Save the damsel
Rapunzel came to with a gasp. Sitting up only to find her entire body bound to a tree. What's more, she was also being blindfolded. She began to panic, her mind racing as her dire situation began to set in. She remembered being on patrol last night, on the lookout for any suspicious characters. Then, she and Merida had been taken by surprise, ambushed from behind. They hadn't had enough time to get their wits about them before everything went black.
She strained against the ropes, finding them tight and unlikely to break in her struggling. She took a moment to calm down and try to learn whatever she could. From the light filtering in through her blindfold, she assumed it was daytime now. Judging by the tree and the distant sounds of birds and animals...she was in the forest.
And judging from the fact that she couldn't hear Merida cursing and causing hell for their abductors...she could only conclude she'd been taken alone. Which meant that she'd been taken by the men who'd been kidnapping blonde girls from the villages. She felt a spark of hope, all those girls had been let go, so maybe it was possible they would do the same for her?
Suddenly she heard footsteps somewhere to her right. She went still, pretending to still be unconscious as she strained her hearing. The footsteps sounded like at least two men, heavy, likely tall. They also spoke in a low hushed tone that she could barely make out.
"Look at that hair. It's got to be her," one of them said.
"Maybe she just likes it long," the someone else said.
"She's the right age, blonde, and her hair has to be at least 70 feet. I say we got her," the first voice said. The other man grunted in annoyance. The footsteps got closer and closer until Rapunzel could feel their presences just before her. She swallowed thickly, still playing possum as she heard them move.
Suddenly one of them was patting her cheek rather roughly. "Hey. Wake up," he said gruffly. Finding it useless to keep pretending to be out, Rapunzel lifted her head, looking at them from beneath her blindfold. "What's your name?" he asked. Rapunzel didn't answer. "Where are you from?" he asked next. She stayed quiet.
Suddenly a hand snaked around her slender neck and squeezed. Rapunzel gasped in surprise as the man harshly demanded, "Answer me!"
"Rapunzel!" Rapunzel choked out. His hand remained around her neck and she started to tremble. No one had ever touched her so harshly before.
The men remained quiet as they process her answer. Slowly the hand uncurled and left her neck. Rapunzel took in a breath of relief. "Told you," one of them said. Rapunzel remained silent, curling her knees to her chest and wriggling her arms about the ropes. "We've been looking for you girl. Been offered a lot of money to find you."
Rapunzel froze in surprise. Who could possibly be looking for her?
"And Gothel has started getting impatient."
Rapunzel gasped in shock at hearing the name she hadn't in years. "Mother?" she asked in surprise. Her mother was searching for her.
"Yep," the man said. "Wants her property back and willing to pay us a small fortune to bring you back in one piece," he explained. "So here's what's going to happen. You're going to be a good little girl and join us on a little journey back to mother dearest. Behave, and we won't hurt you. But misbehave-" the man paused, and Rapunzel heard the familiar sound of a blade sliding out of a leather sheathe. She tensed as she felt the cold steel of a knife press against her cheek.
"And we become not so nice. Understand?" he asked, his tone steely and dark. Rapunzel swallowed before nodding. "Good," the man said in satisfaction as they both stood up and he pulled the blade away. She relaxed and waited as she heard them walking away.
Then she waited some more and more, waiting and listening as their footsteps got farther and farther away and they made no more movements. She drew her knees to her chest as much as she could before wiggling a hand free of the ropes. They were tight, but just loose enough for her to reach for her boots, one of which contained a small knife Merida had made her promise to always keep with her.
And when she made a promise she never broke it...ever.
Lucky her.
Merida trailed behind Hiccup as they trekked through the woods outside of town in search of any sign of Rapunzel. They'd been up nearly all night. With Jack flying the skies and the two of them remaining on the ground in hopes that they could pick up her trail. Hiccup led the way, with Merida following after him and remained uncharacteristically quiet. Merida had proven herself to be a good tracker in the past, he naturally thought she'd take the lead.
