AN: This chapter is also un'betaed. It's not that I'm far from my unofficial beta, it's that she would rather watch Robocop with me. She wins. Every time. So here is Chapter 12.

!**WARNING**! This Chapter contains some graphic material not suitable for some readers. This includes: Graphic depictions of blood.

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And here we go.

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OF BOWS AND DRAGONS

Chapter 12: A Debt Paid in Full

Merida ripped her hand out of his and marched to the earnestly waiting dragon. Hiccup rolled his eyes and hastily lashed the bags to his friend. After climbing on he pulled the angry Scot on the saddle behind him. "Look, princess, I won't apologize for trying to help my people. You can hate me later. Now we need to move!"

Toothless took off and started heading to the next island. Merida looked down just in time to see eight large Vikings, armed with bows and swords, emerge from the tree line. Quickly, the warriors nocked arrows and began firing. Of the eight arrows, three hit their targets. The first three arrows skewered the bag that had been just lashed to the saddle and scratched at Toothless' hide. The bag split and the food went flying. The next two pierced Hiccup's greaves on his left leg. They sank into his leg to the fletching and into Toothless' flank.

Both rider and dragon gave pained yells and roars, respectively. The pain was searing and agonizing. Blood poured steadily from the punctures on his leg. It took a few moments before it hit them. Hiccup felt his vision blur and it felt like pressure was building on the wounds. Hiccup only managed to say a single word before his chest began to tighten. "Poison…."

And with that they began to plummet downwards.

_-_Line break_-_

It was late at night before Hiccup regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath in. Blood was heavy in the air causing him to bolt upright. His head pounded in protest. Gripping his head he felt a cloth bandage with a wet mark. His left leg was wrapped tightly and had evidence of bleeding.

Once the pain subsided, Hiccup took some notice of what was going on around him. They were in a seaside cave. He had been using rock as a pillow and he was facing a small fire that was less than three feet away. Off to the side laid Toothless who had what looked like a green dress wrapped around his midsection. The black dragon was unsaddled and awake but he looked like he was improving quickly.

On the other side of the fire sat Merida. Her thick woolen dress was torn in several places and she had a bloody bandage wrapped around her upper arm. Her bow was sitting firmly in her left hand and she had an arrow sitting on the string ready to fire. An unfamiliar and bloody sword was leaning against a rock nearby. With all the blood in the cave, the smell of blood was unsurprising.

She looked attractive here in a strange sort of way. It was a large difference from the princess he found in the forest. The scene reminded him of words his father told him years ago, back when he and Astrid broke up. 'Don't look for a Princess in need of saving. Search for a Queen who will fight by your side.' The old saying resonated within him as he beheld the sight. "Unfortunately she isn't exactly fond of me right now. We probably should have discussed the terms earlier," thought Hiccup.

Hiccup tried to pull himself into a standing position, grunting with exertion as he did so. Merida didn't even flinch. He stood and felt his torso constricted by his breast plate and moved to strip his torso of the leather and plates.

Toothless watched as his human forced himself into standing position and began peeling off his armor. It was funny how humans were so breakable, yet resilient. The dragon yawned. His body went into a coma to burn off the poison. Another day and he'd be able to walk around. Currently he could hardly move and he was a terrifying murder-beast. Yet, the fragile man who got dosed with the same stuff, was able to force himself to move.

Hiccup limped over to the princess keeping guard, who he suspected had fallen asleep. He managed to reach her rock and sat on the adjacent one. "Merida?" he asked tentatively. When he go no answer, he gently shook her shoulder.

Merida jerked awake and instinctively prepared to fire an arrow at the thing that startled her. It took a moment for her to realize it was only Hiccup. "Oh. It's just you." Her voice was far from the determined and upbeat one see carried usually. It was now quiet and tired. She turned back to the cave entrance and released the tension in her bow.

Hiccup gave her small grimace and rubbed his head. "What happened? All I remember is getting hit and we started to fall."

Merida sighed and spoke in a tired monotone, "I had a debt to pay." Hiccup gave her a confused look. "We started to fall..."

_-_Flashback-_-

"Poison?! What do you mean poison?" They were falling towards the island just across a narrow stretch of water from the last island they landed on. Merida was terrified. Toothless had started to go slack and they stopped flying as fast. The dragon flew like he was drunk toward the ground.

The princess was thankful for the controlled fall. Or she would be if she wasn't screaming. Hiccup had gone all but boneless. He was struggling to get control of the fall and failing miserably. As they reached impact, Hiccup ripped his helmet off and slammed it on Merida's head. Not two seconds later the trio impacted into a gravel beach. Merida was thrown clear and slid on the ground with her thick dress and Hiccups helmet protecting her.

