Author's Notes:
A shout out to some of those who have been leaving reviews! Thank you so much everyone, it means so much to me!
amore1993 - Thank you so much! Your review really picked me up when I was feeling a bit low. : D
Dov5e - Thank you! :D Hur, hur I hear you on that. I wanted to take time with their relationship though, so it won't be happening immediately.
Jonza - Ah yes, Stoick's worries will become more apparent in the near future, but for now we are back to Merida's perspective. Thank you for the review! :D
Cilone - Yeah! I'm sure Hiccup will feel better when he doesn't feel like he is walking on eggshells around Merida as well. : )
Comet Moon - XD Thank you for the review!
qotss - Thank you! I love Astrid and I didn't want to ignore her (multi-shipper here). Mericcup is my otp, but I still find Hiccup/Astrid cute, so I couldn't be mean to my tough girl! Thank you for the wonderful review! :D
Ms. O'Leary - Thank you for the review! I really appreciate the time you've taken to read my story and I am happy you are enjoying it!
ROTBTD FANGIRL - Hiccup will continue to push himself to get to the truth! Thank you for the review! :D
Music Person - Hiccup is one smart cookie, can't discredit that! Thank you very much for the review!
marshallyel - Thanks for the review! As I mentioned above: I love Astrid, so when this story came together she entered with a good part to play. : )
Nitmi - Thank you very much! : D
Now on with the show!
I don't own any of the characters or Worlds, this is purely for fun and not profit.
Merida trudged her way towards the dining hall, each step a struggle as the weight of various worries settled on her shoulders. She didn't want to spend time with Vikings; she didn't want to grow attached to them. What if they were attacking Alba? Was she supposed to forgive them just because she knew them? She balled her hands into fists filled with frustration at her situation, and at Peadar, who had added to the weight of her worries.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice Astrid calling out to her. The woman finally ran up and patted her on the shoulder, causing Merida to jump in surprise.
"Sorry Merida, I didn't mean to scare you," she said with a smirk, obviously finding Merida's reaction funny. "Are you heading to the hall to eat? Hiccup mentioned that he invited you. I'm glad that you decided to join us" she said, her smile gentle as she pushed Merida towards the door.
The two women walked into the hall. Torches illuminated the worn cobblestone floors and wooden pillars. Merida gawked at the carvings and tapestries, even though she had been here for several weeks, she had always avoided eating with everyone else. The hall was grand and reminded her, in a way, of home. The thought of her father's hall gave her a piercing of homesickness. She imagined the family table set up for dinner, her younger brother's causing trouble and calling her names to try and get a reaction from her. Merida saw her mother, still nit picking the small things, but relaxing when Merida and Fergus joked about it.
"Merida?"
She blinked back tears and looked up into the concerned expression on Hiccup's face. She hadn't noticed him walk up to them, her imagination taking her far away from Berk. She felt embarrassed at being caught off guard twice so far. Swallowing her homesickness she gave him a weak smile before motioning him to show her where to sit.
He placed her between himself and Astrid, perhaps taking into consideration that she wasn't familiar with the others in their group of friends. A large Viking with dark hair placed some food in front of her with a smile. He wore a horned helmet and sported a dark beard on his round face. After a moment Merida realized it was the same Viking that had, inadvertently, rescued her in Hiccup's workshop.
"It is wonderful to have another lovely woman join us for dinner!" he said, receiving a punch in the arm from a long blond haired woman next to him, she wore a dark blue tunic and had plaited her hair in three ropes. Beside her was, Merida assumed, her brother due to the similarity between them, however, he had grown a goatee and wore his long hair in a single plait. The last man was the largest of the group, he was round, but in a muscular way; reminding her of Macguffin's son; he was already talking about dragon migration paths, although it was hard to keep up with what he was saying sometimes.
"Now everyone, let's play nice and not scare Merida away." Hiccup said standing up. He gave her a smile and then began to motion to his friends, "Merida, I want you to meet Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Fishlegs. You already know Astrid." He sat back down after, while the group gave her polite hellos. She gave them a small smile and nodded in return.
"So, Merida, how are you finding it on Berk? I'm sorry I haven't gotten a chance to get to know you better, been out with my troops you see" said Snotlout, flexing his arms back to show muscle. Merida raised an eyebrow and tried to stop herself from laughing. She saw Astrid roll her eyes.
To be polite though she gestured that she was finding it okay, but that she missed her home. It was the truth at least.
"What was the name of your village?" questioned the Tuffnut, "I've been flying with my sister on a couple of missions in the area Peadar mentioned, maybe I can get word to your family back home?"
She felt her insides freeze in panic; all eyes were on her waiting for a response. She wondered then if this had been Hiccup's plan all along. She glanced at the Chieftain's son; he was giving her that searching look once more. She swallowed, she hadn't even asked what area Peadar had said they were from: she only knew that she was going to the Orkney Isles! She felt her face grow warm, her hands tugging gently at a lock of her hair.
"Geeze Tuffnut, ask the girl an even harder question to answer why don't you?" Scoffed Hiccup sarcastically. Merida froze in shock at his rebuttal of his friend's question.
