"Legends are lessons. They ring with truth."

~Elinor Dunbroch

~O~

The Legend of The Two Kingdoms

~O~

"Hiccup, I need you to scout the woods of the highlands. Yer twin friends' dragons were missing for days and we can't afford the Scottish knowing about us training these beasts," Stoick the Vast told him as Hiccup entered their house.

"Why not let Ruffnut and Tuffnut find their own dragons instead?" He asked.

Stoick grabbed the hilt of his axe. "Because I can't trust them to be cautious around the Scottish woodlands. Ye and Toothless will have no trouble hunting the forests without being seen" He aimed at the map of Scotland, narrowed his eyes and flung his axe towards it, splitting the Highlands and Berk in rips.

"Alright, I'll…uh…go find them now." He said, taking his helmet and tucking it near his chest. He could still hear the jagged laughs of his father catapulting more weapons to the symbol of the Dunbroch clan as he went out.

"Hey, Hiccup! Any news about our dragons?" Ruffnut elbowed him as the twins popped out of nowhere. He winced, gently rubbing his arm.

"Can you please stop that? And yes, about that…" He started, walking towards Toothless sleeping with his head on his front paws. "I'm going to have to look for Barf and Belch…alone."

"What? Why? Where's the fun in that?" Tuffnut complained, folding his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, well, see, my dad thinks they might have gone somewhere…to the Highlands." Hiccup told them, unconvinced himself if the Zipplebacks have really gone to such a place. Dragons were more inclined to islands with surrounding oceans, rivers with great depths and coasts with towering mountains since their diet mostly comprised fish.

"Ah, I see. The highlands, the people who think they're so awesome and so high that they could kill us in one swipe," Tuffnut said crossly. "Why don't I travel to the Highlands and personally kick their butts?"

"Do you even know where that is?" Ruffnut asked, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sure it's some land that's high. I mean, duh, it's probably called the highlands for some obvious reason."

"It's far North of Berk, Tuff," Astrid suddenly jumped from one tree log to another. She rested her elbow in the hilt of her axe. "A person can get stuck in the middle of the sea if their brains work like yours."

Hiccup smiled. "Besides, you two don't have dragons…" he pointed to himself. "I do."

"I just don't get it, how could they fly away from me?" Tuffnut asked, a little disappointed as he and Ruff walked away towards their house. Ruffnut seemed a little depressed as well. It had been three whole days of being dragon less. Life on Berk seemed tolerable with dragons, without them, it was almost torture.

"Maybe they just realized who their owners are," Astrid whispered to Hiccup, who chuckled deftly as he placed an arm on Toothless' snout.

"Wake up, bud, we need to do some midnight errands." Toothless yawned, blinking repeatedly while sniffing Hiccup's palm. He faced Astrid, who suddenly lashed his arm with her dagger.

"Ow!" Blood trickled down, racing towards his wrists. Toothless' ears perked up, hissing softly at Astrid. "Why would you do that?" Hiccup angrily asked, clapping a hand over the shallow but bloody wound.

"Zipplebacks can sniff out your blood. It'll give you a better chance at finding Barf and Belch," she explained casually. "Just pray to Thor it's our Zipplebacks that find you." Hiccup winced as he pulled away his arm and gazed at the blood that stained his palm.

"Wonderful." He said drily.

"Why would your dad send you to the Highlands just to see if Barf and Belch are there?"

"He probably wants to get rid of me," he added with a laugh. "Funny how he sends me to one of the most dangerous places we've ever known and expects me to come back alive."

"Well, maybe he trusts you'll do what's best for the village. The Scots can't know we train dragons. It's our only way to win this war," she reasoned. "Just be careful out there. Try not to be seen."

"Well, nobody really saw me when I was a kid so that won't be a problem."

"No, really, Hiccup. Be careful out there. The Scottish are just awful people," she said. "Kill them if they see you."

Hiccup frowned, casting his gaze down at his feet. "I don't get it, Astrid. Why are we killing them? It's just, it's just not right." He whirled around Toothless to get into the saddle. Astrid blocked him by striking her axe on the ground, the sharp edges catching moonlight in its surface just inches from Hiccup's face.

"Do you even hear yourself, Hic? The Highlanders killed your Mom! Feel anything for those beasts but pity."

"I know that. But it makes us no better than them," he said as he slid into the saddle. "I do hate the fact that they killed her. But if we do nothing than just throw daggers and arrows at each other, this war, all this blood and chaos will never end.

"It will, Hiccup. With the help of our dragons, we can finally win this. If you train our dragons hard enough, we can." Astrid reassured him. "The took our lands and killed hundreds of us. They don't deserve your pity."

