The four days were up. It was time to go home, and Merida was almost done packing her life away. She knew they would come back… but when? Merida gave a sad glance around her room, took a deep breath, and walked out. She closed the door behind her, knob still in her hand. She looked up and was met with the eyes of her mother. Merida collapsed into her open arms.
"Oh mum. Am ur gonna miss yah!" Tears streamed from Merida's eyes, and her mother wiped them away with small flicks of her thumb. Elinor kissed Merida's forehead and put her nose against her daughters.
"A know mah dear. And A'll miss yah too. But leaving with Hiccup starts a new chapter in yer life. Yah need to do this Merida. Just know, yah will always have a place in this castle." Elinor wiped her face, "Now, off with yah. Yer dad will bring your trunk down ta the docks." Elinor grabbed Merida's hand and the two walked slowly to the docks. The Berk ship was at port. Stoick was standing at the wheel, and the others were helping to get the ship ready to leave. The dragons were all standing free on the boat. Fergus walked up behind the two women, Merida's trunk on his shoulder. They boarded the ship, Elinor and Fergus eyed the dragons with curiosity.
"Stoick! Where dae yah want this?" Fergus yelled. Stoick laughed a hearty, deep throated laugh.
"Just drop et. We'll get et taken care of Fergus." Fergus dropped the trunk off his shoulder and walked off with Stoick. Elinor gave Merida's hand a squeeze and walked away to the dragons. She laughed as the dragons played with her. She'd roll a small cannon ball and the dragons would take off after it. They'd fight for the cannon ball, swatting at it, and at each other. Merida smiled at the dragons antics. Hiccup walked to Merida and stood beside her. She smiled at him, and the two of them watched the dragons play with Elinor. But all too soon it was time to leave. Elinor dusted off her skirts and walked calmly to Merida. Fergus joined the group not too long after Elinor. Merida's parents looked down at her and smiled. Elinor hugged her daughter and told her she loved her. Fergus leaned down and kissed her forehead like her mother had done earlier that morning. Merida hugged her father hard, unable to wrap her arms all the way around him, while he grabed his elbows while squeezing her tightly.
"A love yah dad."
"A love yah too mah lamb." He looked at hiccup and stretched his hand out to him. Hiccup took it firmly and gave it a good shake. "Yah be good ta mah lamb. If yah don't then we're gonna have a problem."
"Don't worry sir, I'll take very good care of your daughter." Fergus smiled and patted his back. Merida's parents walked off the ship. Hiccup hauled the wooden plank back onto the ship. Stoick had Thornado send them off with a bang, literally. A sonic boom sounded, and the wind sent them off. Merida stood on the ship, waving frantically to her parents. Waving goodbye to her life in Scottland.
It took twenty four hours to get to Berk on ship. That night Hiccup explained to her that since they were keeping their dragons a secret they brought their ship. If they hadn't they would already be home eating dinner in the cottage. After dinner Merida sat outside by the wheel, leaning on her elbows on the edge of the boat. She heard the heavy thuds of feet and assumed it was Fishlegs.
"Am ur not in the mood ta talk, Fishlegs."
"Well then, we'll just sit here in silence then." A deep voice sounded from behind her. Merida whirled around and looked up into the eyes of her soon to be father in law. Stoick smiled and shook his head. He walked over besides Merida and looked out at the inky sea. Merida turned around and fallowed suit. After about ten minutes Stoick broke the silence. "Do yah wanna tell me what's goin' on?" Merida sighed and looked down at her hands.
"Et's just- A don't know what A think about this. Movin' from home. Marrying a man who WON me as a prize. Et's just all to soon." Stoick was silent for a few minutes, contemplating what to say.
"Well, it seems ta me that yer scared. And that's understandable. Giving up one life for another, one where yer parents aren't there ta help yah anymore. But yah don't have ta worry. Yah don't have ta marry Hiccup right away. Aye don't expect either of yah to wanna marry right out the gate. But AyeI do know that he had already won yer heart before he won yer hand. Aye can see et both yer eyes. Now," Stoick pushed off the side of the boat, "et's time fer bed. Goodnight lassie." Stoick smiled at his soon to be daughter in law and walked to his quarters. Merida stood there for another few minutes until she was exhausted. Slowly she drug herself to her hammock in the hold of the ship.
Morning came quickly, and soon the ship was at port in Berk. Merida was looking for a specific bag in the hold, and the boys were getting ready to unload her belongings. Two girls ran up, both blonde, both pretty. One girl, the shorter of the two climbed aboard the ship.
"So, how was seeing the princess this year? Was she as stubborn as last year?" The girl sat on the edge of the ship. She was wearing fuzzy boots that almost reached her knees, blue wraps were around her legs. The wraps led to a light brown fur skirt. A belt made of tiny metal skulls held draping brown leather adorned with spikes over the skirt. A tight red tank top hugged her curves . Metal armor covered her shoulders, and strapped to the armor was a furry hood. Her golden hair was tied in a messy braid that was thrown over her shoulder.
