In the Circle of Stones

A/N: I'm sorry for the delay. I'm afraid this story is winding down, eventually, to its conclusion, but I have a few ideas tucked away yet. Stay tuned for following chapters that - gasp - have continuity with this one!

Disclaimer, I still own nothing, and never have.

In general, Merida, firstborn of Lord and Lady DunBroch, did not like the inside of the castle. Sure, it was where she slept, ate, and studied, and it was where she found the people dearest to her in the world, but it wasn't where she lived. She lived out in the forests and wilderness, with the wind in her hair and the sun on her skin. That was where she belonged.

But if there was one time when she liked to be in the castle, it was winter. The tapestries on the walls kept in the warmth of the blazing fire and the animals. It was good to snuggle down in blankets and hear the wind howling outside, knowing that it couldn't get in. And hearing stories about the adventures on the tapestries was almost as good as living the stories yourself.

Almost.

Merida, however, was long since sick of this winter. There was something unnatural in it. The winds, blowing in from the sea she had never seen, brought unrelenting cold, and sickness. Castle DunBroch was turned into something of an infirmary for the worst cases, which increased every day. Although Merida was getting much better at mixing medicines, rubbing liniment on bare chests, and – hardest of all for her – sitting patiently and listening to people as they complained – she, and everyone else in the castle, knew the best task for her.

She slung her bow over her shoulder and tucked her hair beneath a white wimple, so it wouldn't get tangled or laden down with snow. She sought out her mother, who was poring over a list of the castle stores. "Angus and I'll be out hunting. We'll be home before dark."

"You have warm boots?" Queen Elinor asked, looking up from her list.

"Yes, Mum."

"You'll be careful?"

"Yes, Mum."

"And you'll not shoot any heavy doe?"

"Of course not, Mum, not if I can tell." They were in dire straits to be sure, hunting for meat in the dead of winter, but the least they could do was to not shoot any animal that might be bearing young. They had the next spring to think of – and Queen Elinor had not looked the same on hunting since her two days spent as a bear last autumn.

"That's my girl." Elinor returned to her list, but Merida stepped lightly to the table and kissed her mother's forehead. Elinor smiled. "Home before dark!" she reminded Merida's retreating back.

Soon Merida and Angus were barreling out of the castle's stables, through the gate, over the bridge, and into the woods, into a world made entirely of ice and snow. The snow had stopped falling, but there was still plenty of paths of smooth, unbroken white – perfect for Angus' hooves to trammel into mush. Merida laughed to see the beauty of it, the perfect lines of white and black every way she looked. Her gloves gripped the horse's reins tightly as she urged him on.

After an hour of exploring the snow-covered forest, Merida slowed Angus to a trot, trusting him to pick out the best footpath for his massive hooves. She kept an eye out for game. A snowflake landed on Merida's nose, and she pffd it away. Bloody winter!

"It can't last forever," Merida muttered. "Winter always gives way to spring…"

As if purely to spite her, a wind blew right into her face, stinging her cheeks. She shook the snow off of her wimple – and saw a stag, some hundred feet away, the only moving thing in the mountains.

She whispered to Angus, and he stopped. She disembarked, moving as quietly as she could in the snow.

Her bow was in her hand. An arrow was nocked to the string. She was approaching the stag… closer… closer…

Oh, he was a lovely beast. But there were hungry children waiting in the castle.

She kept her eye on him – raised her bow – drew back the arrow – and –

The stag's head flew up, the whites visible around its dark eyes. It glanced heavenward, ears twitching, and then was off, scattering snow behind it as it bolted through the woods, out of sight.

Merida cursed. She was sure she hadn't made a –

Behind her, Angus neighed, loudly and with alarm. She turned to look at him – and was aware of a roaring noise filling the woods, a rushing like a great wind, though the woods were still.

She looked up, just in time to see a black shadow streak across the white sky, taking with it the wind and the noise, and taking away Merida's breath.

"Sweet mother of magic," she whispered. "Angus! After him!"

"We're lost? How could we lose an entire castle?"

Hiccup cursed the map of Scotland that was at least twenty years out of date. Toothless gave a snarl, and Hiccup snarled right back. They'd reached Scotland yesterday, and Hiccup's best information told him that Castle DunBroch lay inland and to the west, but Odin curse it, these forests all looked the same! And now they had either flown over the biggest, most recognizable landmark in these here parts, or there had been no castle to fly over, and they were completely lost. And it was getting dark, now, too.

"What do you say, buddy?" Hiccup asked the dragon. "We flew over some ruins this morning – do we want to make for those? No, you're right… too far away."

They'd landed in a circle of standing stones. Hiccup had picked the spot as the biggest clearing for miles around, but Toothless was edgy. He pawed the ground, and kept casting worried glances at the stones, especially one which had fallen over. He kept on the opposite side of the circle from that one, glancing skyward.

