Chapter 9

Merida screeched as the wind blew her hair in front of her face. She could feel her stomach climbing up her throat and she hated it. She knew this was the end for her. She remembered her home, her mother, her father, her brothers, and sadness overcame her. The way she had left things with her mother, and now she would never get the chance to fix it. What scared her the most was the future impact, and the pain it would cause. She braced for it and held her hands close to her chest.

Suddenly she felt something grab her and she stopped plummeting and started flying. She looked up to see a black claw that clung to her arm. When she looked at the body the claw belonged to she saw that it had huge wings and a completely black figure.

She then heard a voice from above the figure, "Did you catch her?" Suddenly a head was looking back at her with intense green eyes. It made a type of purring noise and Merida began to scream once again. "Lord, help me! This is it! A dragons got me! I'm dead! I'm dead! Let me fall, just let me fall! Don't kill me, please don't kill me!" The voice from above the dragon laughed and said, "Okay, Toothless, now gently put her down."

Merida then realized they were just feet away from the ground. The dragon grabbed her other arm and place her on the floor, though the wind was strong and it pushed her down. She looked up and watched as the creature's wings stopped flapping. Then it hit Merida it truly was a dragon. She stared in awe and fear at the creature as it turned to look at her with its big green eyes. That's when she noticed the boy climbing off of it. "Aye, you there!" Merida called out and the boy looked at her and smiled meekly.

He held up his hand and walked towards Merida, "Hey, are you alright?" before Merida answered she stated, quite loudly, "That's a dragon!" The boy looked genuinely surprised that she knew that and said, "Yes it is, but he's completely harmless. His name is Toothless, and my name is Hiccup."

Merida was still very confused and still very much in shock, so she didn't really process what came out of her mouth next, "Toothless?! Wait-Hiccup?! Who in this world names their kid, Hiccup?! How do you know that beast is harmless?! How were you riding it?!" Hiccup looked down at the floor and rolled his eyes, "I guess my parents, thought it would be funny? Anyway, Toothless, here, is my dragon. Part of his tail was cut off, because of me, and without the other half he couldn't fly and would have died. That's when I built him the other half, and I trained him to fly with me."

Merida was now calm but she was still concerned, "So you made a sort of peg leg, for your pet dragon?" Hiccup laughed and said, "Basically, yes. We've been best friends ever since." Merida looked at the black dragon. It really was a beautiful creature. "I was told that dragons were just killers." Merida said, not looking at Hiccup, but keeping her gaze with the dragon. "Only I know otherwise." Merida then turned and gave the boy a puzzled look, "No one knows about him?" Hiccup quickly shook his head, "No! If they knew, they'd kill him."

Merida gazed at Toothless once more before looking down at the grass. "Where are you from anyways?" Hiccup then looked at her, "I'm from a village called Berk." Merida nodded and added, "And your heritage?" The boy's eyes turned almost guilty as he said, "I'm a Viking." Suddenly Merida turned to him with her mouth agape. "You're a what?!" Merida took a step back and Hiccup held out his hands, "I knew you were Scottish. I could tell from your accent. Look, trust me when I tell you, I may be called a Viking, but I am not one of them."

Merida glared at him until they locked eyes. His eyes pleaded for acceptance and Merida's jagged glare broke and she sighed, "I don't approve of my people's politics either, but that won't stop me from shootin' an arrow through ya, got it Viking?" Hiccup nodded then chuckled slightly and Merida narrowed her eyes at him, "What? Ya don't think I could do it?" Hiccup smiled as he shook his head, "Considering you don't have a bow, no I don't. Though metaphorically speaking, yes I believe you, Princess."

Merida snapped her head at him and charged for him, grabbing his shirt, "How do you know that?!" Suddenly Toothless growled and charged over at Merida, until Hiccup told him to stop. Merida dropped Hiccup and backed away from him as she stared at Toothless glaring eyes. "I thought you said he was tame?" Merida said lowly and Hiccup put his hand on Toothless making him release his death stare. "He is, unless he thinks I'm in danger."

Merida looked into Toothless' eyes, "I wasn't goin' to hurt him." She said to him and it seemed like he nodded, understanding. "To answer your question," Hiccup began, "I heard the two guys call you a princess, back at the cliff." Merida sighed and cursed herself once again. "Yes, I'm a princess. My name is Merida." Hiccup smiled slightly and suddenly they heard a voice gasp and say, "Merida!"

Merida groaned knowing who the voice belonged to and what they just heard. She turned to see Rapunzel run out of the shadows and tackle Merida into a hug. "Jack! I found her!" She yelled and then pulled away from Merida but still held her arms, "You're a princess?!" Rapunzel asked and Merida rolled her eyes and turned to Hiccup, "Now you've done it…" But Hiccup just snickered at Rapunzel's peppiness.

That's when Rapunzel turned to look at Hiccup and say, "Oh hello! I'm Rapunzel and-…" Rapunzel finally noticed Toothless and her jaw dropped and she let go of Merida and ever so gently walked towards him. "W-what…w-who's this?" Rapunzel asked in awe. Hiccup placed his hand on Toothless reassuringly, "This is Toothless, he's my dragon, but don't worry he's friendly. My name is Hiccup by the way."

Rapunzel nodded and quickly said, "It's nice to meet you Hiccup, so this is a dragon? Wow…He's amazing!" She smiled from ear to ear, "H-how did you…?" As Hiccup explained everything to Rapunzel, Jack showed up behind Merida and she stomped up to him and gave him a swift punch to his arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" He exclaimed and Merida yelled at him, "I called you when I needed you and you didn't show up, Frost! Those bloody ruffians were going to kidnap me and I told you to pick me up when I called you!" Jack held up his hands in surrender and said, "I couldn't hear you and when I did it was too late and you were gone. So Rapunzel and I have been looking for you ever since. What, did you really think I would abandon you, princess?"

Merida grumbled, "You too?! Did everybody hear him?!" Jack snickered and Merida punched him once again and then Jack saw Toothless and Hiccup. "No way! A dragon!" Jack said as he ran up to Toothless alongside Rapunzel. Rapunzel looked back and forth at Hiccup and at Jack and cleared her throat so Jack would notice that Hiccup was looking at him.

Jack looked over at Rapunzel as she pointed her head towards Hiccup who smiled kindly at Jack. Jack's eyes grew wide and he said, "He can see me too?!" Jack smiled and ran over to Hiccup and held out his hand, "Jack Frost, spirit of winter, at your service." Hiccup shook Jack's hand with a confused look.

"Jack Frost? As in Jokul Frosti?" Jack's smile grew bigger as he nodded and said, "You must be of Scandinavian blood, huh? Only they know me as that. I go bay Jack Frost now." Hiccup nodded and said, "Yeah, actually I'm a Viking." Rapunzel chimed in, "Ooo! A Viking, how exciting!" Jack glanced at Merida with raised eyebrows and she rolled her eyes.

"And who is this magnificent creature?" Jack said turning his attention towards Toothless, "Jack, this is Toothless, Toothless, meet Jack and Rapunzel." Toothless gave them a well, toothless grin and they laughed, including Merida.

A/N: Hey guys! I'll be going on a trip for 10(ish?) days so i'm not sure i'll be able to post much but who knows! I'll try my hardest guys! Thanks so much for reading! Love your reviews! xoxo