Merida awoke to the sound of crashing waves and tumbling leather pages. She could feel the light of day streaming across her face, brightening the semi translucent lids that covered her eyes. Her cheek lay against something cold and wet. But the wetness was not upon stone. It was too soft. As its smell entered Merida's nostrils she wrinkled her nose in disgust.
In hesitation Merida blinked open one eye and yelped. It had been the dead dogfish the dragon regurgitated that night. Its decaying flesh slopped off of the muscles of its belly, making its meat easy for flies to feast upon. As the princess slapped the black bugs away and wiped her cheek in revulsion a great shadow passed overhead, blocking the sun. When she looked up she was greeted with two unearthly green eyes. The dragon.
Yelping again, Merida scurried backwards until her spine met with two knobby leather clad knees, sending their owner tumbling over Merida's legs and onto the ground beside her.
"Ow..." the lad groaned, rubbing his tailbone. In fright Merida jumped up and patted around her waist for the boy's knife. It was not there. When she looked upon him Merida realized that he had returned it to the sash he tied about his middle. Then with a gasp she glanced around the estuary for her own weaponry. Only when she tried leaning against a rock nearby did she realize that her bow and quiver were still strung about her torso. This confused Merida. When she looked upon her supposed captors, they stared back at her with eyes as big as her own. For a moment the party of three stood in silence, watching one another. Out of boredom the dragon began beating its tail against the ground, and his keeper began picking skin from his cuticles. Merida looked upon the activity with disgust, so with a blush the boy stopped and curled his hands behind his back. Then he coughed.
"Well," sighed the boy.
"Well," responded Merida. The dragon only grunted. There was more silence. Then with the most affected smile he could muster the dragon keeper clapped his hands and turned to his reptilian companion. "Well!" repeated the lad, "It looks like we better be on our way, eh Toothless?" The sound of rumbling leather pages responded, though this time in more of a purr than a growl. Merida stared upon the back of the dragon in awe, furrowing her brows as she noticed the twitching of its spines and the shiver of its head as it turned towards the sky to examine wind currents. Its green eyes were dauntless. But as the boy lumbered towards his beast with supplies in hand, Merida snapped from her reverie. Before they could escape she placed herself between the dragon and the boy.
"Hey!" snapped the lad with a quivering voice. "We don't want any trouble!"
"I need your help," blurted Merida. In return the dragon and his boy glanced towards one another with narrow eyes. "I need to reach the Archadian Empire as soon as possible," Merida tried, "if you help me you will be rewarded."
"With what?" inquired the boy. "My own knife down my throat? I don't want that!"
"I understand we got off to a bad start last night," returned Merida, inciting a loud snort from the dragon keeper. "I was in great need of transportation and overestimated your ferocity." To this the keeper seemed a touch disappointed. "Rather, I saw a great deal more danger in the situation than I should have." This made the boy's sullen expression worse, so Merida stopped talking and instead gave a great huff. In return the boy slipped around her and crawled up the tail of his dragon until he was seated against its back.
"It was nice knowing you," the lad said with an awkward, final smile. But Merida tried once more to defer him when she barked that she was a princess. This time the boy furrowed his brows. "Then why are you all the way out here?"
"I told you before," snapped Merida, "I must avenge my family by seeking the Archadian Empire."
"What are you going to do once you get there?" asked the boy. Merida did not know whether she could trust him with the truth. But with bitten lip, she leaned against the edge of the dragon's ribs and glanced into its keeper's green eyes. "I mean to visit a witch." The boy was captivated. "What kind of a witch?" he challenged.
"One that can time warp, and live forever, and can tell past and future!" whispered Merida in reply, dazzling her companion with a cheeky smile. "She is wondrous."
"Does she make potions?" inquired the boy. Though she pursed her lips Merida nodded with vigor. "She can do anything."
"Well, gee!" barked the boy with a beaming grin. Then he held out his right palm. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. And you?" When Merida stared back in confusion Hiccup scratched his head. "Weird, I know- to ward off trolls. It's Hiccup for short."
"That is your name?" Merida asked. Hiccup nodded. "Hope and Heir to the Hairy Hooligans. My dad is chief. You might now him. Stoick the Vast."
"I do not," responded Merida flatly. In a mutter Hiccup asked who she was, and she responded that she was Princess Artis of Clan MacLea. Though Hiccup narrowed his eyes in response, he signaled for Merida to board the dragon, which lowered its wings so that Merida could use its shoulder as a foothold. After hoisting herself upwards she curled her dress around her knees and flung one leg over the beast's back, settling down behind Hiccup as he grabbed hold of Toothless's shoulder blades. As he glanced back towards his new companion, Hiccup asked if she had ever ridden a Night Fury before. Merida snapped that she had not. Already she could feel the sweat dripping from her palms. Ahead of her Hiccup laughed.
"So here's the flight plan," he explained. "We go to Corona first, then to the Archadian Empire."
"Corona is where I want to go as well!" squeaked Merida, making Hiccup gasp. "Isn't that crazy? The same place at the same time."
"Yes," gulped Merida in return. The Night Fury began twitching in anticipation. A good current was passing them by. In elation Hiccup scratched beneath Toothless's neck and pointed forward with a holler, making the dragon shiver and extend its great black wings, which eclipsed the sun as they spread and curled in the air. As all light disappeared Merida glanced into the forty-foot wingspan and gasped, her breath cut short as the dragon lurched forward. With deft hops it bounded to the top of the estuary cliff and shot towards the other end of the beach with a run similar to a dog. To gain momentum the creature lurched forward with its whole body, its head ducking down and then up as its torso followed. The sound of its beating wings was deafening. