Chapter 6: The Witch and her Spells

Jack sat up. They had landed in the middle of a circle of stones. He didn't know why, but they made him... uneasy. He had seen many stone circles in his time (Stonehenge was one of his favourites), but this one had a sort of hidden charge. It made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck.

Rapunzel, Hiccup and Toothless pulled themselves to their feet as well. Toothless seemed to be feeling something as well judging by the way he was staring around himself. Hiccup was rubbing his arm and staring around at the stones shiftily. Rapunzel also seemed to be unnerved by the stones. Only Merida seemed to be alright.

'Merida, where the hell are we?' Jack asked. Merida was about to reply when... 'EEEKKK!' Rapunzel shrieked, leaping onto Hiccup's shoulders. A sound like sigh echoed through the circle. Everyone turned to the sound. A small, wispy, blue speck of light was floating a few inches above the ground.

Rapunzel was pointing her frying pan at the thing. 'Ach, put that doon,' Merida said, smiling. 'What is that?' Hiccup asked. 'It's a Will-o-the-wisp,' Merida said stepping towards it. She knelt beside the wisp. Jack and Hiccup stepped over to her. Rapunzel, still cowering, peeked over Hiccup's shoulder. Jack reached toward it. The wisp vanished. Jack grinned. 'Cool.'

Toothless leapt forward just as another wisp appeared. It vanished into Toothless's paws. He opened them. The wisp had vanished. Toothless stared at the space where the wisp had been. Another wisp appeared behind Toothless who whipped around and pounced again. CRACK! Toothless crashed into one of the standing stones and stood back up dazed.

A sudden trail of wisps appeared, leading off into the trees. Toothless sniffed excitedly and began to follow the trail into the woods. Hiccup smiled. 'He is such a kid in so many ways.' 'Takes after his master,' Merida said, ruffling Hiccup's hair. There was a brief silence as Merida realised what she had done. She quickly stepped away. 'Um,' she hesitated, 'This way.' She began to follow the wisp trail with Hiccup close behind. 'Did you see that?' Jack said amazed pointing to the receding figure of Merida. Rapunzel nodded.

-It was watching them closely. There was no doubt about it now; the golden one possessed an exorcism wavelength. It had attempted the aggravate the fiery scot against the viking and thereby lacerate apart their friendship bonds, but the golden one had somehow repelled It's grip.

It couldn't attack them now; the Will-o-the-wisps produced too powerful a purity wavelength, and there was a powerful soul in the forest It would have to be wary of.

No matter. There were other ways to kill a bird, extinguish a light... and crush a friendship.

Mor'du and Red Death... they would be perfect.

'Are we there yet?' Jack asked for the umpteenth time. 'We'll get there when we get there,' Merida said through clenched teeth. She was annoyed, but for some reason she felt like laughing, not punching. She had been in a better mood for a while now. She was interrupted from her thoughts by Jack.

'-,' 'If yeh say "Are we there yet" once more,' Merida said brandishing her final arrow at Jack, 'I will stick this arrow straight up yer jacksie.' 'I wasn't gonna say "Are we there yet",' Jack said affronted. Merida smiled, turned to lead on and... 'Has our party arrived at the intended destination yet?' Jack said smiling widely. 'Yes,' Merida said. 'Really?' 'No.' 'Oh.' 'We have now though,' Merida finished as the last wisp disappeared.

They were standing outside a small hut in the middle of the wood. 'A small hut?' Hiccup said. 'Yeah, but,' Merida said waggling her finger. She paused. 'What did I do that for?' she asked herself, staring at her finger. 'Anyway, I know someone who can give us a hand.' They walked up to the door. 'Are you sure this is the right place?' Hiccup asked. 'Toothless is sitting there so I'd say it is,' Merida said. 'You go in first,' she said gesturing to the door.

A tinkling bell sounded above the door as the three entered. A ray of light entered through the grimy windows and cut through the dusty air. Dotted all around the hut were carvings, bowls and small toys, all built of wood. 'What is this place?' Jack asked, picking up a wooden bowl shaped like a bear's head.