Although Hiccup looked a bit hesitant, he finally gave in, not wanting to argue with the violent blonde. Of course he sort of felt a little anger for the Scottish. But it wasn't right to kill. "You're right. They don't," he said with a sigh.

Astrid smiled. "I bet your mom will have been proud to know what you've done." Hiccup strapped the belt to his waist, ready to take off. If only his mom was here, he'd know what to do, what to believe in and what to fight for. He'd always wanted a mom, but she was taken from him, and that was something he thought he should fight for. There was one thing he needed to do. Hiccup swore he will find the man who killed his mother. Any child would.

Toothless hurled himself atop a boulder, and leapt from the rock towards the ocean as she looked at their figures sailing like birds across the ocean.

He and Toothless kept flying through the dead of the night, trying to hover low along the ground so as not to be spotted in the clear night sky. The lithe dragon's talons were already pawing the ground. But something seemed…unusual as he plummeted deeper into the forest. As he moved, the air began to change, and that was when a blue wisp popped out of nowhere, making Toothless shriek and crash to the ground. Hiccup groaned, wiping the dirt off his soiled shirt. The wisp continued to dance, its bright blue threads twisting and layering atop of another.

"What…in Odin's name?" He said as he touched the wisp. It suddenly vanished and just a few distances away, another blue light caught his eyes. The swirls that looked to be their arms seemed to beckon them deeper. Toothless widened his eyes and began chasing the blue little light, trying to trap it with his front paws. He slipped occasionally each time the wisp made an abrupt turn.

"Wait, Toothless stop!" And he did. Toothless hit his head with the bark of a tree as the wisp he was chasing passed easily through it. He curled up, lulling his tongue in and out in bewilderment as he gazed at the tree. The wisp didn't leave them, though. It still appeared on the far side of the forest.

"I…I think they're leading us, Toothless," Hiccup realized as he began to walk towards it. Toothless sprang forward, blocking Hiccup with his wings. He wouldn't let his rider follow the creepy thing that just passed through a tree. "What has gotten into you, bud?" he asked as he pushed Toothless' head out of the way.

"They're just…." Hiccup trailed, glancing over the dark branches looping over the bushes, lashing out in eerie outlines. The earth coiled hard underneath, sending a cold atmosphere suspended in the damp forest. "…Weird, little blue lights that are leading us to a really creepy part of the forest where there could be beasts beyond our wildest dreams and even Scottish people that could easily kill us in one swipe."

Toothless nodded, trying to give him one final push away from the lights. "Just one second, bud. I didn't come all this way to back out. I need to find Barf and Belch." He was persistent all right, dodging Toothless' wings and slipping underneath him so he could pass. The wisps danced happily and disappeared one by one as he delved deeper and darker, with Toothless reluctantly following him.

He really, really, really, didn't want to go any further, but there was some kind of magic pulling him. It was surprising that when the wisps disappeared, he came across a heavily forested slope. The moon shone its rays through it, revealing depths far more vivid than a tapestry.

"Why would they lead me here?" Hiccup asked, searching for anything that could be the reason. Toothless purred, and his snout pointed to the far edge of the forest. There was something moving.

He immediately ducked and motioned Toothless to do the same. Carefully, his eyes peeked into the slope and the longer he stared, the more fascinated he became.

There was a girl, with bright red hair contrasting the dark, gloomy forest about her. When her face hit the ray of the moonlight, he was struck deeply by her beauty. Although he couldn't really see her in detail, she really was very beautiful. And she seemed to be following something, but he couldn't see much of her now that she was slowly walking her way out of the forest. He ducked once more and rested his back against the crested ground, dumbfounded. "Wow." Was all the word he could muster.

"Angus!" He heard her and peeked his eyes out again. But this time, his eyes widened in horror. She was running mad fast as if something was in pursuit of her, then it hit him when branches and trees split, and barks were chafed and clawed, revealing a dragon he didn't expect to find so soon.

"Oh great, the only time I find a girl and she gets eaten by one of our dragons." He muttered, and swung himself onto Toothless. "Toothless, go!" He yelled, and the dragon dove towards the Zippleback that was pinning the girl down. It opened its mouth to spew gas and fire…

"Barf! Belch!" He yelled, and immediately, the dragons shut their mouths, their bodies curling in surrender as if they were busted after disappearing for days. They sniffed Hiccup's palm, which was stained by blood. He craned his neck to see the girl watching him command the dragon. His mind suddenly echoed the voice of Astrid telling him something she told him not too long ago.