"Hello to you too Astrid. And no, the princess wasn't stubborn. She wasn't stubborn last year either." Hiccup sighed, trying to avoid the questions. Merida, who had found what she was looking for and was on her way to Hiccup, heard the girl talking about her. Hiding around the corner Merida listened to the conversation.
"Well last year when you guys came back that's all I heard about. How the princess fought for her own hand. Sounds pretty stubborn to me."
"She's headstrong. And she didn't want to be won like a prize. Neither would you."
"Well… I guess. But how good is she, really?"
"She's really good. Especially at archery." Hiccup smiled, remembering all the targets.
"She can't be that good. She is a princess after all."
"I don't know," Hiccup rubbed the back of his head, "she's really talented."
"That's only because you have a little crush on her."
"A'd say et's more than a wee crush." The attention was turned to Merida. She was wearing a simple forest green dress with thick tank top straps. The dress was shorter on the sides and flowed down to the front. Light brown belts were tied around her waist. She was wearing brown boots, and her hair was tied up into a high ponytail of uncontrolled curls. She held her bow in her hands and the quiver on her back was full of arrows.
"Oh really? And why is that, your majesty?" Astrid hopped off the edge of the ship and faked a curtsey. Now the entire group was standing around. Merida smiled a true smile as she walked to Hiccup. She took his hand and laced her fingers with his and gave a little squeeze.
"Why dae yah think Am ur here? A didn't fight fer mah hand this year. Hiccup did." Astrid's eyes widened. Ruffnut turned to her brother.
"Whaaaaat? Hiccup got a princess? How's that even possible?"
"I don't know," Tuffnut replied, "but I'm jealous. She's bad ass sis. Like you and Astrid mixed together with Stoick. I heard a story her dad was talking about, saying her and her mom killed this monster bear!"
"What? Did that really happen?"
"Yep." Ruffnut grabbed her arm and tried to pull Merida away.
"Come on, tell me all about it! I wanna hear more!" Merida slid out of her grip.
"Am ur sorry. A have ta unpack mah stuff. Maybe later tonight A'll tell all of yah the story." Merida gave Ruffnut a smile.
"Awee… All right." Ruffnut and Merida walked back to the group. Hiccup let out a sigh.
"Well, now that all of you know I'm engaged… now it's time to tell the entire village…"
Three hours passed. They had unloaded Merida's trunks, took them to the cottage, and unpacked them, made it known that there was going to be a village meeting in the Great Hall, and ate lunch. So far Merida had gotten lost twice. So it wasn't all bad. But Hiccup was distracted. He hadn't had a chance to look for that dragon Elinor told him about. For all he knew, it could be another Night Fury! Hiccup was pacing the cottage, Merida sat in his room, legs hanging off the edge, watching Hiccup pace.
"What are yah thinkin' about Hiccup?"
"Oh, well, a couple nights ago I talked to your mom about why she didn't freak out the dragons came out. She told me she saw a dragon that looks like Toothless."
"And?" Merida drawled. Hiccup really hadn't told her much about the dragons.
"Well," Hiccup climbed to his room and sat next to Merida, "as far as we know, Toothless is the only dragon of his kind. And hearing that there might be another one, or maybe more, it could be life changing!" Hiccup looked into Merida's cerulean eyes and smiled. Merida smiled lightly. Hiccup placed his hand over Merida's and leaned in close. Merida's eyes grew slightly, and then her smile grew. She closed her eyes and leaned forward. She could feel Hiccup's hot breath against her lips. Just a few more centimeters…
The door burst open. "Hiccup! Merida! Et's time!" Hiccup dead panned, still just a few centimeters away from Merida's lips. Stoick blushed when he saw the scene in front of him. He flushed lightly and coughed into his hand. "Sorry, I'll just-" He turned to leave.
"No, no no." Hiccup sighed, pulling away from Merida head first. "You're right. It's time for the meeting." Hiccup gathered himself, stood up and pulled Merida to her feet. Being the gentlemen that he is, and fearing what his dad would do to him if he didn't, Hiccup had Merida go down the ladder first. The three of them walked to the Great Hall. The majority of the villagers were there already, so in order to keep Merida's presence hidden until they announced her, they went in through the back door.
Ten minutes passed, and then everyone were in the Great Hall. Murmurs echoed through the rafters.
"I wonder what this is all about."
"I don't know, but it's probably about that princess." Hiccups friends were instructed earlier not to say anything about Merida. That caused Ruffnut and Tuffnut to lock themselves in their room and Snotlout and Astrid to ride Stormfly and Hookfang until the meeting. Fishlegs went about his normal routine, a secret wouldn't keep him from Meatlug.
Stoick stood and the room was silent.
"Good afternoon everyone. I called this meeting ta talk about the games the Princess of DunBroch held the other day. Some of yah may have noticed that we stayed a few days longer than normal. That's because this year, the princess didn't participate in the games fer her own hand. The winner of the games is ta marry the princess."
"Who won the games Stoick?" Snotlouts' father called from the audience, hoping it was his son.
"What was the event this year Stoick?"
