Friction

Later that night after classes Merida dragged Anna into she and Rapunzel's room and demanded an explanation to why she'd hid her rank from them.

"Well you never asked?" Anna said with a weak chuckle and a shrug.

Merida scowled at her. "Well that's technically true," Rapunzel conceded.

"So, this...Elsa is your partner?" Merida asked.

Anna nodded. "Yeah...and a little more than that actually," she added with a flush. The girls awaited for her to explain. "She's also my big sister," Anna revealed. The girls were shocked to hear this. But after dwelling on it they came to realize Anna and Elsa did look a little alike.

"Well I got to admit. You two are pretty good," Merida said honestly.

"Hehe. Thanks. It's mostly Elsa who does the hard work. But we try."

"I'd love to meet her," Rapunzel chimed in.

"Uh...sure. I can introduce you guys I guess," Anna said with a shrug. The girls smiled and spent a few hours speaking and passing the time together before Anna went back to her room for the night. The girls went to bed, but Elsa and Anna's battle replayed in their heads the whole night.

This school was full of powerful people. They'd have to step up their game if they wanted to reach the top.

The next day the girls woke up, washed, and dressed before joining Anna for breakfast. Anna apologized for Elsa's absence, saying she'd asked her to join them but was refused. The girls couldn't help but notice this seemed to make Anna rather sad as she cast her eyes down.

They distracted her, asking her question on other ways to increase their rank and perhaps even improve their bond.

Anna hummed in thought. "Well you guys could go on quests," she pointed out. After a moments of blank stares she elaborated, explaining how there was a bulletin full of requests made by distant towns and villages, ranging from dealing with bandits, to eliminating a monster that may have moved too close to their liking. Each quest had a suggested Rank a student should be if they wanted to go, but they were allowed to take whichever they wanted as long as they accepted whatever the consequences would be.

"As for improving your bond strength...not sure," Anna said with a shrug.

"Oh come on. You're an A-rank. You must know something," Merida pleaded.

Anna pondered her request. "It's just something that supposed to develop over time. You can't just force it," Anna said with a shrug. "The bond strength between Elsa and I is only about 65, which is the average."

The girls furrowed their brows, expecting the bond strength between sibling to be much stronger.

"Well I need ours to be greater than 48. I personally feel our bond is a 100," Merida said with a huff.

"Aww," Rapunzel said with a smile.

"No one has a 100. Well-" Anna trailed off. The girls perked up, staring at her for answers. "Actually the only person in this school who has a 100 would be Hiccup and Toothless," Anna said as she jerked a thumb back to where the lowest ranked student in the entire school was sitting alone. They both flinched in surprise before looking at the young man and his dragon in disbelief.

"The E-rank," Merida said indignantly. "That has to be wrong," she insisted.

"Maybe we should ask him for advice," Rapunzel offered.

"Nay. We are not going to go asking the bottom of the ladder for help," she said adamantly.

"But-"

"No!" Merida said with finality. Rapunzel sagged in defeat as she resumed eating her food. She thought Hiccup was a nice guy, he'd make a good friend in her opinion.

The day went on as the girls attended classes, stopping by the bulletin board Anna had spoken of as they did a quick once over of the available quests. Nothing particularly grabbed their eyes, so they left and decided to check back later.

Eventually they came to gym and combat class, once again going out into the courtyard for exercise and a little practice. Aster had many students practice with normal weapons, to get a feel for them, saying that their practice would transfer over when they used their partners. He also made them run laps and do basic exercises like pushups, sit up, and jumping jacks.

Closer to the end of the class he decided to have two students duel. He called up two students, one boy and one girl. The the they didn't know, and the other, Hiccup.

"How about it Mr. Haddock. Feeling up for a duel today?" Aster asked with an arched brow. Hiccup chuckled weakly as he stood at his side of the arena. His opponent was a girl and her female partner. Her partner changed, turning herself into a rapier. She pointed it at Hiccup in challenge and waited.

"I forfeit," Hiccup called out as he raised his hand up.

"Of course," Aster said with a sigh. He congratulated the girl on her win as they both left the arena. Merida looked to see the other students who had dragon partners staring at Hiccup and shaking their heads in blatant disappointment. Hiccup stood off to the side by himself which Merida found strange seeing as he and the others were supposed to come from the same place.

She shrugged it off. It wasn't her concern.

After class everyone went to lunch, during which Merida couldn't help but stare at Hiccup from across the mess hall. Why the heck wouldn't he fight? Was he that weak that he wouldn't even try? Was he just a coward? She glanced around the room at all the other Knights with dragons. How could they all be such high ranked except him. It irked her for some reason.

After lunch they prepared for their next class going to their lockers. Merida excused herself to the bathroom while Rapunzel pulled out her books for the next class. As she was doing so she suddenly felt something tugging at the end of her skirt. She glanced down, eyes meeting the wide green eyes of Toothless. He crooned at her before flicking his eyes over to Hiccup's locker and then bounding over.