Kill them if they see you. Hiccup didn't know what to do. He brought a hand to his belt, his fingertips brushing his dagger.

If he were to kill her, what was the point of saving her from being killed? Why did he save her? He didn't know. He couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to kill her. Although he wanted to do as he was told, his conscience was much stronger. He knew he didn't have the heart to actually kill someone, much less a lady. She reached out to grab his attention, but he already took off with Toothless, afraid he might actually harm her. He knew he had to fly away from doing something he might have regretted.

But then again, after letting a Scot run away seeing your clan's ultimate and supposed to be confidential weapon, he really did something he was going to regret.

The clippity clapping of horse hooves on the stone floor was all Merida could hear in the dead of the night. The image of the boy with honey hair was all she could remember as well. Angus slowed, first to a canter, and then to a trot towards his stable. She dismounted and headed straight to the kitchen of their castle, hoping her absence didn't alarm anyone.

She was about to climb the stairs when she saw her mother's silhouette against the open door.

"Merida!" She exclaimed, stepping out into the let and revealing her worried expression. She cupped her daughter's cheek and caressed her hair very daintily. "Oh, I was worried sick!"

"Ye were?"

"I didn't know where ye'd gone or when ye'd come back," she breathed worriedly. "I didn't know wha' to think. Oh look at yer dress."

Merida shifted herself out of her mother's grasp. "Angus threw me…" she trailed. "But I'm not hurt!" she finished so her mother wouldn't have to worry.

"Well you're home now," her mother sighed in relief. "That's the end of it. Now, why don't we go up to your room to talk about the marriage."

"Aah, Mum," she frowned, folding her arms across her chest.

"Oh, come now. It'll be fun," Elinor cooed, leading her up to the staircases. Merida plopped herself down the bed, tired and not the least bit interested in marriage. "Mother!" she complained. "Suitors?! Marriage?!"

"Once there were two ancient kingdoms in great war with each other." Elinor spoke, lifting the leaden clasps of a box and pulled out a chess set.

"Ugh, Mom." Merida whined, sliding down from the bed. "Ancient kingdoms."

"Ruled by two very different leaders who never seemed to think there would be peace between their lands. One of the leaders had a son, and the other had a daughter." She took a black king piece, and took a white queen piece, setting the both of them together in the middle of the board.

"No one knew that these two heirs of the great enemies had met in unknown patterns of fate, and these two learned to care for each other and they both understood that their kingdoms were meant for something different than just wars and battles," she said. Merida looked at the pieces with tired eyes. "But the time came when their secret had finally gotten out, and they were separated far from each other, while the leaders led their kingdoms off to a great war to finally end everything, but the rivalry between them had only resulted to blood, chaos, and ruin." She tipped the chess board, and everything crashed down, but the black king piece and the white queen still stood on the other end of the table.

"They failed to reach the leaders in time to stop the war. No one ever saw them again, or knew what happened after the great rift was torn in their kingdom."

"That's a nice stoory," Merida said sarcastically. "And the wee lovers died happily ever after."

"It's not just a story, Merida," Elinor said. "Legends are lessons. They ring with truth."

"And wha' does this lesson teach, eh?" She grumbled.

Elinor bent down to stroke Merida's hair. "That not everything is put right with violence. The two kingdoms never lived long enough to see the great wonders of fate after they had been blinded by their pride,"

"Then wha' does this story have tae do with the marriage?"

"Merida, ye need to understand that this was why marriages became traditional. The Legend of the Two Kingdoms became a lesson for our clan, and that Two Kingdoms must always unite for every generation, instead of separate."

"It's just a story, mum. It's not real." She frowned. "See, no one ever really knew what happened tae the prince and princess. The story is just…not complete."

"Actually," Elinor continued. "Some say that the Legend of the Two Kingdoms will repeat itself for people to know and remember the end of the story. To teach us one more lesson. And to give the two heirs who fought for each other one last chance to change their kingdom's fate."

A/N: Legends are to repeat itself. O.O What did meh wee lambs think of this chapter?

Anyways, thank you for the positive feedback...on the donuts! I didn't think my baking skills where that good, but my ducklings here are so very kind. I will pursue this virtual baking business while rendering my readers Mericup service entertainment.

So here's a velvet cupcake with cream cheese filling and cherries on top decorated with rainbow sprinkles *hands out virtual cupcakes* I hope I have enough for the people reading this story.

For those of you who don't know, check out the song "Something Different by lily sevin" on youtube and tell me what you think of it. Its a fan made song about the big four and its the song that inspired me to write this 'stoory'.