Chapter 13

(Hiccup's POV)

"That's it, I'm out of here," I muttered as I walked out the door. I've had enough of this. It seems that everywhere I go there's evil and death. Even two innocent looking boys want a life in return of just some information.

I hated this.

I called Toothless in my mind and he trotted to me, dripping wet.

"Have you been swimming?" I asked him as I scratched his chin.

The water looked inviting, and then he winked. So when are you going to admit it to her?

What are you talking about? I asked, even though I already knew the answer. And who?

Toothless smiled a mischievous grin and started prancing around, singing in my mind.

Hiccup and Merida, sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

"Hey guys, what are you doing?"

Oh great, Merida.

Good thing she didn't hear Toothless' song.

"Oh hey," I said awkwardly. I could still remember the previous incident with me and that girl named Cindy. I hope she was too drunk to remember.

"So are you and Cindy going out?" She asked, her face a mixture of anger and sadness.

Yep. She remembered.

"Um, no," I rubbed the back of my neck. "I'm what you call a playboy."

Why did I just say that? Stupid.

Her face was neutral as we both sat on a sand dune, looking at the setting sun. She took off her boots and I looked at her feet.

Man, even her feet looked beautiful.

I heard Toothless pretend to gag.

I did the same with my boots and buried my toes in the soft, golden sand.

Merida was sitting so close to me and I looked at her features. Her blue eyes sparkled as she looked at the beautiful ocean reflecting the orange sun. Her red wild hair was still in that cute braid. She left the top part of her suit unzipped, showing her delicate neck that flowed to her feminine collar bones. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup," she whispered softly. "It's not my place to tell you who you can make out with. It's none of my business."

Part of me liked it that she cared, and another part of me hated that she didn't anymore.

I know myself. I'm incapable of loving. I don't do relationships. I'm not like my dad, whom I could see was very in love with my mom. That's not me.

I'm scared to love.

So I said the only thing I could say to try to keep her away.

"We can be friends, right?" I asked. I tore myself apart to ask that question because I wanted to be so much more. But I knew I couldn't. I couldn't risk breaking her heart and mine as well.

"Sure," She smiled and I knew I made the biggest mistake ever.

I had given up my treasure.

(Merida's POV)

When I woke up this morning, I realized one thing; I liked Hiccup.

If I didn't, I wouldn't have cared if he went out with Cindy. I wouldn't have cared if he liked me or not.

But I did.

However, sitting here beside him right now, I don't know what I really want.

He made me feel things I've never felt before. He made me feel butterflies in my stomach having World War III. He made my palms sweat and my heart pound. Every time he smiled, I felt weak in the knees.

What is he doing to me?

I looked at his profile in the light of the sun. His deep-set green eyes had yellow flecks in them. His strong jaw had a shadow of dark brown hair. His hair was untamed, begging for my fingers to run through them.

"This is a really confusing world," I said, my voice still soft. "I don't know what I want; to die and escape this mess, or sleep in my bed with a bag of gummy bears." He laughed and it was like a deep rumbling that reverberated down to my bones.

I love his laugh.

"Okay redhead," he said, turning to me. "I'll make you a deal; if you laugh at anything I say in the next 24 hours, you bring me a bag of gummy bears in bed. If by the end of 24 hours you still haven't laughed, then I'll be the one bringing you gummy bears to your bed. Deal?"

That was the weirdest deal in my life.

I have no idea why I did what I did next, but I nodded and without hesitation, shook his outstretched hand. My body immediately felt warm and I took a sharp intake of breath. He apparently noticed and looked at me. Blue eyes met with green and everything seemed to fade away except us.

"Deal," I whispered. He leaned in closer and my heart sped up.

"Are you sure?" He said softly against my lips.

Suddenly, we heard footsteps and we broke apart.

What was wrong with me? I promised myself I wouldn't get involved with boys like him.

It's going to be harder than I thought.

"Hey kids," it was Stoick. "Listen, uh, there's been some sort of mistake. We don't have three days, we have three months."

"What?" I forgot about Hiccup for a while. "I thought-"

"I know," Stoick held up his hand. "But that messenger boy apparently misunderstood."

I couldn't help but feel relief. At least we have a few more months to live.

"The Brothers want to talk with you inside," he said and he walked back into the house.

"Well," Hiccup cleared his throat while standing up and dusting sand off his pants. "We'd better go inside then."

I nodded and got up to go inside with him. When we went in, everyone was in the living room. Jack and Rapunzel sat together (I'm pretty sure there's something going on between those two) Corwin sat beside Kaira, and the Brothers were sitting on the floor, cross-legged.

"Sit," Xerxes said.

Hiccup and I sat down on the sofa facing the boys.

"Something wrong?" Hiccup asked.

"No," Jack smiled. "In fact, it's like good news, more or less."

"Yeah," Jake said. "We decided to help you guys out for free."

Everyone in the room smiled.

"But we won't exactly help you help you," Jake explained. "That's against our rules. We will, however, give you hints, directions and stuff."

"That's not so bad," Corwin said. "What's our first hint?"

"It's a mission," Xerxes said, his voice serious. "You will find your first clue there."

"What do Hades and Pitch want?" Rapunzel asked out of the blue. "You guys are the Brothers, you should know the future."

"Yes we do know the future," Jake said. "But it seems everything hasn't been going as what we foretold. Like, for example, we saw in our vision that after a demon escaped, one of you will die. But Merida," he looked at Merida in wonder. "Survived. She changed her fate. Well, technically Rapunzel did, but ever since that happened, we weren't so sure anymore if our visions are correct. The Four of you are powerful enough to rewrite the future."

Xerxes nodded. "So right now, we only have bits coming in from our visions; little hints and directions. And just now, we received one. I can't quite remember, but it's definitely in Hollywood. There will be a movie premiere and you-" he gestured to all of us. "Will be there to look for a certain woman named Gothel."

"How will we know who she is?" I asked.

"You'll know," Jake replied. "And anyway, our sister Kaira will accompany you in this mission."

Kaira smiled and the boys seemed to sit straighter. Even Corwin. He seemed so tense sitting beside her.

I smiled. Looks like the big guy has a soft spot for beautiful girls.

Suddenly, the door swung open and sand flew in. And not just any sand.

Golden sand.

There was a whistle of wind and we all held our breath as a light, familiar form entered.

"Sandy!" Jack exclaimed as he rushed forward to meet him.

"Sandman," Jake nodded.

"What?" Jack pulled back.

Sandy said nothing as he smiled and bowed from his waist to the Brothers.

Golden sand appeared out of nowhere and started floating around Sandy's head. I sat there mesmerized as the sand formed these words in perfect cursive: Hello, father.