"What are you talking about Hiccup? It is a completely sensible question!" He growled back.
"For someone that can talk sure, but I would love to see you try and say Berk without being able to talk"
The blond man, Tuffnut, dropped his shoulders in defeat. He gave Merida a sheepish look.
"Sorry, I forgot that you couldn't talk." She gave him a dazed smile to show that it was okay.
The group was silent for a moment before the large man, Fishlegs, began talking about migration patterns again.
Merida was lost in a sea of confusion when it came to the man sitting next to her, first he tried to confront her about who she was in his workshop and then completely drops it. Next he followed her around for days, but never pushed her to open up to him at all. She wanted to grab him by the collar and yell curses at him for the trouble he was causing her! She wasn't sure anymore if he was just extremely patient, or if she had actually convinced him that she was just a normal Viking.
She spent the rest of the meal trying to make herself as invisible as possible, eventually relaxing enough to just listen to their conversations. She found, as the evening progressed, that it was easier to keep up with what they were saying. She smiled at their jokes and felt drawn in by their adventures with their dragons. She was happy that she had taken her Norse language lessons with Peadar more seriously once they had found themselves trapped here.
A small body wriggle between her legs, causing her to sit up in surprise. Astrid gave her a questioning look.
"Are you okay Merida?"
Merida nodded, lips pursed, as she leaned back and looked under the table. Amongst the Viking feet was Terror, licking his chops.
"Well what do we have here?" She heard Hiccup before she saw his arms reach down to grab Terror, she tugged at his arm, trying to warn him that Terror didn't like to be handled by people he didn't know, but the man ignored her.
Much to her surprise Terror willing crawled into Hiccup's lap and peered at her. She frowned, feeling betrayed by the small dragon.
"It is rare to see this guy in the mess hall, he usually avoids people" Hiccup commented, giving Merida a sly look. She tightened her lips, turning her attention back to her plate. Terror butted his head against her arm, but she purposely ignored him: she had thought that he only trusted her! She watched Hiccup feed him scraps off his plate out of the corner of her eye. Terror was obediently accepting them without biting him.
Astrid placed a hand on her shoulder, "don't mind that. I've seen this guy following you around, but you have to understand; Hiccup has a way with dragons; this one has good reason to trust him too. He nursed him when we first freed them from where we had kept them captive, so he trusts Hiccup."
Merida looked at the Viking, the man wasn't paying attention to her: he was running his fingers along Terror's scales, pulling loose ones and checking him for any new injuries. After a moment he noticed her looking at him, he gave her a warm smile, causing her to blush. She turned back to her food and used her hair as a shield to hide her reaction from him. Merida thought back on the past few days, recalling how he had been behaving, she wondered then if he was treating her as though she were a dragon to be tamed. The thought had a sour taste; she didn't like the idea of being someone's experiment.
Once the meal was over she said her farewells and wandered slowly back to where she was staying. Just as she was reaching for the handle of her door she heard a screech and a growl as Terror came running to catch up with her. She looked down at him with a frown "betrayer" she muttered lowly to the small green dragon.
"I thought he was the one hanging around you"
She felt as though she had leapt three feet in the air. She turned, glaring daggers, and found Hiccup giving her a cocky smirk; as though he had caught her red handed. She marched up to him, enjoying the transformation of his humoured look melting into fear. She punched him as hard as she could in the shoulder.
"Ow, ow, okay. Jeeze, I get this a lot with girls" he muttered the last bit to himself, rubbing the spot where she had hit him. Merida just stood there, fists at her side, all her frustration and the fear that he had heard her just now, accumulated into a blind rage. She dragged him into her hut and slammed the door behind her. Peadar hadn't returned yet, so the place was empty save for the two of them and Terror, who was scampering up onto her bed.
"Uhh, I'm sorry?" Hiccup said cautiously, unsure of what she was going to do. Merida paced, looking up at him, tensing up and then going back to pacing.
She wanted to yell at him, she wanted beat him up, her frustration at everything, all the careful steps she had taken to hide her true nature, to not become attached to anyone here, to not even learn their names, all ruined because of this man. She was so angry and sad, wishing desperately that she were home with her family, not trapped here.
It took her a while before she remembered that she had actually dragged Hiccup into her place. She stopped pacing and looked at him. For the first time since she had arrived here she threw her fear aside: she was Merida of clan DunBroch! She was the Bear King's daughter! She would not bow to the will of a Viking. She stood tall and confident, giving the Viking a furious glare that she had seen her mother use often.
The man stood his own ground, he seemed nervous at her change in character at first, but then stood straighter and met her eyes. He reached a hand out to her, but paused, inches away from her arm, and kept himself still as though he was waiting.
"I swear Merida, I am not trying to hurt you," he said quietly, his green eyes piercing through her. She felt herself relax enough to realize that she was crying. She stepped back and then turned away from him, keeping her back to him. She didn't move again until she heard the door finally creak open and then close with a thud.
Only one chapter this week. Work has become quite busy, so I don't want to fall behind and leave you all waiting longer than a week for the next update! I hope you are enjoying the story so far! : D