Jamie eyes bugged out of his head when he stepped into his best friend's ruined house. "What happened in here?"

"Mor'du happened." Jack answered. He went past Jamie and rested his staff on his shoulder. "So…why are we here again…?"

Merida scoffed and rolled her eyes playfully. "To get more arrows for me bow, Jack."

"Oh, yeah…" Jack looked around and sputtered his lips. "And where would that be?"

Jamie cleared his throat. The two looked over to his direction to see him standing by a door near the staircase. He dug into his pocket and brought out a set of keys. After selecting a key and unlocking the door, he opened the door. "They'll be down here in the basement." When they gave him a weird look, he shrugged his shoulders. "Don't ask me why. I think this is where all the really old ancestry stuff goes. Everything else is put on display."

"They're really into their family history, huh?" Jack huffed as they climbed down the dark staircase. He held out his arm behind him in case Merida tripped on her dress…like Rapunzel did.

Jamie nodded. "Yeah. But it's mostly from her mom's side. Mr. Odden's family line isn't as clear as Ms. Haddock's so there's only a handful of stuff from his family. All I know about the Odden's is that they're from upper Scotland. The Highlands." Jamie jumped off the second to last stair and felt on the wall for the light switch. The lights flickered on.

Merida's jaw dropped down to the ground. "Oh my…" The first thing her eyes drifted off to was a faded and old banner that was hung on the wall in the smallest corner, peaking behind a steal filing cabinet. The design was a sword surrounded by rings. In like she was in a daze, she approached it. "Um…Jamie…?"

Jamie looked over his shoulder as he was digging through a drawer. "Yeah?"

"What's this?" Merida took down the tarp and showed it to Jamie.

Jamie squinted at it for a few seconds. "That…I think it's the family crest or something on Birna's dad's side. She explained it to me once but I don't remember what she said."

"Oh. Okay." Merida put it back on its hook and started to shuffle her way through the draws of the cabinet.

After a long time of searching, Jack's voice broke the dull silence, "Hey, Carrot-Top. Can I see one those arrows of yours real quick? Just toss one to me."

"Sure. Here."

Jack snatched the arrow from the air and knelt back down to the box that was in front of him. He whistled, catching the attention of Jamie and Merida. "Perfect!"

"What?" Jamie glanced over Jack's shoulder.

Jack picked up the box from the floor and showed its contents to Merida. He smirked. "Perfect match. They look identical…except a little less…strong."

Merida scooped a handful of arrows from the box and poked the tip of it. "They're a wee bit dull…but they'll have to do." She stuffed them into her quiver until it was almost bursting with arrows. She turned around to put the box she had away but she double-taked at its contents. She pulled out what looked like a large roll of multiple scrolls and a leather book that seemed to be on its last toe. She opened the book out of curiously. She sneezed at the dust that poofed in her face.

Jamie spun around at Merida's sneeze and his eyes widened. "Ah! Merida! Put those back! Those are really old documents that will turn to dust by just touching it!"

"Sorry!" Merida put them back in their box and shut the air tight seal before putting back on its self. "There was a dragon on it, I was just curious."

"I know but you have to be careful with the stuff down here. It's all very old." Then he glanced at the new arrows Merida had collected. "Except maybe those. Copies of the original."

Jack raised his eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"

Jamie's face became bright red as he stuttered, "I-I…um…broke the originals."

Jack stifled a laugh. "I've trained you well."

"Boys!" Jamie and Jack's attention went to Merida. She was standing by a ringing phone. "This thing's a-ringin'."

Jamie came up to the phone and took it off of its stand on the wall. He was silent for a moment before he made a curt nod, "Okay. We'll be there in a moment." He hung up and turned to Jack and Merida. "That was Birna. She said we have to get to the high school. And fast."

"Are they in trouble?" Merida asked in concern.

Jamie shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. She didn't sound scared or anything. She was…kinda calm, actually."

"Could be a trap," Jack huffed. "She's led us into one before…"

Jamie glared at Jack. "She didn't know at the time, Jack. It wasn't—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let's go." Jack flew out of the basement in a quick gust of icy, bitter wind. He seemed mad.

Merida raised an eyebrow at Jack's sudden flee. She whispered, sort of, to Jamie, "He really doesn't like the lass, doesn't he?"

"Yeah…I wish I knew why…" Jamie started to head to the staircase but stop in his tracks. "Oh! Almost forgot…" He turned on his heel and dug in a draw. With a triumphant chirp, he pulled out a half wood, half metal contraption where the metal seemed to create some sort of spring. A small rope was looped around the top of the wood. When Merida gave him a strange look, Jamie explained, "Birna's 'shop project, medieval simple tools. Her teacher comes up with weird stuff…but anyway, I'd think it'd work for Hiccup as a prosthetic—for now, at least."

Merida looked at the object with a doubtful eyebrow. "What eva ya say, Jamie." As they climbed up the stairs, she asked Jamie, "Shouldn't ya ask him?"

"Ask who what?"

"Jack. Why he distrusts ya friend so much."

Jamie sighed. "I'll leave that when the world isn't in evil's hands, you know what I mean?"

Merida snorted a chuckle. "Yeah, the things we're dealing with now is more important…we better catch up with him. At this pace, we'll be an hour behind him."

"I hope he wasn't right…"

" 'Bout what?"

"That she got caught up in some sort of trap again…"

...You know what I just realized? "The Big Four: The Rise of the Darkness" turns a year old on the eighteenth! I can't believe it's almost been a year already! ^-^

Also, I got out a Frozen Tangled Guardians story now! It's called "Beware the Frozen Heart", after my favorite song in the movie: "Frozen Heart". So check it out!

Have a great day everyone! ^-^