She stood up and brushed herself off. The helmet came off next and was tossed onto the ground. Merida was in shock over the state of Toothless and Hiccup. The human was pinned beneath his dragon and was bleeding from the gash on his temple. The arrows had been pulled free from the dragon's side and the wounds bled freely. The Viking was unconscious while his dragon was struggling to remain awake. He moved off of his companion and looked into Merida's eyes. 'Help.' She could almost hear the cry in her head. The scot quickly closed the distance between them and checked the pulse on Hiccups neck. A faint, slow, but steady heart rate pulsed through him.

Toothless nudged his head against her shoulder and sluggishly gestured towards a sea side cave. The dragon stumbled into the cave while the princess dragged Hiccup behind her. After laying him down she quickly left the cave to grab any supplies off of the beach before the scouting party came looking. All the food had been lost but, Merida's bag, and Hiccup's supplies survived.

Inside the cave, Merida pulled the medical supplies from Hiccups bag and began to dress his wounds. The gash on his head was jagged and bleeding heavily but it was a simple fix. The arrows in his leg were more difficult to deal with. She was broke the arrow heads and pulled the shafts out with gut twisting squelch.

Blood flowed steadily out of the holes through his leg. Merida took the long bandage and tightly wrapped the leg. Gathering dry driftwood near Hiccup, Merida lit a fire to help Hiccup sweat the poison out. Then she turned to treat the dragon unconscious in the corner…

_-_End Flashback-_-

"…there weren't any bandages to use on Toothless so I used my spare dress," she whispered quietly to her companion.

Hiccup nodded and rubbed his head. "Well… thanks." He looked out to the cave entrance where there were abnormal shapes in the darkness and then down at the bloody short sword he was leaning near. "What happened to the scouting party?"

The princess shuddered with a silent cry. She gave no verbal answer but pointed at the shapes at the mouth ahead of them.

Hiccup followed the finger and felt his stomach drop. He had hoped she didn't have to do this act. "What happened?"

Merida wiped her face and took a shaky breath. "They found us not long after I patched you both up. I…. killed them. Five of them fell to my arrows. I took a sword… and…. I…" Merida turned fully into the light revealing the blood streaking her pale skin. "I watched the light fade from their eyes."

The young Viking sighed heavily and pulled the crying woman into an embrace. "I know it hurts. I know. It's gonna hurt for a long time, but every day it will hurt less. You didn't do anything wrong. What you did saved lives." He pulled back and looked her in the eye. "Go get some sleep. I'll take watch."

The young Scot nodded slowly. "Thank you, Hiccup."

"Anytime, Princess." Hiccup took up his post with Merida's bow at the ready. He didn't think any other of the scouting party's tribesmen would come looking for them this far out. They'll assume that they died on the island and not on the neighboring one. As long as they could leave in the next couple of days they should be fine.

He leaned heavily against the rock. Merida's reaction to killing isn't all that uncommon. Most of his peers, including him, had the same reaction during the war. By the end, they had all been calloused for better or worse.

The night passed without incident proving Hiccup's theory right. At first light, he limped to the cave entrance. The bodies of the eight men were laying pale and stiff on the rocky ground several yards away. The blood around them was disturbed showing it was obvious that that creatures had come in the night to feed on the bodies.

Arrows looked as though they had sprouted like seedlings from the five who were felled by arrows. Hiccup noted that every shot was expertly placed in the heart. Despite the grim surroundings he could help but appreciate the marksmanship under pressure. The other three were closer to the mouth of the cave. One of them had been slashed across the stomach and spilled his entrails. It appeared that the man had been trying in vain to return his organs to their natural positions when his was killed be by a merciful stab to chest. His sword was missing from its scabbard and wasn't laying nearby. The first of the three to be injured, the last to die. Must be his sword in the cave, Hiccup thought. Another had a slice across his throat. His hand showed signs of trying to stop the bleeding. He obviously hadn't suffered long. His blood must have been what is all over Merida. The final man had been disarmed, literally. His right hand still grasped his sword and it laid not from the wrist it came from. The killing blow had been a slice from his left hip to his right shoulder.

Despite her age and her status as a princess, Hiccup had to admit that Merida was an excellent swordsman.

Hiccup quickly got to work stripping weapons and other supplies from the bodies of the dead. It took twice as long as it should have due to his injured leg. Once the weapons were stacked by the cave, he set to work moving the bodies. The small boat they had arrived in was sitting in on the shore where it had been deposited by high tide. It took nearly an hour to drag the bodies into the boat. Once it was loaded and oiled he put it out to sea and fired a flaming arrow. Once the boat was lit, he limped back to the cave.

Merida's debt to me, he thought. Paid in full.

AN: That is a wrap. Merida has done things. Bloody things.

Next Chapter 13: Riders on the Storm.

Review and let us know what you think of the story so far.

War and Peace,

-RedHoodandtheOutlaws