There was no end in sight to the clouds overhead, but Merida didn't want to sit still.
"Hiccup, can we check the castle?"
"Sure." Merida grabbed his hand and walked back into the castle. She carefully made her way up the stairs and into what used to be her parents room. Merida snorted as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. There, in the corner of the room, was the tapestry loom and the unfinished tapestry, untouched. Merida took it in her hands and turned to Hiccup.
"Can we come back fer the loom?"
"We most defiantly can." Merida nodded and gently removed the tapestry from the loom. She carefully folded it and wrapped her arms protectively around it. They continued through the room and found some more trinkets. A family picture of the five of them, Elinor's crown, Fergus' sword, Fergus's crown, and one of Fergus' fur capes. Merida opened Elinor's closet and let out a shaky breath. She gently took the white dress from inside and inspected it. It had a few tears on it, but could be easily fixed. Merida folded the garment and held it along with the tapestry.
"Is there anywhere else you want to go?"
"The stables." Merida said, not missing a beat.
"Lead the way." And she did. She quickly made her way through the halls, kitchen, and out the back door. She looked at the crumbling stables and squeezed her eyes closed.
'Please have left, please have left, please have left.' She opened one eye and let out a sigh of relief. Angus wasn't there. None of the animals. Granted, they could have been taken, but this was the one positive thing that'd happened today, and Merida wasn't going to believe that Angus hadn't made it. She walked inside, and that's when she saw it, glinting like a diamond in the rough. There, in the empty stall, was her father's bow. Merida's heart clenched, but a smile spread across her face and she rushed to pick it up. She hugged it to her chest and turned to Hiccup, who was watching her with a sad smile on his face.
"It's nice to see you smiling." Merida flushed and looked down. Hiccup looked back up at the sky.
"You know, if it keeps raining like this we'll have to stay here for the night. Have any idea where we could stay?" Merida nodded and they walked back to Toothless, packing away the items that Merida had collected.
"Okay, where are we staying?"
"In the woods." Merida said as she started down the path to the cromlech in the woods. Hiccup and Toothless followed silently behind her, trying to keep up with her fast pace. Merida took a sharp left off the trail and disappeared inside the bush. Toothless bounded after her, leaving Hiccup stranded.
He started in the direction he saw her take, trying to listen for the snapping of branches, but it was drown out by the rain pattering on the leaves overhead. Hiccup groaned in frustration. He had been walking on his own for about ten minutes now, and Merida was probably looking for him anyway. So, his stubbornness failing him, he took a seat on a damp log. He buried his face in his hands.
"How could you be so stupid?" He asked himself. A few more minutes passed and it was getting darker with every passing second. Hiccup was becoming worried. Being lost in an unfamiliar land was bad, but being in an unfamiliar land, at night, with the possibility of wild dragons rampaging through here, was worse.
Hiccup was about to give up when he heard a soft, whisper-like sound. He snapped his head up, eyes roaming the woods around him.
"Merida?" Hiccup asked, standing up. No response came, just more whispering noises. Hiccup drew his sword from his hip and gripped it tightly.
"I promise, I don't have anything you want. And even if I did, I wouldn't go down without a fight!" He called to the woods. The whispering was getting closer, and Hiccup was getting more and more nervous. A whisper sounded behind him and he turned, swinging the sword through a blue light. Hiccup stumbled back, tripping over the log he was sitting on. He looked up at the wisp, floating above his head. He had heard about these from Merida.
'A Willow Wisp? No, it's a, a-'
"Will-O-The-Wisp!" Hiccup scrambled to his feet and walked up to it. He reached his hand out, and it disappeared. A few feet behind it another one appeared, and Hiccup tried to grab it too, but it disappeared before he could, but another one took its place. Hiccup started following the wisps, running through the forest, jumping over logs, and spinning through low branches. He burst through the tree-line and saw Merida making a roof out of branches.
"What took yah so long?" Hiccup bent over, hands on his knees. Merida dropped what she was doing, her eyes widening. She ran to his side, and laid a hand on his back.
"Are yah all right?" Merida asked, worry evident in her voice.
"Yeah, I'm, okay." Hiccup panted out. He took a deep breath and stood up. "I saw wisps."
"What?" Merida asked. "Are yah sure?"
"Yeah. I followed them, and they brought me here." Merida nodded.
