Sorry? I never planned on discontinuing this story, and I still don't, I'm updating again, and for those who decide to read thank you. The plot is about to pick up, and I don't imagine it will take to long for things to reveal themselves.


Merida stood beside the bathrooms, arms crossed and ear buds in. Before classes had started that morning she had changed into her regular clothes, and the heavy Madvillany hoodie gave her a comfort reminiscent to home. Her red hair was tucked behind her ears as neatly as she could manage, the frizzy mass crowning her head like a great lions mane. She managed to remain fairly invisible despite this, watching her fellow peers meander through the lunch crowd and gossip.

She had a difficult time relating to them, the people who would shape her life. These were to be her future coworkers, rivals, lovers, and friends. They would change with her, suffer as she suffers, and rejoice as she does. Her lecturing mother, whose sharp tongue nagged her more than anyone deemed necessary, was quick to remind her of this every time she complained of the difficulty in finding a single friend. She used to try, approaching others and plastering a polite smile across her cheeks. She didn't like to smile too often, hating the way her cheeks bunched up in two rosy circles.

As she aged, however, she found herself resenting her age group, declaring to any who asked the folly of her generation and categorizing herself apart from the rest. She used schoolwork and athletics as a distraction from her loneliness, and told her concerned parents she was far to busy to entertain guests for her birthday this year. Her room slowly filled with dark music posters and rebellious icons. She found herself sneaking out at night, wondering the empty town or exploring the forest.

During school she was detached and reserved, quick to voice her strong opinions when asked but silent otherwise.

She became a shadow, a forgotten figure; the only drama she ever enter countered was when met with her three suitors, the men having convinced themselves of love upon her quick wit and dry, uncaring humor.

Currently, standing against the wall and bumping her playlist, she watched a pair she hadn't noticed before. The new girl, whose name sounded like a fairy tail and whose hair Merida braided, was socializing like no other. She breezed from table to table, her kind smile and lovely face welcome everywhere. She brimmed with boundless curiosity, a ray of sunshine after a month of clouds. Merida couldn't figure out why everyone who was so closed off towards her, opened their arms to this stranger. Merida had been in the school district her whole life, and this spinning bimbo who didn't know her left from right was a brighter star than she could ever hope to be. She had taken the girl to her morning classes, and had been invited to hang with her during lunch, but she had denied it, suddenly loathing the tiny girl for asking.

The read head cranked her tunes, maxing the volume and settling comfortably into a glare. She suspected she was jealous, and admittedly found it very appropriate despite her prideful embarrassment.

The other object of her attention was a class mate of hers who she had before deemed an isolated loser like herself. He was scrawny and appeared weak, moving with the lanky clumsiness that children who had yet to adjust to their growing bodies adorned. She never thought him worth her time, but the way the blonde would grab his hand a drag him across the cafeteria made her stomach drop. He was supposed to be worse off than her, but with a beauty like that clinging to his side she was forced to face the bitter truth of her isolation; she was far worse off than he.

She acted as though she were better than everyone, a higher class amongst the rest, but it was clear to her now that she had been judgmental and conceded. A fucking hypocrite who lacked friends because she didn't deserve them, and was incapable of getting them.

Her song changed, the silky devastating sound of Tool filling her ears and penetrating her mood like a drop of black ink in a pool of water. The clouds of foul temperament grabbed her lungs with their fists, and she groaned, closing her eyes before leaving the wall and walking off. She needent eat lunch, those cheeks weren't going to lose weight themselves.


Jack scowled as he stepped outside, the cold biting into his mortal feet. The wind, his wind, confusedly tore at his form, crying out in it's strange tongue at it's inability to reach him. His heartstrings throbbed, and Jack sadly shook his head, ignoring his dearest friend and heading onto the dead grass. His white locks danced as he began to sprint, instinct pushing him forward.

School had gotten out an hour ago, and it was three blocks away, but he knew Rapunzel would still be near. This was her first day at an actual school, she wouldn't be so eager to return home.

He hoped.

The thought of sweet Rapunzel being the thief turned his stomach, and the more he focused on the time he spent with her, the more his distrust and anger grew.

He quickened, frost nipping his bare feet.

How could she play with his feelings like that? Another block left behind him and he felt the extent of his physical exertion begin to take a toll on his body. His chest ached from lack of air, heart throbbing far too quickly to be healthy. He tried to press on, but couldn't prevent the slowing of his haggard pace, reaching the school grounds exhausted. Panting heavily, cerulean eyes wide with a mix of surprise and betrayal. He never realized just how much he relied on his spirit side. The cold, dry air felt like biting, liquid heaven in his lungs, and he eagerly replenished his system with it's freshness.

A throat roughly cleared, and Jack looked up, ignoring how the world was a dizzying combination of too hot and too cold, sweat dampening his brow.

A lanky boy with long brown hair and probing green eyes stood before him, and Jack forced a smile, covering his fatigue as best as he can. "Hey Hiccup." He greets, walking over to stand before the boy. "You seen Punz?"

To his surprise the kid looked irritated, dark brows furrowing, and as he speaks his tone is biting, stealing any mirth Jack had begun to create. "No I haven't Jack, I have been looking all over the place for her! We agreed to meet after school and she never-she wasn't here!"

Jack's mood darkened, and he glanced around the school grounds, grounding his teeth. Hiccup, mistaking this for indifference, grabbed his shoulder, forcing the weakened spirit to face him. "I'm worried Jack, what if something's happened to her? She's so innocent, I don't think I could handle it if-"

He was cut off by a bold but solid voice, both men turning to face the interrupting woman. "She's ignorant, tha's what, an' aye know where she went." Merida's fiery hair stood out against the gray winter suburbia, and despite her determination the look on Jack's face washed away any pride she may have felt. His gaze was fierce, her talent of observing others cueing her in on his barley checked rage.

Jack needed her answers, but before he began demanding them he took a long, unsteady breath, cooling his rage. Jesus he never realized how easy it was for hot blooded creatures to grow angry. Normally his emotions were under control, slow in forming and easily detected by his self awareness far before they come into play. His quick clever thoughts approached him like glaciers, a level of control only he was able to grasp.

Now however, his heart beat like hurried wings of a panicked bird, and his body heat rolled off him in thunderous waves. He wanted to embrace the wind and bury his head in it's soft breeze, and the thought nearly brought tears to his eyes. The other two teens were looking at him like he was a two headed frog about to explode, and he hated the weight of their stares.

He cleared his throat, coughing and smiling falsely. It was glass, it was all glass and they knew it. He had never been so eager to be invisible again.

"Where is she?" He asked, biting back his jumbled emotions and staring the ginger dead in the eye.

She took a reluctant step back, before trusting her hands in her pockets, composing herself. "She was taken from the school by some old woman, dragged off into the woods. She called her mother so I tried to ignore it, but I can't shake off this feeling that something was off."

The sincerity in her voice surprised Jack, and Hiccup spoke, shoulders tense. "Should we help her?" It was less of a question and more of a test, and Jack bit his cheek, looking off into the thick woods. Unconsciously he felt for his moon pendant, the hard metal pressed against the inside of his hoodie. He had a duty to the children of the world, to the guardians, that overrode his personal desires.

"No, we're going to find her."