But one glance back and he could tell her mind was distracted. She kept fiddling with her hands, head down, and shoulders slumped, shame and guilt emanating off her in waves. Hiccup had tried not to put more onto her plate, not with her best friend and partner missing. But he needed her help.
He sighed before stopping and turning to face her. Merida nearly bumped into him before stepped back and muttering a sorry. "It's not your fault Merida," Hiccup told her. Merida flinched before looking up, eyes wide like he'd read her mind. "Its not your fault. It's the people who took her's fault."
"Maybe," Merida conceded quietly. "But it's mine too. You warned us. You told us not to come."
"Rapunzel wanted to," Hiccup pointed out.
"But I could've put my foot down and kept us from going. And I should have," she muttered as she placed her hands over her face. "And I shouldn't have let her be taken. I should've been watching our backs and-"
"Hey, you're only human. You make mistakes. You can be caught by surprise," Hiccup argued. "Regardless, none of that matters right now. What's done is done. Right now we need to focus on finding her. And I need you're help."Merida nodded slowly before she began to look around. Checking for any signs of disturbed foliage or tracks.
"Never thought I'd see you so lost without her," Hiccup said as he watched her work.
"She's been by my side since the day we met," Merida said out loud, mind focused more on the task at hand.
Hiccup hummed. "From miller's daughters to knights. That's quite the road you two have traveled together," Hiccup said casually.
"Aye," Merida said with a nod. "And we're going keep walking it together for a long time to come," she said in determination.
Hiccup arched a brow. Merida hadn't noticed he'd referred to them as miller's daughters instead of farmer's daughters like they said they were. To be fair her mind was appropriately occupied.
But still...
Rapunzel's hand moved as slowly as she could as she cut at the ropes binding her to the tree. After successfully managing to reach the knife in her shoe she began to slowly cut the ropes. She'd already gotten through a few of them and could feel them loosening bit by bit. The men seemed distracted talking and remaining where they had been for a good amount of time. She prayed that they wouldn't look in her direction any time soon.
Finally she cut through the ropes. She remained still as she freed a hand a hand and took her blindfold off. She looked at the men who sat before a small campfire. They were two tall muscular men with red hair and palish skin. They were twins, with the only discernable difference between them being that one had an eye patch. At the moment their backs and side were to her, meaning if she moved slow enough she might be able to slip away.
She swallowed as she slowly began to stand, doing her best not to make any sudden moves and draw their attention. The ropes fell to the ground as she pressed her back against a tree. She began to circle it, trying to get around behind it so she could slip away. All the while she kept her eyes on the men, which proved to be an error on her part.
The sound of a twig snapping made her freeze and the men look in her direction. They locked eyes with her for a moment, temporarily stunned to see her somehow free before Rapunzel began to run. The men shouted and then gave chase. Rapunzel's heart beat madly in her chest as she tore through the forest in blind panic.
She didn't know which way to go. She didn't know where the town was and she could hear their footsteps getting closer. Their strides were longer than hers and she could tell they were likely to catch up. Her worst fears were realized as one of them managed to get a hand in her mass of golden hair. She came to a painful halt as her abductors began to yank her back by the scalp and into their waiting arms. Rapunzel struggled and fought, trying to swipe at them with her knife but they managed to knock it aside in the conflict.
With no other option Rapunzel did the only thing she could think of. She shut her eyes and tapped into her magic. Her body gave off a brilliant flash of gold that blinded the man and made them drop release her in surprise. When the spots in their vision had cleared they looked down to find Rapunzel in her weapon form.
They blinked before the one without the eye patch just chuckled and picked her up off the ground. "Thanks for making it easier for us-WOAH!" he suddenly cried. With a heavy thump Rapunzel hit the ground. The man strained to lift her up, but found himself unable. Rapunzel could make herself resist movement when in her weapon form is she so wished.
The man's brother joined in, both men grunting and turning red in effort as they tried to lift her off the ground. As she began to budge they suddenly heard a shout in their minds, "Get your hands off of me!" Suddenly Rapunzel's form began to glow and she became burning hot. They both drew their hands back and glared down at her.