"Smart devils." She shook her head and her and Hiccup finished the roof and made a "bed" for them to lay on. They got some rope and set up their roof between two stones that were fairly close to each other and put the "bed" under it. It was just big enough for the three of them to wiggle and maneuver their way to fit.
Toothless was in the back, half curled up, allowing an area for Merida and Hiccup to lay and keep warm. Hiccup, being the worrier he is, packed blankets just in case a situation like this might arise, and extra food for it too.
A fire was built, via Toothless, and the three of them ate before hunkering down for the night. Hiccup turned to Merida and watched her for a minute, a question burning in the back of his mind.
"Merida?"
"Huh?" Merida turned on her side to face the man next to her.
"What exactly do wisps do?" Merida smirked.
"They lead yah to yer fate."
"My fate? So, they could have led me anywhere."
"That's the concept."
"They could have led me off a cliff?"
"Et's a good possibility." Merida chuckled. "But, I guess yer fate is ta be with me." It was silent for a few seconds as what Merida said sunk in. The Scot's eyes widened and her face turned a shade of red that rivled her hair.
"N-not with me, with me, but h-here, with me. And Toothless. Here in the cromlech."
"Y-yeah. Here with you…" Hiccup trailed off. He had to admit, he had feelings for the woman that was lying next to him. She was beautiful, and smart, and very witty. She was strong willed, and determined. She was protective, and positively one of a kind. Hiccup remembered the first time he felt these feelings, it was with Astrid, and it scared the hell out of him. Merida turned her back to Hiccup, who watched the girl's chest rise and fall. Soon her breathing evened out and Hiccup lied there, thinking about everything that'd happened that day. The edges of his vision blurred and he gave way to exhaustion, his dreams full of fiery curls and glimmering blue eyes.
Hiccup woke up the next morning with a face full of curls in his face. He felt a warm body curled perfectly into his own, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other under her head. He could feel the steady rise and fall of her breathing on his chest and heard her quite snores. Hiccup tried to slide his arm out from under Merdia's head, but the girl stirred in her sleep, causing Hiccup to freeze. He waited a few minutes before he decided to just pull his arm from under her head. Merida groaned and flipped over, face to him. Hiccup followed the constellations of freckles dotted across her face, down her neck, and they disappeared under her shirt. He gulped, and sat up slowly. He had to get up, his bladder was screaming at him.
Hiccup made up his mind and scrambled to his feet that then led him to a bush. When he got back to their makeshift camp ground Merida was already out of bed and taking down their shelter. She smiled at Hiccup and gave him a small wave.
"Good mornin' Hiccup."
"Good morning Merida. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, did yew?"
"It wasn't too bad."
"That's good. Hiccup?"
"Yes Merida?"
"Before we leave, dae yah think we can visit the village?"
"Of course Merida." The two of them packed up their things and made their way to the village before they were to leave. Merida gathered up wild flowers from the forest on their way out, and as she walked by fallen houses, she placed one at each door and marked the ground with a rune.
"What does it mean?"
"What?"
"The rune, what does it mean?"
"It means home, where all those who passed went." Hiccup smiled and pulled Merida into a tight hug.
"You would have made a wonderful queen, you know that?" Merida looked into his eyes. Sincerity and truth shone back and she felt her stomach flip.
"Thank yew Hiccup." Merida choked out, her eyes starting to fill with tears.
"For what Merida?"
"Fer takin' in mah brothers an' me. Fer bein so understandin'. Fer takin' us inta yer home when yah really didnae have ta. Yah gave up a lot fer me an' mah brothers Hiccup, and I don' know how ta repay yah."
"There's no need to repay me Merida. You were in trouble, and as chief, it's my job to make sure all visitors, temporary or permanent, feel welcome and are safe." Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck, flushing as he spoke. Merida smiled and stood on her tip toes, pecking him on the cheek.
"Thank yew." Hiccup's face turned a deeper red and he coughed.
"Like I said, it's not a problem. So, are you ready to leave?" Merida took one last glance around and nodded.
"Alright bud, let's get going!" Toothless jumped down from a nearby tree. As Hiccup and Merida were approaching Toothless, a figure darted from a cellar door just outside the house.
Their tattered green dress flapped behind her. She had no shoes, and was covered in dirt. Her long dark hair was free, and covered in mud and leaves. A carnal look was on her face, her lip curled up, and a sword in her hand. She slashed at Toothless, ascending on him like he was a demon straight from the depths of hell. Hiccup and Merida were taken by surprise, but Merida was the first one to snap into action. She jumped in front of the woman, arms outstretched.
