Merida waited for her mother to leave the room before she let herself slump back against the headboard of her infirmary bed. It was itchy and uncomfortable, only adding to her discomfort. She didn't know how to feel about the news. Obviously, she wasn't happy. She didn't want her mother to control who she married and spent the life began to grow sad, almost depressed, knowing what it meant for her and Hiccup. She had only know him for a few weeks, but she had already felt a connection with him that was definitely more than friendship.
Maybe, at the back of her mind, she thought that they would marry some day.
She nearly slapped herself for that thought. It had always been obvious that her marrying Hiccup was not allowed. he was a Viking boy, she was a Scottish princess. It was up to her to salvage whatever relationship Scotland had with England and turn it into something good.
That didn't stop the single tear that slipped down heer cheek.
...
Hiccup returned to his room and sank down on his bed, exhausted. The day had overwhelmed him, especially Merida's injury. At least she was going to be okay.
He slipped off his boot, rubbing his foot (the existing one, obviously) and sighing. Outside, the day was growing darker, twilight beginning materialize.
What could Merida and Eleanor be talking about? He asked himself. He knew they weren't very close, and Eleanor had looked almost scared when she asked to talk to Merida alone. Something was definitely up. He decided to distract himself and went for a walk.
His mind wandered to Merida. He knew, without a doubt, that she had his heart. It was as simple as that. He hadn't felt like he did with Merida with any other girl, and he had only known her for 3 weeks or so. He began to wonder if marriage was a possibility in the distant future, or even just a relationship that was solid, not full of random kisses and confused stares. He wanted to know where he stood with Merida. He needed to have a serious talk with her, and hopefully, during that talk, he would reach down and find the courage to ask her on a real date.
As Hiccup was thinking, he had walked into a part of the castle he wasn't familiar with. He saw several family portraits on the walls, all by different artists wth different styles. Each one was magnificent, each one magnifying the beauty of the family.
"Hiccup!" Snotlout ran towards him, Fishlegs in tow. "We've been looking for you. How's Merida?"
"She'll be okay," Hiccup said. "Scarred, but okay."
Fishlegs breathed a sigh of relief, and opened his mouth to say something. He was interrupted by Astrid, who rounded the corner at that precise moment.
"Hey, guys," She said casually, not looking at Hiccup. He wondered, for a moment, if she was ashamed of her behaviour. Probably not, he decided.
"Hi, Astrid," Fishlegs greeted her. Snotlout immediately straightened, and then launched into a story about how he sent Merida two dozen flowers and confessed his love for her.
Hiccup tried not to laugh. Snotlout was still trying to make Astrid jealous. It wasn't working. She just stared at Hiccup, he could feel her gaze even when he looked away.
"What do you want?" He asked finally. Snotlout stopped talking and sighed, obviously miffed by the interruption.
Astrid shrugged. "Nothing. How's Reddy?"
It took Hiccup a second to realize that she was talking about Merida. "Fine," He said stiffly. "Is thatnickname supposed to be mean?"
Astrid smiled slightly. "Her hair is crazy, you have to admit."
"Well I like it," Hiccup said indignantly. He pushed past Astrid and then turned to stare at her. "She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, and ever had the pleasure to kiss." Knowing this would affect Astrid in particular, he turned and left. Snotlout nodded.
"I like her hair, too," He said softly. "And you're not yourself anymore. You're just, well, you're mean. I don't know where the old Astrid went, but I do know one thing." He paused. "I can't stand the new one."
And with that, he left, Fishlegs following behind and nodding. Astrid slumped to the ground, letting her face fall in her hands. What was happening to her? Why was she being so mean? She knew Hiccup couldn't stand her, she knew Snotlout didnt like her. And yet she still felt malicious to the red-headed princess.
Hiccup went straight back to his room and sat at his desk, beginning to sketch. His pencil scratched across the page, making lines and scribbles that morphed into the face of a certain princess. He added a nice little smile, a splash of freckles, and one single word at the top. Perfect. He was taking in his work when he heard a faint knock on his door.
"Come in," he said, shoving the sketch underneath some other pages.
"Hiccup?" A voice asked.
"Merida!" Hiccup gasped. "What are you doing here?"
She was leaning against his doorframe, a crutch under her arm. She looked very, very pale.
"I have to tell you something," She said somberly. He hurried over and helped her onto his bed, making her comfortable.
"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly. "And why aren't you in the infirmary?"
"My mum told me something," She said, leaning back against the pillows. "And I thought I should tell you right away." She tried to ignore the tenderness and worry in his voice. It would only make it harder to tell him that they could never be a couple.
Hiccup nodded and sat next to her, taking her hand in his gently.
"I'm, well, I'm..." She felt her throat start to close, tears pushing at the corners of her eyes. "I'm betrothed."
It took Hiccup a moment to get what she said. "Betrothed?" He repeated.
Merida nodded, swallowing hard. "To an English prince. He's around my age. At least he's not like, 30 or something."
Hiccup just kept on nodding, trying to take it in. "Betrothed," he mumbled. 'To... Someone else."
Who else? She wanted to ask. Who else would I be betrothed to? But she knew the answer, and she kept her mouth shut.
