a white wolf, a golden barn owl, a black panther, and a werewolf.
The four animals came together and formed Rapunzel. She had her eyes closed and her golden hair was down, stretching across the ground. To Merida's surprise it began to glow. A Haunting melody echoed within her ears. It sounded strangely familiar, but she had no idea where she'd heard it before.
Lastly came Jack's face. His eyes were almost completely black and his face flickered with shadows. A necklace hung around his neck. The only charm was a sparkling black stone. Merida squinted at it, but the image dissolved before she got a good look.
"Use this knowledge wisely young one," Lady Whitewind's voice returned.
"What knowledge? It was just a bunch of pictures," Merida exclaimed.
"I have shown you what is to come if the master succeeds," Lady Whitewind explained. "I wish I could do more, but not even I know what is happening in the pictures. This is all I can see."
"Surely there's something else," Merida begged.
"I'm afraid not," Lady Whitewind's voice began to fade. The darkness around her began to lighten. Slowly Merida was returning to the Forbidden Forest. She blinked her eyes a few times, until she could see again.
She was back in the woods. Lady Whitewind stood before her, watching her carefully. Jack, Hiccup, and Rapunzel were behind her, silently staring. Simpion had moved to her side, his arms crossed.
"Are you okay Merida?" Rapunzel asked quietly.
"Yeah," she breathed. "I'm fine." Slowly and a little shaky Merida turned to face them. they each watched her anxiously, even Jack. "I'm really fine," she offered them a smile. Rapunzel sighed and walked forward. Jack just shrugged and followed her. Hiccup looked curious.
"My name is Rapunzel," Rapunzel gave Lady Whitewind a bow.
"I'm Jack," Jack nodded to her.
"Hiccup," Hiccup finished the introductions. Lady Whitewind bent her silver neck in a surprisingly elegant bow.
"Pleased to meet you both," she said. They gasped.
"You can talk!" Jack looked shocked. Merida tuned out the rest of their conversation and turned to Simpion.
"What just happened?" she asked.
"I don't know. I suppose Lady Whitewind trusts you. Only those worthy can receive the foresight of a unicorn," Simpion responded.
"But what does that mean?" Merida asked. "How am I worthy?"
"There is something within you. Something we can sense. Much like the dragons sense something within young Hiccup, the creatures of the forest sense something within you."
"But what do I have?"
"It's unexplainable," Simpion said. "We just know it's there."
"Does anyone else have it?" Merida looked at her friends.
"No. Even though Rapunzel gets along with animals well, it is not the same."
"What about Jack?"
"Jack is lucky he's allowed in the forest," Simpion chuckled. Merida grinned.
"He can have that affect of people too," she agreed.
"I'm not surprised."
"But he's a good friend."
"I can tell," Simpion's grey eyes watched as Jack laughed at something Lady Whitewind said. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully then shook his head.
Jack Frost-
Jack squared his shoulders and tried to focus. After their introduction to Lady Whitewind Simpion had jumped in on training. They were working on aim with their wands. Using her magic Lady Whitewind kept the targets moving, making it rather difficult.
"This should be easy. The targets movement shouldn't interfere with your accuracy," Simpion barked. Jack gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"Stupefy," he moved his wand slightly so the spell would shoot just a tidbit in front of the target, hoping the target would move into the spell. Unfortunately for Jack Lady Whitewind anticipated his thoughts and managed to dodge it.
"This is impossible. She's a unicorn! She can probably read our thoughts," Jack snarled.
"The master is even more powerful. If you cannot defeat Lady Whitewind and I then you have no hope against him," Simpion stated. Jack glared at him.
"Yeah, but the master will be a lot bigger than one of these targets," Hiccup pointed out. He shot another spell, managing to chip off the edge of one of the targets.
"That's why you must practice with these. If you start off shooting at something smaller than your real goal then it will be easier to hit to the bigger thing," Simpion said.
"Then why don't you make us shoot at acorns again?" Merida missed one of the targets by a foot so she shot at another one. It still missed.
"Excellent idea Merida," Lady Whitewind smiled a horsey grin. Jack, Hiccup, and Rapunzel groaned. They turned glaring eyes to Merida. She blushed and shrugged.
"Sorry."
"Can't we move on to something else?" Rapunzel begged. Simpion and Lady Whitewind exchanged a knowing look.
"How long is your hair Rapunzel?" Lady Whitewind asked. Rapunzel looked at her confusedly.
"Why do you wanna know that?"
"How long is it?" she repeated.
"About twenty feet," Rapunzel shrugged. "Why?"
"Do you think you could learn to fight with it?" Simpion asked. Jack laughed. To his relief Merida did too. Hiccup just looked highly curious.
"Fight with her hair? That's the best thing I've heard all day," Jack grinned. It felt good to laugh again. He used to always laugh. For some reason he had stopped. Now he didn't want to stop, he just wanted to keep laughing, so of course he did.
"It's possible. She could use it as a whip," Simpion insisted. Jack still laughed. Merida nudged him.
"Be polite," she growled. He quieted his laughter to an occasional chuckle, but he still thought fighting with hair was a little on the crazy side. Rapunzel gave him a glare then turned to Simpion. She at least looked interested.
"I'll try it," she decided.