"Damn girl," the one without the eye patch cursed.
"Easy brother," the one with the eye patch said smoothly as he looked down at her. "She can't stay in that form forever. And she knows it," he said evenly, eyes gleaming with ill intent for what he was going to do after she changed back. "All we got to do is wait her out."
Hiccup followed after Merida. They'd gotten lucky, with Merida managing to find long strands of hair on the occasional foliage. Oddly enough, the locks were brown. But their length was unmistakeable. It was Rapunzel. With the beginnings of a trail worked out they sought to follow after it as best they could. Hiccup even got the dragons to try and pick up Rapunzel's scent. Stormfly flapped and weaved through the trees, squawking insistently when they began to head off in another direction and keeping them on course.
Merida began to pick up the pace, going through the brush with more certainty and sure they were getting closer and closer to her partner. She swore to herself that she'd get her back. She swore that she'd make those men pay for what they'd done.
Suddenly ahead of them a golden streak of light shot into the sky. They paused and gasped, but recognized it immediately before running toward it.
A few hours had passed as the men took turns watching Rapunzel to make sure she didn't escape. She could feel her magic beginning to dwindle, and her form began to flash every couple minutes to indicate she couldn't hold her weapon form much longer. She strained and fought to not change back. But it was inevitable. The men smirked as she gave off a final flash of light before she changed back to normal.
The man without the patch began to stalk toward her with a malicious grin. Rapunzel crawled backward until she was back against a tree. She felt her eyes begin to water and her heart pound in her chest as he got closer.
"Stay back!" she shrieked at him as she raised her hands up and pointed her palms at his chest. Golden light formed in her hands before leaping toward him. His eyes widened as he was hit in the chest by a light arrow and sent flying backward. His brother looked to him, both now on alert.
The man got up, a large hole in the front of his shirt and his chest definitely stinging, but otherwise fine.
While Rapunzel could fire arrows by herself in her normal form, they weren't nearly as strong as they were when she was her bow form, and especially without her wielder. Rapunzel needed Merida's willingness to kill and added magic to give them their lethality. By herself they could injure, but not kill.
The men began to close in on her, understanding that she lacked the power to fight back. Knowing firing another arrow at them would only make things worse she pointed her hands skyward and gathered the last bit of her magic. With a golden flash she shot an arrow upward, hoping one of her friends would see it and come rushing to her aid.
The men reached her. She began to fight again, doing anything she could do to stall for time until one of them brutally struck her across the face with enough force to knock her out. She went limp as they began to take her back to camp.
"Hey!" they suddenly heard someone shout. They glanced back to see two children, the redhead and friend to the blonde and a younger man. The red head's eyes blazed with anger and fury as they fell on the girl they were making off with. "Give me back my friend!" she shouted at them.
"Ugh. This is getting annoying," the one with the eyes patch said. He set the unconscious girl down against a tree before turning to face them. "Brother," he said. The other nodded. The one with the eye patch placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. Suddenly the one without the patch's body began to glow a bright silver. It blinded the teens temporarily before it passed.
Merida heard the sounds of metal clashing and leapt back to see Hiccup in front of her. Toothless was on his arms and in his shield form and being used to block the man's weapons.
The man wielded two swords with no guard and with a slight curve near the top. He grunted as he pressed them down onto Hiccup's shield. The young knight grunted as he was pushed back a few inches. The man drew his swords back before lashing out with his leg for a solid kick. Hiccup kept his shield up but staggered back before raising it again to block the flurry of slashes thrown his way from the man.
He used his blades in tandem, spinning, twirling, and moving them about like some deadly whirlwind of steel. But Hiccup managed to keep his guard up, blocking each and every attack as the man drove him back. But what Hiccup noticed next made his stomach drop. The man had placed himself between him and Merida. The redhead was dashing towards Rapunzel, and the man whirled around and charged her.