"Yah will not kill this dragon!" Merida glared at the woman, but felt her heart stop. Her stomach dropped her feet and her breath caught in her throat. Standing in front of her was her mother, scratched and burned, but her mother none the less.
"Mum?" Merida lowered her arms and leaned her head to the side. The woman blinked her eyes, and dropped her sword.
"Merida? Merida!" She ran to the girl, who met her half way. When they met each other they dropped to their knees, crying and laughing, Elinor kissing Merida's head and face.
"A thought A lost yew." Merida choked out.
"No, no Merida yah didn't, but, yer da'." Merida noddeld silently into her chest.
"A know, A know. We found him, and buried him." It was Elinor who was choking on her sobs now, and the two of them sat there for what seemed like eternity.
"Wait, we? Who's we?" They picked themselves up, and Merida walked her over slowly to Hiccup, who was standing next to Toothless.
"Merida…" Elinor said through clenched teeth, eyeing Toothless.
"Mum, trust me." Elinor nodded and held Merida's arm in a tight grip. "Mum, this is Hiccup, the chief of Berk."
"Berk?" Elinor looked deep into his eyes, and hers softened.
"A've only seen eyes those green once in mah lifetime. Are you, Val's son?" Hiccup shrugged.
"Yeah, she's my mom." Elinor smiled.
"How is she?"
"She's good, just been busy."
"That's good. How's Stoic?" Both Merida and Hiccup paused, and looked at the ground.
"Did A say somethin' wrong?"
"No, it's just," Hiccup sighed, "he died in battle not too long ago."
"Oh, oh A'm sorry." Elinor held her hands to her chest.
"It's okay."
"Mum, are there any survivors?"
"Aye, there were others. But they left about a week after the incident happened. They let the wounded heal, and then left for other villages." Hiccup nodded.
"What exactly happened after Merida left?" Elinor sighed and closed her eyes.
"Well, after Merida ran out of the room with her brothers, more fire rained from the roof and more dragons dropped inta the castle. The lords tried ta fight them, but there was no beating them, our swords weren't sharp or strong enough ta get through their skin. Fergus fought with the lords, he fought hard, but et was like these dragons were learning as they went. They separated them, and once they were cornered, there was nothing they could do. A sat by yer da' and watched the life drain from his eyes. A told him A was worried about yew, but he told me that he knew yew were strong enough ta get through et and survive.
"After the dragons were done with the castle, they went ta the village. They destroyed, et, took the animals, killed the warriors, and destroyed the boats. When they were finished, they disappeared inta thin air, leavin' only destruction behind 'em.
"When they left, survivors came out of hiding, and everyone pitched in ta help heal the wounded and tend the sick. Most of em thought et would be best ta leave DunBroch, and A could see why they'd think that, but A couldn't leave mah home, so A stayed behind. Et's been a month, but A just couldn't bring mahself ta go inta the castle, et broke mah heart.
"But now A know mah wee lambs are safe, and A thank yah Hiccup."
'"It's been no problem your majesty. It's been a pleasure to have your family in Berk." Hiccup and Merida shared a small smile that Elinor stuffed in the back of her mind to come back to later when she had a moment with her daughter.
"Et's getting' late Hiccup. If we don't leave now, we won't be able ta get back ta Berk. Yer mum would be worried."
"You're right Merida. Come on." Hiccup gestured for the two to follow him.
"But, the shore's the other way…" Merida turned to her mother, biting her lip.
"Actually, mum, Hiccup an' A didn't get here on a boat…" Elinor was confused, but on further inspection of the dragon, she saw a saddle and quickly learned what had brought them here.
"No. Oh no. There's no way in Hell-"
Elinor screamed in delight, her hair billowing behind her, the leaves had left long ago, and now she was delighting in the wonderful feel of the wind pressing against her face. Merida smiled at how delighted her mother was. She knew her mother hadn't been happy at all the past month being alone, and her heart warmed towards Hiccup for providing even more happiness for her family, for bringing her to DunBroch and finding her mother, for helping her grieve the loss of her father, her home. Merida looked up at Hiccup, the sunlight shining off his hair, his eyes glittering, and a big grin splitting his face, and couldn't help but smile herself. In that moment, Merida knew she had feelings for Hiccup that reached more than she was willing to admit before.
