Whoa, wasn't expecting that many reviews for the first chapter. :) Cool!

Thank you Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, Moonmessi, Isolde Auckley and Superfan44 for the reviews, ya'll made my day! :D I really appreciate that you took the time to review, thank you!

Also, thanks to Isolde Auckley for following and Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 and Superfan44 for following and favoriting. I'm so glad you're liking it already, even though I've only posted one chapter!

Okay, onto the next chapter! Thanks for reading and please review, thank you!

-Shire from CollieandShire

P.S. I realized that I forgot to mention that even though this will follow the original plot-line of the movie there will be some major twists that did NOT occur and some major elements that are -shall I say, changed because of historical entanglements? ;) Basically there will be some surprises! So it's still a very original story, even with a good amount of the basic plot-line added in. ;D

Chapter Two

Arrows and Bullets

This has got to be a dream. Marissa decided as she stared at the grass around her and the tall trees above her. A creek bubbled nearby where a couple of deer stood getting a drink. How could I be dreaming? And yet that was the only reasonable explanation. How else would she have gotten from the ruins to here in two seconds flat?

In fact, it only made sense that the whole thing with the German man was a dream too, her nightmares where she thought her father got killed in France were starting to affect her. No doubt she'd fallen or tripped down the stairs and had gotten knocked out and now she was dreaming she was in the woods of-well, she assumed Scotland, but she wasn't quite sure where she was. For if the German was real, wouldn't he have just killed her? Then she wouldn't be dreaming, she'd be dead.

Marissa stood up, noting that the rifle from her previous dream was still in her hand. The pistol, too, was still in her pocket, bulging out of her blue school skirt. Even if it was a dream the weapons gave Marissa a sense of comfort and security and a grin crossed her face. "This actually could be somewhat interestin'." She told herself.

Zing! Something flew by Marissa's head and hit the tree behind her with a thunk! Reaction took over Marissa and she whirled around and aimed the rifle, firing it with shaky hands. A flash of red was all she saw as her bullet made contact with a tree. Crack! Marissa stared at the hole she made in the tree and realized that if the German was real he'd lied to her about the rifle not being loaded. Duh, so I wouldn't shoot him.

"Who's there!" Marissa demanded, her voice coming out as a croak even though she tried to sound threatening. Who cares Marissa? Remember, this is only a dream.

"I was about to ask ye the same thing." A feminine voice retorted. "And why are ye tryin' to kill me?"

"Me!" Marissa exclaimed. "Me, trying to kill you? Ya just shot-" Marissa glanced behind her and noted that the weapon was an arrow, "an arrow at me and I defended me self. Now yer asking why I shot at you?"

"Ye shot at me first with yer-yer fire arrow." Another flash of red and Marissa realized this girl had red hair like hers.

Marissa snorted. "It's called a bullet, don't ya know anythin'? And no, I didn't shoot first."

"Aye, ye did." With a new streak of boldness the girl emerged from behind a tree and Marissa stared at her. This cannot be happening to me.

The girl looked like she was fifteen or sixteen, her hair was a fiery orangish red and her eyes a deep blue. She was wearing a light blue dress that had been torn in many areas and in her hand was a bow with an arrow ready to fire. Marissa couldn't help but gasp, it was just so impossible! She looked just like her!

"Who are ye?" the girl whispered, staring at Marissa. Her eyes were no doubt as wide as Marissa's as she tried to grasp why this girl looked just like her. "And why do ye look just like me?"

"I could ask ya the same thing!" Marissa shot back.

The girl glared at her and stood straight. "Don't ye know who yer talkin' to?" she demanded.

"Unless yer the queen of all Scotland, no, I don't." Marissa snorted.

The girl looked thoroughly confused and she eyed Marissa. "I'm the princess of all Scotland." She stated.

At this Marissa laughed. "No, yer not."

"Aye, I am."

She was so serious and so convincing that Marissa doubted herself for a second. "What is yer name?" she asked.

"I'm princess Merida DunBroch."

Marissa's mouth dropped open. Merida DunBroch? That was the red-haired princess with the giant black Clydesdale her father used to tell her stories about! Of course! I'm dreaming about all the stories Dad told me! Marissa decided.

"My greatest apologies, yer majesty." Marissa set the rifle down carefully and grabbed the edges of her skirt to courtesy. "I've never been in this part of the land before, I don't know anything." If she was going to have a dream about one of her ancestors she should probably be nice, even if it was just a dream.