Hiccup cursed as he ran after him. But he saw he wasn't going to make it. He cocked back his shield arm before he let it fly. His aim was true as the man reached Merida, preparing to attack her with his blades as Toothless hit the tree in front of him and bounced back. The man dropped to his knees to let the shield pass over his face, attack missing but still managing to cut almost halfway through the tree.
As he was about to regain his footing Hiccup leapt over his head and grabbed Merida before leaping out of the was as he threw a wild attack.
Hiccup managed to save Merida and get her to Rapunzel, shield up as he faced down the man dual wielding his swords.
He winced as he did his best to ignore the warm and wet sensation running down his right leg. He'd been cut. Pretty bad too. It was going to bleed pretty profusely for some time, and he seriously doubted this man was going to let him make a makeshift bandage.
He weighed his option before glancing back. "Merida. Take Rapunzel and go. I'll hold him off," he said just loud enough for the redhead to hear.
"You can't be serious," Merida said like he were mad. "I saw what he could do with those things. You need help," he said in rejection.
"Rapunzel is out. And without her you're more of a liability anyway. Jack probably saw the arrow like we did and is on the way anyway. I just need to hold out till then," he said. "Go. I'll be fine. Wake her up and come back if you can," he told her.
Merida stared at his back, biting her lip in frustration but realizing he was right. There was nothing she could do at the moment. So as much as she hated to, she picked up Rapunzel and prepared to leave with her and Hiccup behind.
"We'll be back. Promise," she said as she carried her off into the woods.
Hiccup held his shield up, looking at the man as he began to spin his swords in hand. "Hows that leg treating you kid?" he asked with a smirk. "You should just get out of the way. I don't want to kill you, but I will," he warned.
"Not happening," Hiccup said with narrowed eyes.
"All you got is a shield kid. All you can do is defend, while I can do both," the man said. "I never leave my guard open," he said as he spun his blades in circles. "Just give it up."
"Well you're right about one thing. A shield isn't very good in the whole attacking department. I'll have to correct that," Hiccup said. The man rushed him, blades spinning and preparing to cut him to ribbons.
"STORMFLY!" Hiccup shouted. The Nadder who'd been spectating from a tree squawked before diving toward his empty and waiting hand.
The man with the swords closed in before swinging one of his swords at the shield before it was batted away. The man's eyes widened as a spiked lance came swinging in an arc toward him. He leaned his head back before recoiling.
He straightened up and looked to his opponent. Hiccup met his gaze, body low, shield up, and Stormfly's spiked lance form resting lightly against Toothless' form. All his vitals were behind his shield, with his eyes peeking over it's rim. Stormfly's spikes flexed before they began to fire in rapid succession. The man's eyes widened as he twirled his blades, batting away the spikes as they came at him like arrows.
Hiccup stopped the assault only to flick his wrist and then lash out with Stormfly. The man suddenly reeled back as Stormfly came at him from above, narrowly missing him as she struck the ground like a whip. And then the strike kept coming, with Hiccup lashing out with Stormfly from a safe distance. The man's eyes were wide as he struggled to keep up with Stormfly's attacks coming from multiple directions at one.
Hiccup closed the distance as he defended, and in the next moment Stormfly went rigid. He thrust her at him, remaining behind his shield as he swung stabbed at his opponent with swift and precise attacks.
"Hard. Isn't it?" Hiccup asked as he kept up the assault. Noticing how the man was hard pressed in defending himself. "Hard to predict where the next attack is coming that is." With her ability to change from rigid to flexible on the fly, not to mention the added benefit of being able to curve and bend around his guard, and the fact that the entire length of her form was a deadly weapon, made it nearly impossible to read his attacks.
The man's blades were in constant motion until he suddenly staggered back. He looked to his opponent with a glare, a small cut across his cheek. Hiccup smirked. The man began to spin his blades swiftly, only to begin blinking a lot. Hiccup's smirk grew as he knew what was happening. Stormfly's poison was already beginning to take affect.