'Ooh, hello dearie,' came a voice that caused them all to jump. A hunchback old woman was standing in the corner, chiseling a large oaken block. She had mismatched eyes, large ears, an extremely large nose and a lot of grey hair (some of which was on her chin). She was also wearing a tattered green shawl and her mouth would have made Tooth faint. 'Give a holler if yeh say anything yeh like,' she said smiling, putting down her chisel and hammer and sweeping up the wood chips.

Rapunzel picked up a marionette shaped exactly like a bear while Hiccup examined a plaque depicting bears dancing in the forest. 'But why...?' Hiccup began, 'Why are you so BAH!' He jumped a foot into the air. The woman had somehow crept right up next to him completely silently. She grinned almost toothlessly at Hiccup. 'See anything yeh like?' she asked. 'What about this,' she said shoving past Hiccup and picking up a chessboard, all the pieces of which were themed around bears.

'This is very nice,' Rapunzel said, smiling widely. 'Ah yes, one of a kind that,' the carver said, walking over to Rapunzel who was holding a large, wooden jewelery box shaped exactly like a bear. The carver picked up a small key, placed it into the lock and opened it. 'Ooh, this is lovely,' Rapunzel said, looking through the miniature compartments in the box. Hiccup looked impressed at the box. Jack however was the only one who noticed the slight scraping sound. He turned to look at the source of the noise.

'YOUR BROOM!' he yelled, pointing at the stick which was sweeping by itself. 'What in the name of Thor!?' Hiccup yelled. 'OH MY!' Rapunzel squeaked. 'DOWN!' The carver yelled and snapped her rheumatic fingers. The broom shuddered like it had been struck dumb and collapsed to the ground with a clatter. 'Your broom was sweeping by itself!' Rapunzel yelled pointing in bewilderment. 'Oh don't be silly,' the carver said nervously, 'Wood cannae be imbued with magical properties.' 'Yes it can,' Jack said, waving his staff.

'No it can't.' 'Yes it can.' 'No it can't!' 'And how would you know?' Jack demanded stiffly. 'I know because I'm a wi-!' The carver stopped herself just in time. 'You're a what?' Hiccup asked. 'I'm a... wee... whittler... of wood.' The carver smiled, nervously. 'Nice crow,' Rapunzel said, trying to change the subject. 'Leave that alone,' the whittler said, but too late. 'Bwark. Staring is rude,' the crow said. This time Rapunzel really did scream. 'THE CROW'S TALKING! THE BLOODY CROW IS TALKING!' she shrieked. 'That's not all I can do,' the crow said and it began singing (if singing can be defined by someone shouting "la la la," repeatedly.)

The whittler snapped her fingers and the broom rushed into the air and whacked the crow hard on the head before sweeping it under a table. Hiccup gasped. 'YOU'RE A WITCH!' he yelled. 'Wood-carver,' the Witch said chiseling away at the oaken block. 'You have a talking crow!' Rapunzel said. 'Wood-carver,' the Witch said a little more sternly, carving a bear sculpture on a lathe instantaneously. 'You have a self-sweeping broom!' Jack yelled. The Witch swung an axe down onto a log. It split into a 360 degree model of a bear. 'WOOD-CARVER!' she shrieked.

'YOU ARE A WITCH! Jack, Rapunzel and Hiccup yelled together. 'I'M NOT A WITCH ANYMORE! TOO MANY UNSATISFIED CUSTOMERS!' The Witch barked, pointing a gnarled finger at the trio. 'Unless you are going to buy something,' the Witch said in silky tones, clasping her hands together, 'GET OUT!' she roared. She snapped her fingers and every single carving tool in the shop came to life and flew into the air. Saws, chisels, axes and even screwdrivers and pieces of sandpaper were pointing at the three.

The door opened. 'Now, now calm down.' Merida had entered. The Witch turned to look at the princess. 'Oh not you again,' she said. 'What does that mean?' Merida asked, folding her arms. 'Last time you were 'ere, yeh blew up my house.' 'I apologised for that,' Merida said, 'I supplied the wood to rebuild your home.' The Witch sighed. 'True,' she said. 'Besides, I was a satisfied customer,' Merida said. The Witch blushed. 'Oh stop it, you're embarrassing me,' she said. The tools collapsed to the ground. 'Do you think you could help us out?' Merida asked. There was a moment's hesitation. 'Oh, alright then,' the Witch said and pushed the four outside. The crow flew out with them.

'You're very good with flattery,' Jack whispered into Merida's ear. She smiled. The Witch snapped her fingers and the door slammed shut behind them. 'Right,' the Witch said walking back up to the door. 'What was that about?' Hiccup asked. The Witch turned to Hiccup smiling. 'Never conjure where you carve sweetie, very important,' the Witch said pushing the door open. Hiccup's jaw dropped at the same time as Jack's staff and Rapunzel's frying pan.

The workshop had transformed. It was now a sorcerers laboratory. Books of potion recipes were stacked either neatly on shelves or lying haphazardly on tables. Jars of powders, liquids and strange ingredients were in large cabinets and bottles of elixirs were stored in a cabinet of mahogany. In the dead centre of the room was a massive, black cauldron.

The Witch clapped her hands and a green light and smoke began to emanate from the mouth of the cauldron. 'Now what can I help you with?' the Witch asked, sitting down in a rocking chair. 'How good are you at dream interpretation?' Merida asked, leaning on the table. 'It's been a while but I've still got some info in one of my books.' The Witch got back to her feet and started browsing across the bookshelves. 'I'm sure it's around here somewhere,' The Witch said throwing the books over her shoulder. One of them hit Hiccup on the head and then bounced off of Rapunzel's bosom.

'Ah ha, here we are,' The Witch said, tugging a massive, dusty volume down from the self and dropped it down onto the table with an almighty crash that caused Toothless to jump, even though he was outside. She opened the cover. 'What did you dream about?' she asked. The explanation took a surprisingly short time. The Witch hummed as she made notes. 'Very interesting,' she would say. At long last, she put down her quill.

'So...' she said, clapping her hands, 'What d'ya think it means?' There was silence. 'Wha...? You mean you don't know?' Rapunzel said. The Witch shrugged. 'I don't know what it means...' she began. 'Oh, I'm so glad we've got you then,' Hiccup said sitting down grumpily. 'Let me finish,' the Witch continued, 'I don't know what the actual dream meant, but I do know the meaning of the structure of the dream.' Jack sat down in the chair opposite the Witch. 'What does it mean?' he asked.

'You were all having the same dream and yet you were all consciously aware within the dream. It was almost like you were playing your lives altogether in a dream world.' 'What does that mean?' Merida asked. The Witch smiled. 'It means your souls are resonating together.' Rapunzel, Hiccup, Merida and Jack simply gave a blank expression. 'And what does that mean?' Hiccup asked. The Witch sighed.

She walked back over to the bookshelves and pulled down a volume entitled "Phantomology." She dropped the book onto the table with an incredible CRASH! She opened the cover and began to flick through the book. She stopped at a page entitled "Soul Resonance." 'Your friendship bonds are so strong that you've become interlinked,' the Witch said pointing to the diagrams. 'What does it mean for us?' Rapunzel asked.

'It means if you manage to fully master resonance, it'll make you a hundred times more powerful.' Jack's eyes flashed. 'How do we do that?' Hiccup asked, leaning in close to listen intently. 'I'll give you each a spell that'll give you a helping hand,' the Witch said smiling before getting to her feet. She reached into a chest and pulled out a small bar of iron and threw it into the cauldron. It hissed and the green liquid turned into a thunder cloud.

She reached under the cabinet, pulled out a small root, cackled and threw it over Jack's head. It bounced off Hiccup's scalp and landed in the cloud. It burst into yellow light and bubbled. Rapunzel looked up. She was sure she had heard a minor scream when the root went past her head. The Witch opened a draw, pulled out four jewels (one ruby, one yellow topaz, one sapphire and one emerald), and dropped them into the cauldron too. The yellow liquid took on the texture of liquid diamond.