They reached Berk just after nightfall, the village had just gone to the Great Hall to eat dinner. Hiccup looked at Elinor, trying to see if she would fit in one of Astrid's dresses, but she was taller than Merida by a few inches, and Merida just barely fit into the clothes herself. He sighed and made his way to his mother's house, the two women following him as Merida gave her a quick tour of the village as they passed places. Hiccup knocked on the door and didn't get an answer. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Merida, you and your mom stay here. I'm going to get my mom to give her some clothes."
"Can yah bring the boys with yah?" Elinor asked softly.
"I would have even if you didn't ask." Hiccup said as he waved and ran to the Great Hall.
A few minutes passed and they saw five heads walking towards Val's home. When they got closer, three, identical, red heads stopped in their tracks.
"MUM!" They immediately took off at a sprint, full speed at Elinor. The queen stooped low and snatched all three of them into her arms. All of them started crying, and the night air was full of apologies, and reconciliation. Elinor stood up and smiled at Valka.
"Val!"
"Eli!"
"Et's nice ta see yah Val, A heard about Stoic, A'm sorry."
"Et's nice ta see yah too Eli. Et's okay, A heard about Fergus, and A'd like ta give him a proper Berkian send off." Elinor smiled and nodded her head.
"That'd be nice." She placed her hands on one shoulder of Hamish and Hubert, Harris standing between the two. "But, A'd like ta clean up, get a proper dress on, and have some food." Hiccup smiled.
"Of course you can. Merida and I will take the boys to the Great Hall. I'll have some news for everyone when you arrive." Elinor gave Hiccup a nod.
"Thank yew."
"It's not a problem. Your family, and anyone from DunBroch, are always welcome here in Berk." Elinor smiled at Hiccup and Val led her into the house.
"Alright boys, mum's home. Let's eat!" Merida said as she herded the boys toward the Great Hall.
They took their seats at a table with everyone else, and filled their plates to the brim with meat, potatoes, and some vegetables. They ate in silence, elbow to elbow with each other. It'd been a month, and Merida couldn't believe how family like these people were. Every night at dinner they'd come eat, never sit in the same place, never sit by someone two nights in a row, never argued, at least until the ale came out. Merida loved how close everyone was, and by now she knew almost everyone's name, and they made it easy. The only people Merida hadn't talked to, or sat next to, were Astrid and Eret. She knew at one point she had to talk to her, there was an awkward silence between the two of them, and it would never go away without them talking. But, that was for a different time, because her mother walked through the door.
Elinor looked around in awe. There weren't too many people, less than half the people from DunBroch, but they filled the air with pleasant conversation. When Hiccup caught sight of them, he waved them down, and they found seats waiting for them at the table. When everyone was done eating, Hiccup stood up and made his way slowly to the small stage area that was set up. He blew on a horn, signaling those who had left the Great Hall to return.
After giving them five minutes to return Hiccup quieted the village.
"Now, I know you all remember the night when we welcomed Merida and her brother's to Berk, and while Merida and I took a trip yesterday back to DunBroch, we found another person to welcome into our village. Queen Elinor DunBroch was found yesterday, Elinor, would you please join me up here?" Elinor glided to the stage, her dark blue dress flowing behind her.
"I'd like to have a traditional Scottish celebration tomorrow, all day long, to honor the return of Queen Elinor to her family." Cheers erupted through the Great Hall, and Hiccup waited for them to die down before he continued. "Although we're celebrating the return of the Queen, we're also celebrating the life of King Fergus DunBroch, who died in combat against a dragon attack on his castle. Tomorrow night, as the sun sets, we're going to give King Fergus the proper, warrior send off. Please, meet us at the cliff overlooking the beach to support the Royal Family. Now, have a good night's sleep, because we'll all be up early in the morning to set up!" As the village left the Great Hall, they passed Elinor, Merida, Harris, Hubert, and Hamish, giving them their condolences, and congratulating them on finding each other once again.
On their way back to the houses, Val and Elinor decided that Elinor would stay with her and so would the boys, who wanted to be close to their mother. When they reached the fork in the road, they said their goodbyes.
"Elinor, I'll really need your help tomorrow in the kitchen to prepare the right foods, and Merida I would like your help setting up."
"That would be great Hiccup. A want ta thank yew, from the bottom of mah heart. A feel so welcome, an' A wouldn' want ta be anywhere else than here." She stuck a hand out to Hiccup, who gripped it with both of his, much larger, hands.