"Let's work away from the others. Then we can come back and show them what you've learned," Lady Whitewind ushered Rapunzel into another part of the forest. The three remaining students looked at Simpion. Toothless, who had been watching the training from his perch in the trees jumped to the ground and strolled over.
"What do we do?" Jack asked.
"I think it's time Toothless was ridden again," Simpion grinned. "Hiccup and Merida first." They hurried over to the ebony dragon that was wiggling his haunches in excitement. Hiccup buckled on his saddle then climbed up with Merida right behind him.
"Bye Jackie," Merida waved before Toothless took off. Jack felt a slight sting of envy. He'd rather be flying with Toothless than stuck on the ground with Simpion.
"Do you ever think about the night we defeated the shadow?" Simpion asked. Jack resisted from rolling his eyes.
"First of all, you didn't defeat the shadow, we did. Second of all, yes, all the time," Jack answered. "Why?"
"Did you find anything that night?" the centaur asked. Jack thought back to that night. He had found something. He found a small stone. It was in his pocket now; he always kept it with him. Ever since he found it he never left it anywhere. How did Simpion know?
"Maybe," Jack shrugged.
"Oh," Simpion said quietly. Jack raised one eyebrow at him. This guy is weird!
Hiccup-
Hiccup felt Merida's arms loosen as Toothless reached the ground again. She let out a breathless laugh then slipped out of the saddle. Her hair was even frizzier than normal, but her eyes were bright. "That was great Hiccup. It was almost as good as playing Quiditch," she grinned.
"Oh please. It was better," Hiccup argued.
"How would you know? You don't play Quiditch," Merida crossed her arms.
"That's because you haven't taught me to yet," he moved forward to grab her.
"Why would I wanna teach you? Little nerdy Ravenclaw," she slipped away from him and stuck out her tongue. Hiccup grinned and tried to grab her again.
"Stuck up prideful Gryffindor," Hiccup managed to catch her this time. Merida squealed and fell backwards. Still holding her Hiccup was dragged down too. They hit the ground and rolled while laughing.
They finally stopped when they were on their backs, staring up at the sky. Merida had one arm slung over her stomach and the other one stretched over her head. Hiccup's hand was next to her's, their fingers touching. They turned their heads and looked at each other. Merida gave him a breathless grin and Hiccup found himself giving her one of his too wide, and stupid looking smiles.
"Having fun down there?" Jack leaned over them.
"Certainly looks like it," Rapunzel leaned over them on the other side. Hiccup and Merida looked up at them in surprise.
"Well if you two move then maybe we could stand up," Merida snapped. Jack and Rapunzel glanced at each other and grinned. They actually looked genuinely amused and happy just like they used to. Still smiling at each other they backed up and let Hiccup and Merida get to their feet.
"So what's next Simpion and Lady Whitewind?" Jack asked, still smiling.
"I think Rapunzel should show you all what she can do with her hair," Lady Whitewind said. The three friends backed up to give Rapunzel some room. She let her hair down from the thick braid she always kept it in now. It landed in a golden heap on the ground. Picking a section of golden strands she whipped her hand around. Her hair jerked forward and slapped against the tree in front of her.
The bark splintered on impact. Choosing another section Rapunzel slung it at a branch high up in the trees. Her hair wrapped around it like a rope and she pulled it tight. Running forward she jumped off of the ground and held on to her hair. It held her up and let her swing through the air like she was on a swing. They stared at her with open mouths and wide eyes.
"What do ya think?" Rapunzel asked.
"Bloody hell," Merida gasped.
"That's wicked," Jack agreed.
"Incredible," Hiccup finished. Rapunzel blushed and smiled sheepishly, looking like she used to their first year.
"Thanks. It's a lot harder than it looks," she admitted.
"But you have great skill at it," Lady Whitewind praised her.
"That's our Rapunzel, always had a way with hair. Unlike Merida," Jack teased. Merida glared at him. She shoved him over on the ground and then smiled. Jack just laughed. Hiccup found himself smiling. Things finally felt normal again.
A/N:
I like this chapter a lot more than the last one! I LOVE Lady Whitewind. I've always had a thing for unicorns and fairies so she holds a special place in my heart(: I'm pretty happy with how her little thing with Merida went. I wasn't sure how I was gonna write that, but I like it. So what do ya'll think of the visions? What did they mean? What's gonna happen? Hmmmmm. So much to think about haha. Now I just wanna thank you guys for the birthday wishes! I've got my own little fanfiction family on here haha. Thanks to ericamixon, Rylee88, and KairaB for reviewing. Love all you guys! Reviews are so supportive and they just make me smile. Thanks sooooooo much(:
P.S. The new season for Once Upon A Time came out tonight. So EPIC! I don't know how many of you guys watch that show, but it's totally awesome so you should really go check it out. I can't wait for Robin Hood and the Evil Queen to get together. Oh and Emma and Neal! Most people prefer her with Hook, but I mean Neal is Henry's father so I'm always gonna like that couple better. Plus I think Hook and Red Riding Hood would be so good together. Just like in that deleted scene from season 2! That scene always makes me laugh. I love it when Hook talks about modern stuff because he just doesn't understand it so he's kinda like, what the? Oh what a good show!