He advanced as he kept the pressure on. He and the man exchanged attacks, Stormfly's spiky form clashing against his spinning blades that were getting slower and slower as time wore on.
The man snarled, body getting heavy and losing strength as he thrust both his blades forward. Hiccup sidestepped the attack before using Stormfly. Her form became flexible, curling around both their swords before tightening. Hiccup cocked back his arms while his weapons were trapped before ramming the rim of his shield into the man's face as hard as he could.
He could have sworn he heard something crack in the man's mouth as he stumbled back with a cry of pain. He dropped to a knee, weapons still in hand and getting to heavy to lift as he spat out a tooth. He looked up to glare at Hiccup who shield was still raised and lance up and pointed toward him.
With a flash of silver the man who'd become the swords changed back to normal. He checked his brother over before glaring at Hiccup.
"Let's switch brother," he said. The other man nodded before suddenly he changed, body giving off a blinding silver light. Hiccup shut his eyes to keep from being blinded. He saw the man holding some kind of jagged dagger. He found the new weapon form unimpressive in comparison to the swords, only for another man to step out from behind him. And then another. And another. And another.
Exact copies suddenly began appearing from behind him and filling the area. Encircling Hiccup from all direction.
"Army of two," they all said in unison. Hiccup had no idea from which way to defend. Were they all real? Or were they merely illusions. "Can you guess which one is real?" they all asked as they brandished their daggers. "You only get once change. Pick wrong, and you lose," he said with a smirk.
They all tensed, daggers up and prepared to attack. Hiccup was in a bind, he could only defend from one, maybe two directions with Stormfly, but something was going to be exposed no matter what.
Unless he could get them all at once.
"Rapunzel! Rapunzel!" Merida shouted as she attempted to wake up her friend. She shook her and then began to pat her cheeks. "C'mon Punzie. Wake up! Hiccup needs us!" she said urgently. With a small groan her friend began to come to. Her eyelids fluttered before snapping open.
"Mer?" she asked in disbelief.
Merida smiled. "Aye."
Rapunzel stared at her for a few seconds before her lower lip began to quiver. She sniffled before throwing her arms around her. "You found me," she said in relief and joy.
"Aye, we did," she said. She pushed her friend back before looking her in the eye. "Punz we got to go. Hiccup is fighting those two guys and we need to-"
Suddenly in the distance and direction she'd left Hiccup a pillar of fire shot into the air. The girls both gave a shout of alarm as it came and then disappeared just as quickly, leaving only a trail of smoke slowly whisking into the air. The girls exchanged a glance before Merida helped Rapunzel up and they began to make their way toward it.
They made their way to the trees, with Merida leading them back to where she'd left Hiccup. When they got there they looked around to see a large circle of grass scorched black, along with the smell of burning earth and plants. And in the center of it stood Hiccup, with the two men at his feet, bodies singed and unconscious.
Toothless and Stormfly sat on his shoulders, looking down at the men and growling.
The girls blinked, mind trying to grasp what they'd seen and were seeing now. Where had that fire come from? And had Hiccup, the E-rank, really just defeated those two alone?
"Hiccup?" Merida said loud enough to grab his attention.
Hiccup looked up, serious expression becoming a nervous smile. "Hey guys. Wow, I guess I got lucky huh," he said casually.
"Hiccup are you ok?" Merida asked.
"I'm fine. Why?" Hiccup asked as he began to wobble.
"Well you're bleeding," she reminded him as her eyes flicked down to the small pool of blood at his left foot.
Hiccup hummed before looking down to his legs. He blinked at the wound and blood slowly staining his pants. "Oh yeah. Forgot about that."
And then he began to totter forward. The dragons leapt off of him to hover in the air as he hit the ground, mind going in and out from blood loss. He heard the panicked cries of the girls as his eyes got heavy, and the screech of the dragons followed by a cold wind suddenly blowing over the area.
He tried to hang onto consciousness, but began to lose out to the blackness.
With Rapunzel safe he gave into it and blacked out.
new chap