"You have to?" Hiccup asked quietly, after a few minutes of silence.
"Yes." She took in a deep breath, unable to stop the tears now. "It's for the best, Hiccup, I-"
"The best?" He exploded. "What about us, Merida? What about those kisses?" He got up and faced her. "Don't tell me that it was nothing, because you know it wasn't, and isn't." He swiped a hand across his desk angrily, and then stormed out of the room. Merida sat in shock, not sure she believed what she had just seen. Hiccup was always so mellow, so laid back, controlled. The angry words that he had just shouted were so unlike him.
A piece of paper fluttered to her feet, pushed off the desk by Hiccup's angry hand. It was a picture of her, more radiant than she had ever been. Across the top, one word had been written in Hiccup's messy scrawl.
Beautiful.
It was a while until Eleanor found her daughter, lying in a sobbing heap in the middle of Hiccup's bedroom, a tear stained portait of herself held tightly to her chest.
Hiccup, meanwhile, was flying on Toothless. What better way to calm down then go flying with his best friend? They flew fast and low, not paying attention to frightened animals or people. All Hiccup knew was that only the thrill of flying, having the breath ripped from his lungs, could calm him down. He flew almost back to his old home in the Scottish countryside before turning around, and then they flew softly and slowly, looping lazily through the night sky. He clung to Toothless's neck tightly, not crying, but very close.
"I dont know how I'm going to be able to look at her without breaking down, he said miserably to his dragon. "I dont know how someone could get to love another so much over such a short period of time."
Toothless let out a soft, comforting sound, trying to make his master feel better. There was nothing he could do, though, but carry Hiccup comfortably and without incident, which he did. They landed back in the castle yard around 2 in the morning, and Hiccup stumbled off to bed. He had a fitful sleep, full of confusing and frustrating dreams. The same with Merida, who ended up giving up on sleep and instead walked around the castle until dawn, when she finally fell into bed and promptly fell asleep.
"Hicccuuuuup!" Someone whispered. Hiccup cracked his eyes open, just enough to see Fishlegs leaning over him, before he closed them tight again. "Hiccup!" Fishlegs shouted. "Get up!"
"Why?" Hiccup croaked. "What's the point?"
"Um..." Fishlegs was obviously confused. "Because we have work to do? Like, for example, killing off a breed of dragons that are trying to take over Scotland?"
Hiccup sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. "Fine."
Fishlegs grinned and then grinned even wider. "And, well, I might've found something."
"What?" Hiccup asked, getting out of bed. He walked slowly over to his mirror, taking in his tired eyes, laden with hige purple bags.
"A weakness."
Hiccup paused. "A weakenss?"
"Yes!" Fishlegs began to talk excitedly and very fast, making his words so unintelligable that Hiccup had to shout at him to slow down. Fishlegs obeyed, and told Hiccup the whole story.
He had been up late researching old myths from different countries in Europe. He found several recipes that were supposed to help with invisibility. By taking different recipes, fitting them with others, taking things away and adding some in, he had found a recipe that made the dragons scale they had found invisible for 15 minutes.
"15?" Hiccup exclaimed. "That's amazing! I didn't think you were that smart."
"Gee, thanks," Fishlegs said sarcastically. But he was smiling. They had found a chink in the dragon's armour. A very big one.
Breakfast was strange. Astrid was sullen and silent, Hiccup was joking around much, much more than usual (which showed Merida how much he was trying to hide his feelings), and Merida was quiet, although she, too, tried to be happy sometimes. Eleanor watched the pair miserably, knowing she had ruined something wonderful.
"So, what do we do now?" Tuffnut finally asked, finsihing off his toast.
"What do you think?" Fishlegs said, a diabolical grin stretching across his face. "We test it."
...
A few miles away, in the forest, the same dragon that had almost killed Toothless flew through the undergrowth, his eyes set on the infamous Loch Ness, a body of water. He walked to the shore, and then dipped his head towards the water.
"Lord!" He growled in the univeral language of the dragons. "I am here, I am ready."
He stepped back nervously, waiting. It wasn't long before the water started rippiling, tall waves began crashing on the shore. A huge shape began to rise out of the water, and more, and more still. Finally, there was a dragon. He was slightly larger than the Red Death, the dragon Hiccup had killed back in Berk, but looked almost exactly the same. The only difference was, he was a pure, jet black colour. He regarded the smaller dragon menacingly, an enormous, throaty growl escaping his mouth.
"How is the boy?"
"He's fine," The small dragon growled. 'We are waiting, my Lord. On your word, we are ready."
"A little longer," He hissed. "Hiccup will soon be strong enough to fight me, and when I kill him, there will be nobody left to stop me."
The smaller dragon growled in response. "At your command, we are ready."
The large one nodded once, and then slid back into the water, receding into the mud at the bottom of Loch Ness.
Yes, people, he is the Loch Ness Monster. Thought I'd add in a little bit of Scottish legend into this. Just kinda popped into my head, and I was like, hey, why not!
I love the attention this story is getting, just goes to show what an awesome fandom this is! I'm sorry for updating so late, I've been getting ready for school (starts tomorrow!)
Anyways, this story doesn't have long to go. Well, I'm actually not sure.
Review, fav, follow!