Hiccup sighed. "There's nothing for it. I think we have to make another go at it – one last time looking for the castle in this area – and then we make camp. Sorry to have to do this to you, buddy… I was looking forward to a home-cooked meal, tonight, too…"

He noticed that the dragon's earflaps were pricked up. He was glancing around the circle, but more specifically, at the forest beyond.

Whatever he could hear, the wind plugged up Hiccup's ears but good. He shivered and curled up on himself, and Toothless extended a wing. Hiccup gratefully accepted his shelter. But the dragon was restless, and Hiccup knew why. It was a strong sense of predator.

There was a time, not so long ago, when Merida's first reaction to a landed dragon would have been to send Angus into a charge, her bow raised, hair flying, hollering a war cry. But all she'd learned of patience and subtlety this past autumn was brought to her in full force when she saw where the dragon had landed.

The circle of stones. Almost as if fate was tempting her.

So she dismounted Angus, but kept him close enough to come if she whistled, and trod, swiftly as she dared, over the snow and towards the circle. She could see the dragon, stamping its feet to keep warm, eyeing the stones around – and then she saw a fitted leather saddle on its back. The saddle was such a shock that seeing the human next to the dragon barely registered at first. The human – a young man, or a boy? He was in such heavy furs it was hard to tell his age – was walking around the circle and stretching his arms, as though he'd been riding horseback for hours.

'Or,' Merida thought, her wonder growing, 'riding dragon-back…'

That was absurd. Unthinkable. It was unthinkable, one, that she was even looking at a dragon, right now, but there was nothing else that the sleek, black, winged creature before her could be. But everyone knew that dragons were monstrous, bloodthirsty killers…

Right?

She crept a little closer, until she was hiding behind one of the standing stones. And now the talk was the most puzzling thing yet: the young man, speaking in a thick but intelligible accent, was asking the dragon how they could be lost. He was asking for advice, talking to the dragon like he was… a friend.

At once the solution occurred to Merida, clear as daylight. Of course. The dragon was his friend – one transformed under the same sort of spell that had gripped Mum, last autumn. Now the two of them were questing across the land, seeking a cure. And – Merida peeked around the edge of the boulder, grateful for the woolen wimple that covered her hair and blended with the snow – yes, the dragon was following the boy's gaze, and appeared to be listening to his words. The dragon was an enchanted boy, keeping his own mind –

It clearly wasn't the exact same sort of curse, Merida reasoned, but it was reasonable enough to infer. The young man didn't seem armed or dangerous – she risked another look to make sure. Of course the dragon was weapon enough, but – now the dragon's wing was encircling the young man, as if against the cold. Merida made up her mind.

She counted to five, and then stepped into the circle, her bow visible in her right hand. "Gre—"

Her voice died in her throat when the dragon turned around to look at her. She nearly fell back at the sight of the green eyes, staring right at her and Brigid's sake this was a DRAGON—and then she heard the young man's voice: "Who are you?"

She looked at the young man. He was so prosaic-looking – brown hair, green eyes, snub nose – it brought her down to earth at once. She cleared her throat. "Greetings. I mean ye no harm. What are you doin' on the land of Clan DunBroch?"

The boy cleared his throat right back. "We're not doin' anything. We're lost and just trying to get our bearings. This is Toothless," he said, patting the dragon's hide, "and I'm Hiccup, of Clan Haddock."

Toothless. That confirmed it. They had to be brothers. Only brothers called each other by such names. She was quite sure that her triplet brothers' gibberish included many rude words for one another.

"We also… er… mean no harm. We're looking, actually, for Castle DunBroch. Do you know where that is?"

She smirked. "Only as far as that I live there. On what business?"

"You live there – Oh, Toothless, there's dinner for us tonight after all!"

"Dinner!" Merida slapped her forehead. "I was supposed to get a stag tonight—"

"Don't worry about it, really – I'm totally discombobulated, sorry—"

"Discom-what?"

"Uh… Let me start over." He straightened his posture, and gave her a polite little bow. "Hi."

"… Hi," she said after a pause, wondering if he was quite right in the head, and glancing at the dragon, who was still staring at her with frank curiosity.

Back to Hiccup. "We're from the island of Berk."

"Are you Vikings?"

"… Yes." He tensed himself for a reaction.

But Merida only lifted her eyebrows. A Viking! She'd always wanted to meet one, all the more because Father had always said they were dangerous wastrels and berserkers. But she expected he'd be… bigger. He certainly wasn't threatening, at least. "Go on?"

"And there's a plague. We're looking for a cure."

"A plague?" she asked. "It came with the winter?"

"Oh, no, not you guys too?" he asked, slumping.

She nodded unhappily. "Yes, er… 'us guys' too. But still, you're more than welcome to come to Castle DunBroch and spend the night – the both of ye are," she added, acknowledging "Toothless" with a nod. The dragon perked up visibly, and appeared to warm to her at once.

"You're sure the King won't mind?"

"I think I can talk him into it," she said, turning away and grinning to herself.