Merida seemed to relax a little and smiled. "It's alright I suppose. What are ye doin' out here by yerself? And with that-thing?" she gestured to the rifle. Marissa picked up the rifle and turned the safety on again. A thought popped into her mind.
"Ya said I shot first, right?" she inquired.

Merida nodded.

"Hmm, it must have gone off when I fell to the ground in me other dream." Marissa mumbled. She turned to Merida. "This is a rifle, it shoots bullets. They're like arrows but deadlier. If aimed real good, ya can kill a bear with one shot."

Merida seemed impressed, she walked up to Marissa and looked over the rifle. "Sort of like a crossbow, it is?"

"Aye, but much more powerful." Marissa pointed the rifle and aimed at a small birch tree. She clicked the safety off once more, took a deep breath and fired. Bang! The bullet tore through the middle of the tree and left a gaping hole. Merida leapt back and stared at the mark.

"I've never seen anythin' like it!" she declared. "Dad would love a weapon like that!"

Marissa smiled, amused that the princess didn't seem to realize this weapon hadn't even been invented in her time period yet. She seemed to take everything Marissa showed her very well.

Merida, with new respect in her eyes for Marissa, turned to her and asked, "What is yer name?"

"I'm Marissa." Marissa replied. For some reason she felt she should hold back what her last name was, though she didn't know why. This is only a dream! Still, something told her not to do it and she felt inclined to listen this time.

"And where do ye hail from?" Merida asked.

"Uhh…I come from Stonehenge." Marissa stammered. A whinny sounded and both girls turned to see a huge black horse walk towards Merida.

"Angus, ye naughty boy!" Merida scolded him. "Why did ye dump me laddie?" Angus dropped his head while Merida scratched his ears. "I was…out ridin'." Merida mumbled. "Angus spooked and slid to a stop and I came off."

Marissa nodded, that was a reasonable explanation. Upon further study though, she realized Angus had no tack on him.

"Wait, ya were ridin' bareback and bridless out in the woods by yerself? Why?"

Merida grimaced and Marissa wished she hadn't asked. "Ye must be the only person in the entire kingdom who doesn't know." Merida muttered.

"Know what?"

Merida turned to Marissa and crossed her arms. "Me Mum is forcin' me to get married!" she exploded. "And there was this archery tournament and I entered me self in and won! It was completely fair, I followed the rules, I am the firstborn of me family!"

Marissa recalled hearing this story once before from her father. Ah, that was right. Her father had said that the lords of the land had had a fit when the princess had entered herself into the tournament and beat their sons, defying the age old tradition of the suitors. "Oh, not good." Marissa commented.

"So I left! I left and I'm not goin' back until me Mum apologizes for forcin' me to get married!" Tears began to form at Merida's eyes and she brushed them away angrily. "So I rode away and that's how I came to be here."

"But yer mother will be worried!" Marissa pointed out. She couldn't imagine running away from her mother, no matter how unfair she had seemed to her. It would break her heart. "Ya can't just run away from who ya are."

Merida groaned. "I know." She sighed, sitting down on the ground. Angus lowered his head and nudged her, as if he was trying to comfort her.

Marissa set the rifle down once more and sat next to Merida. Memories of the stories her father had told her of princess Merida came back in torrents, as well as the guilt of the last time she'd seen her Dad. "Merida, I know yer angry right now but believe me, ya don't want to hurt yer mother." Marissa told her.

"Easy for ye to say, yer just a peasant, ye don't know what it's like to be forced to marry." Merida snapped.

Peasant? Marissa supposed she did kind of look like a peasant in her school uniform. Strangest looking peasant ever. "Yer right Merida, I can't imagine getting married right now at all. It would be awfully scary."

"Oh, I wish I could change places with you!" Merida wailed.

If light bulb over the head signs were real, they would have appeared that second as both girls stared at each other.

"Absolutely not." Marissa warned, shaking her head violently. She can't be serious! "This may be a dream but I'm not doing that."

Merida ignored her and jumped up, clasping her hands. "Marissa! Ye look exactly like me, down to me red hair! Ye could take my place!"

So Merida wants Marissa to take her place. Marissa's dream is not going exactly how she thought it would, is it? Perhaps Marissa's wrong and this is not a dream...only time will tell!

Thanks for reading and please review! Thank you!

-Shire