"I'm gettin' there." Stoick chuckled nervously. "The princess was introduced inta a new world she didn't know existed prior ta the games. She loved it so much she decided to make the event of the year, Dragon Riding." The crowd gasped. "So, of course, no one but the boys from Berk wanted ta participate in the event. And, well, Aye'd like yah to welcome Princess Merida of Dunbroch." Merida peeked her head around Hiccup's chair. Slowly she made her way to Stoick. With one hand behind her back, Merida shyly waved at the audience.
"Stoick," Spitlout called from the crowd, "yah still haven't told us who won the games!" Hiccup rose from his chair and walked up to Merida. Taking her hand he laced their fingers together.
"Merida is my fiancé. We haven't talked about any details. But we're going back to Scotland tomorrow. We're going dragon searching. I strongly believe that there are dragons in the forest surrounding the DunBroch castle. There may even be new dragons there. This is to introduce Merida into the world of dragons. We'll be back two weeks from tomorrow. Does anyone have any questions before we start packing?" Hands shot up, and many questions were asked, many consisting of "Is this going to unite the Vikings with the Scotts?" and questions of super drunk, super strong armies. Hiccup rolled his eyes and answered the questions to his full ability. An hour passed and the villagers started to disperse. Hiccup lead Merida to the training arena. Merida stared in amazement at the tall dome structure.
"Wow… This es… really cool Hiccup, did ya make et?"
"No… This was made a long time ago…" Merida slowly paced the walls, her fingers tracing along the walls, her eyes scanning across the room. When her hands ran across a different texture she stopped. Turning her gaze to her hand she pulled it away like it was burned.
"Wha happened? Did a dragon get hurt?"
"Not… recently…" Merida turned her confused gaze to her fiancée and he took a deep breath. "This friendship we have with dragons isn't a common thing… It wasn't common at all here until five years ago… There was a time when we hated dragons. And we killed them every time we got the chance. And the children of Berk, when they came of age, would learn to kill dragons as well. And this is where they trained us. I had shot down Toothless, but I couldn't bring myself to kill him. Instead I trained him. I studied him and I was able to relay that information on other dragons. It helped me to become a master, instead of a monster. If I were to kill a dragon, I would become all that I hate in the world. But this place, it has many scars of our past. It has many ill-wishes that I wish I could forget. You're lucky you weren't here during that time. It's a lot better now." Merida looked at Hiccup and back to the wall. She placed her hand flush against the cool stone and took a deep breath. She shuttered as a tingle ran up her spine. Hiccup walked to her side and put his hand one hand on her shoulder and the other over hers. Merida turned her head to him and smiled softly. She leaned her head on his shoulder and Hiccup laid his head lightly on top of hers.
The duo sat in the middle of the training area, watching Toothless play with the other dragons. A large bell was heard, and the duo rose to their feet. Hiccup gripped Merida's hand and pulled her to the Great Hall to eat.
"You all eat dinner together?"
"Yeah. A family always eats together." Hiccup stated with a smile. Merida grinned and nodded her head.
'I think I'm going to like it here.'
Merida and Hiccup walked through the doors and were met with the warm smell of cinnamon apples and roasted something. Merida's stomach growled and Hiccup chuckled as his fiancée flushed. Hiccup grabbed two plates and handed one to Merida. He piled food on his plate and looked at Merida, who had only a few things.
"No, no, no. You need more that that if you're going to survive here. There are no seconds." Merida nodded her head and grabbed more food. Hiccup smiled and led her to a table that seated his dad and friends.
"Hello… your majesty!" Astrid yelled, spinning her hand in front of her and bowing deeply. Merida plopped down at the table and Hiccup sat next to her, giving Astrid a look. She smirked down at her plate and took a big bite off a leg of what was roasted.
After everyone ate their fill, Ruffnut's voice called out to Merida.
"Are you going to tell us the story of that bear now?" All eyes were on Merida now and she wiped her hands off.
"First, A have ta tell yew the story of Mor'du… A first encountered Mor'du when A was a wee lass, but A had heard of Mor'du mah entire life. Mah da' had met Mor'du when he was a young warrior…" Merida then told the story of her dad and Mor'du, and led into the story of what happened to her and her mother. By the end everyone was silent.
"Yeah right. That's impossible." Astrid groaned.
"And A thought dragons didn't exist five days ago, but here A am on Dragon Island." Merida shot back, fire burning in her eyes. Astrid's face scrunched up and she pushed herself away from the table and stormed out of the Great Hall.
"I wonder what crawled up her ass…" Ruffnut muttered at the retreating woman. Everyone shrugged their shoulders and cleaned their table. Noting the time, Hiccup grabbed Merida's hand and called for Toothless.
"Hiccup, where are we goin'?"
"You showed me your favorite spot, now it's time to show you mine." Merida gave him a quizzical look and allowed him to drag her to the docks where Toothless was waiting for them.
"Hiccup, where are we goin'"
"Just trust me." Hiccup said as he saddled Toothless, stretching his hand out to her. Merida gladly took it and flung herself onto the back, wrapping her arms around Hiccup. Hiccup flushed and patted Toothless on the head. "Alright bud, here we go." And off they went.