She then clapped her hands and the crow flew over each of their heads and pull out a hair from each; a pure white fiber of Jack's hair, a red lock of Merida's, a brown cutting of Hiccup's and one long, blonde strand of Rapunzel's. The Witch held all four in her hand, held them over the cauldron and dropped them in. The blue potion turned the colour and texture of lava.

'That'll do the trick,' the Witch said, picking up a large metal ladle, lowering it into the cauldron and stiring slowly. The Witch then lifted out the ladle to check on it and found that it had dissolved completely. She sighed, threw it over her shoulder and put on a metal welding helmet. Rapunzel, Jack and Hiccup stared, but Merida had seen it all before. The Witch then slipped a helmet onto the crow's head. She then dusted a small amount of powder into the cauldron.

Jack, Hiccup and Rapunzel leant in to have a look. Merida however had narrowed her eyes. The Witch suddenly realised what the three were doing. She clamped her hands over Rapunzel and Hiccup's eyes while Merida covered her own and Jack's. 'What are you...?' Jack began to ask but "BOOM!" With an almighty bang, a flash of light so powerful it passed straight through the walls of the hut came into being. Toothless screeched in alarm, tripped over his own tail and knocked himself out.

The Witch removed the welding mask. 'Now that should...' she began before realising that the explosion had left soot all over their faces. The Witch giggled. 'I don't believe it,' Hiccup groaned, wiping a thin line of soot of his face with his fore-finger. Rapunzel lifted up her hair to her eyes; it's normally golden-blonde colour had turned copper. Jack's pure white hair had turned dark-grey. Merida's red hair had become rusty. Hiccup's brown hair now looked completely black. 'Sorry,' the Witch said and threw a blue powder into the air which fell onto their heads and caused the soot to instantly vanish.

'Right,' the Witch said, picking up a pair of metal tongs. She gently lowered them into the currently snotty green, treacle-thick, slowly bubbling substance with a low glop, searched around, cackled with triumph and lifted a rough, stone-grey ball out of the cauldron. The moment the ball had left the liquid, the skin of the potion collapsed to the bottom of the cauldron. The Witch placed the ball on the table, picked up a pick-axe and gently tapped the ball with it. There was a tap, a splutter, a groan and a shatter. Jack stepped gently raised his hand to his left ear; a piece of the stone ball had missed him by half an inch. Merida and Rapunzel had been less lucky; several shards had become entangled in their hair. Hiccup was probably the worst off; a particularly sharp fragment had pinged off his head and had given him a small cut.

The Witch dusted away the fragments. In the middle of the mess were four rings and each of them had one of the jewels set into them. Merida reached over and picked up the ruby ring, Hiccup chose the emerald, Rapunzel selected the topaz and Jack lifted up the sapphire. 'Place them on your middle fingers,' the Witch instructed. They did so. 'Now what?' Rapunzel asked. 'I don't know, you'll have to work it out for yourselves.' Before any of the four could argue, the Witch snapped her fingers and the door opened. Instantaneously, the big four were flung out of the doorway and landed in a heap on the ground. Two clangs and a couple of clatters told them that their weapons hand landed on top of them.

Jack jumped up. 'WHAT THE HELL DID YOU...?' he stopped. The hut had vanished. They were now all standing back in the circle of stones. Hiccup looked around just to make sure where they were. Toothless was standing right behind them. 'I'm sure the hut was standing in a woodland,' Rapunzel said. 'It was,' Merida said, sitting up. 'This happened last time I was here.' Jack rubbed his arm. 'Now what?' he asked. 'We'll just head over to my home,' Merida said, pulling Rapunzel to her feet. 'And where do you live?' Hiccup asked pulling himself up. 'Castle Dunbroch,' was the response. Jack (who had just picked up his staff) dropped it again. 'Where?'