Rapunzel followed him, and she guessed what was wrong by how he scratched at it and crooned in worry.

"Hiccup?" she said to the door.

"Yep. Me again. Sorry to bother you. But could you...you know?" After a few second Rapunzel opened his locker door, allowing the tall young man to fall out and to the floor. He sighed in relief at being freed from his prison and looked up at her gratefully.

"Is this going to be a regular thing?" Rapunzel asked with a hint of playfulness.

"I hope not. I'd like to greet you with a 'good afternoon' every once in awhile. You know, break the monotony," he quipped, earning a giggle from Rapunzel. With that Hiccup turned and reached into his locker for his next set of books. After collecting them in hand he thanked Rapunzel one last time before preparing to head off.

"Hiccup hold on for a sec," Rapunzel suddenly said. Hiccup complied, stopping and glancing back at her. "I was hoping I could get some advice?"

"From me?" Hiccup asked with an arched brow. "You do know I'm the lowest student in the school right?"

"Yeah. But I heard your bond strength with Toothless is a 100. How can I get that score with Merida?"

Hiccup stared at her, seeing the pleading in her eyes. Hiccup brought a hand up and tapped his chin in thought. "How long have you and Merida known each other?"

"Two or three years I guess."

"Hmm. There's not much I can tell you. All relationships are different, so the way to strengthen your bond will be different from how me and Toothless do it," he said as said dragon clambered up onto his shoulder to nuzzle him. Hiccup smiled and scratched him under the chin. "I can tell that Merida is the more outgoing one of the two of you," Hiccup said out of the blue.

Rapunzel blinked as she thought his statement over. "Yeah...I guess so."

"All I can tell you is that a relationship is a two way street. It's not uncommon for one person to take charge. But besides being a leader they also have to be willing to listen from time to time," Hiccup offered. He looked at her and smiled.

As Rapunzel was absorbing this information she was suddenly gripped by the shoulder and turned around. "C'mon Punz. We have class," Merida said as she gave Hiccup a frown. In her opinion there was nothing an E-rank could have to offer them.

For the rest of the day Rapunzel ran Hiccup's words through her mind. She contemplated her relationship with Merida. Ever since they'd met Merida had always been the one to take charge and lead them. Which was necessary given Rapunzel's lack of worldly knowledge at the beginning. But even now Rapunzel could admit Merida could be a tad...bossy. But they were still best friends.

After their final class they went to their lockers to put away their books. As Merida was putting away her books she suddenly shivered.

"Everything ok Mer?" Rapunzel asked in concern.

"Aye. But is it strangely cold in here. Or is it just me?" she asked.

Suddenly a cold wind swept through the hall, blowing up all the females' skirts at once. Merida and Rapunzel shrieked as they tried to push their skirts back down, and as they did the wind died down, allowing them to hear unrepentant laughter coming from above them.

All eyes turned to the ceiling to see a familiar figure floating in the air, leisurely sitting on his hooked staff as the winds held him aloft.

"Ladies. Your prince has returned!" A white haired and pale skinned young man declared loudly with a grin. He was shouted at by nearly every girl in the hallway, some even threw things at him. But the teen only laughed louder as he weaved through the air before settling down beside Hiccup at his locker.

"Sup Hiccup," Jack said with a grin.

"Hey Jack. Back from your quest? How'd it go?" Hiccup asked curiously.

"Pssh. Easy. One tribe of dead, village pillaging goblins, check," Jack said with a wink. Hiccup chuckled at his side. Jack glanced past him at two girls he didn't recognize. "We get some new ladies," Jack said as he waggled his brows at them.

Hiccup nodded. "Blonde one is Rapunzel. Redhead is Merida, They're alright," Hiccup said with a casual shrug.

"Well I'm going to go say hi," Jack said as he began to saunter over. Hiccup sighed and trekked behind him. When Jack reached the girls he leaned against a locker and smiled at them. "Hello ladies. The name's Jack Overland. But most call me Jack Frost. Cuz I'm cool as ice."

"Ignore him. He thinks he's the greatest thing since man learned how to use fire," Hiccup commented from behind.

"Dude," Jack said back indignantly.

Merida rolled her eyes. "Hello Jack. I'm Rapunzel," Rapunzel said offering her hand. He accepted it and gave it a quick shake.

As he opened his mouth to say something Anna walked up. "Hey Jack. Glad you're back," she greeted.

"Hey Anna. Good to be back. Just saying hi to the new students."

"I noticed," Anna said with a smirk. "Elsa went that way by the way," Anna said as she jerked a thumb down the hall.

Jack's grin grew. He mounted his staff and gave the girls one last smile. "Sorry ladies. I'm off to see my girlfriend."

"She's not really his girlfriend," Hiccup revealed.

"We're in love. She just doesn't know it yet." With a wave Jack zoomed off down the hallway in search of his heart's desire.