"I've said it before, having your family here is no problem at all, and it's my pleasure to celebrate with you." The five walked back to Val's house, the boys rough housing with one another, and Hiccup and Merida walked back to Hiccup's house in silence.
The Terrible Terrors croaked from the roof tops of every house in Berk, waking the villagers and sending them out to set up for the rest of the day. Elinor was busy in the kitchen, instructing the chefs on how to properly make haggis, stovies, lorne sausages, cranachan, clootie dumplings, and scotch pie. Merida was busy with Hiccup, setting up decorations, banners, and painting designs along the paths, and houses. Val, coming from Scotland, was directing the musicians, and teaching them songs to play.
Everything had been finished by eleven, the celebration started at noon. Hiccup was putting the final touches on his outfit, an emerald, knee length, plaid, kilt that wrapped around his waist then around his back across his chest and then pinned together at his hip, a small pin holding the kilt around his waist. Two blue streaks were under his eyes on his cheek, and he had his sword at his hip. When he climbed down into the living room, he felt his heart speed up at the woman standing in front of him.
Merida was wearing a plaid, emerald fabric around her chest, with no sleeves, that dropped down her stomach, hiding her belly button, and wrapped around her waist. A gold dragon pin was holding her skirt in place at her hip, the skirt brushing against her thighs an inch above her knees. She didn't wear shoes, and her bow and quiver were on her back. Her untamed hair was pulled back and twisted into two braids that met at the back of the neck and ran down her back.
Merida looked up at Hiccup through her eyelashes, her face flushed as she felt his eyes tracing the constellations that he'd never seen before, mainly the ones on her sides and stomachs. Usually under this scrutiny, Merida would have been very uncomfortable, but the only thing making her uncomfortable were the butterflies in her stomach.
Hiccup gulped and took a few shaky steps to Merida. He held out his arm, and smiled at her softly.
"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to accompany you to the celebration today." Merida smiled at him and wrapped her arm around his.
"A'd be delighted."
From noon until five, Hiccup spent his time being pulled from place to place by Merida, or having food shoved in his mouth.
"Yah have ta try this!" She'd say as she popped it into his mouth. He'd never say no, but just went along with her antics. Now they were in the center of town where the band was playing. They were standing to the side, watching them dance, when an upbeat tune caught her ear.
"Hiccup! Oh, Hiccup, dance with me? Please?" She looked up into his eyes, those cerulean orbs pleading with him, gripping his heart. He was powerless.
"Okay, but I'm not much of a dancer." Merida grinned and bounced on her toes when he said yes.
They ran into the group, Hiccup on one side and Merida on the other. Hiccup bowed to Merida, who curtsied in return. They backed up, and came forward, placing their palms together.
'When the cold wind is a callin,' they laced their fingers together and spun around, 'and the sky is clear and bright, misty mountains sing and beckon, sing and beckon, lead me out into the light.' Hiccup took her hand and spun her around.
'I will run, I will fly, chase the wind and touch the sky,' Hiccup picked her up at the hip, and Merida stepped lightly a few times, arm stretched to the sun, as he spun her around. 'I will fly, chase the wind and touch the sky.'
As the song kept going, Hiccup and Merida stopped dancing like everyone else, and just began spinning and twirling, and laughing with each other. They lost themselves in the fun they were having, they didn't notice the steely eyes on them, or the two pairs of glittering warm eyes either. They were just lost in each other. As the song drew to an end, the two of them drew closer to each other, noses brushing. Merida closed her eyes and stood on her tip-toes, leaving a feather light kiss on his lips. As soon as she was there, she was gone, turning to leave. Before Merida got the chance to really leave, Hiccup grabbed her wrist and spun her back around, pulling her back in and gently placing his lips more firmly on hers.
A/N I know that it's been a while, but I had some writers block on this chapter, and I also started a new class for college, and I'm getting a job, so I'm trying to balance that with writing. But I'm just so tired some days. But I really hope you guys liked it, and there's a lot more to come. Now, there were some things that were weird in this chapter, like all the food. I looked up traditional foods, and haggis is, haggis, stovies are meat, onions and potatoes. Lorne sausages are sausages, cranachan is a dessert of raspberries, honey, whipped crème and toasted oats, clootie dumplings is like bread pudding with more fruit, and scotch pies are meat pies. The song I used was from the sound track of Brave, it's called Touch the Skies by Julie Fowlis and I recommend it for you to give a listen. Alright, have fun, be great, leave a review to tell me what you think!