"I better go make sure nobody tries to kill him," Hiccup said as he walked after him.

The girls stared after the two boys curiously.

"Anna?" Merida said to get an explanation.

"Jack Overland. Student here. He'll flirt with anything in a skirt but has had an apparent interest in my sister for quite some time," she stated.

"What rank is he?" Rapunzel couldn't help but wonder.

"C-rank. But he's a little peculiar," Anna said. She elaborated, explaining how Jack was strong enough to regularly best B and even A-ranked students, but every time victory was guaranteed he'd forfeit before delivering the finishing blow. Despite his teacher's insistence he never accepted an increase in rank, something everyone found strange. Even stranger was that he and Hiccup were best friends.

The girls hummed in thought before heading off. They stopped to check the bulletin board to see if there were any quests they wanted, but found none they thought were worth doing.

Later that night as Merida was helping Rapunzel brush her hair, Rapunzel was still dwelling on Hiccup's words.

Merida listened to her...right? "So Merida. I was looking at clubs. I was thinking of joining a few. What do you think?"

"Why would you want to join a club?" Merida said with a snort.

"I don't know. They sound fun and we'd meet new people. Make more friends."

"We did nay come here to make friends Punz," Merida reminded her.

"But we're in school. We have classmates-"

"That are our competition," Merida reminded her.

"Yeah but-"

"We don't need to join any clubs Punz. We should be focusing on getting stronger and increasing our bond strength so we can defeat one of those A-ranks move up." Rapunzel sighed and nodded in defeat. Well at least she listened.

As they got ready for bed Rapunzel though about her relationship with Merida. It wasn't perfect. But it was still better than being locked away in that tower.

It was better than having your whole life controlled by someone else who claimed to know what was best...

Rapunzel suddenly sat up in bed. "I'm joining a club," she said aloud.

Merida stirred, sitting up and turning on a light. "What?"

"I'm joining a club. I'm sorry if you don't like it but I'm doing it," Rapunzel said firmly.

"Rapunzel, I though we-"

"No, there was no 'we'. You said no. But I can do what I want too."

"Ugh. Why do you want to join a useless club so badly?" Merida said as she rolled her eyes.

Rapunzel frowned at her. "Because I want to. Isn't that reason enough?"

"We're supposed to be a team Rapunzel. Remember? We stick together no matter what. Ring a bell?"

"Well sometime you don't act like we're a team Mer."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sometimes you're just bossy Merida, and you try to tell me what to do all the time."

"I don't do that," Merida said in offense.

"You just did not five minutes ago," Rapunzel pointed out.

"Oh, so I'm bossy because I don't think you should join a stupid club?"

"It's not stupid! At least not to me. Why can't you understand that? You're treating me just like mother used to."

"Oh? So you would rather I left you back in that tower?" Merida spat at her.

"Sometimes it feels like I never left," Rapunzel muttered.

Merida leapt out of her bed angrily. "I can't believe you would say that! I spent days talking you down from that tower! I became your first and only friend! I showed you the world and protected you! How dare you compare me to your mother!"

Rapunzel leapt out of her own bed, facing Merida with a glare. "Well maybe I wouldn't if you'd stop acting like yours!" Rapunzel shouted back at her.

Merida took in a sharp breath in shock. Rapunzel flinched, slapping her hands over her mouth as she realized she'd gone too far.

"Merida-" she tried to say. But Merida didn't listen as she grabbed her blankets and pillows and retreated to the bathroom. She gave her a dirty look before purposely slamming the door shut and locking it.

Rapunzel stood there, eyes on the door as she felt her guts twist into knots. That was probably their first fight ever. And now her closest friend was mad at her. When you didn't have many people to call friends you treasure the ones you did have.

And Merida was Rapunzel's dearest treasure.

The next day Hiccup was at his locker. Jack was leaning against the one next to his, making idle chatter about how pretty Elsa was and how he'd one day win her heart. Hiccup nodded as he tuned him out, only to close his locker and look at him when he felt Jack tap his shoulder.

Jack motioned to something behind him. Hiccup turned and was met with Rapunzel standing before him, eyes cast down to the floor.

"Hey Punz. Morning," Hiccup greeted casually.

Rapunzel looked up, surprising Hiccup when he noticed how her eyes were watering.

"Uh...something wrong Rapunzel?" Hiccup asked.

Her lower lip began to quiver as a tear leaked out, running down her cheek. She threw her arms around him, stunning the auburn haired teen as he held his arms in the air awkwardly.

"Merida hates me now!" Rapunzel wailed sadly. She began to sob into his chest. Hiccup glanced back at Jack for help. The boy only shrugged, clueless on what he should do. Hiccup swallowed before placing a hand tentatively behind her back and rubbing circles.

"There there," he said to try and soothe her. She sniffled.

"How about you tell me what happened?" Rapunzel looked up at him. Eyes puffy and red.

"I promise to do what I can to help you."

new chap

once more, not a true Soul Eater au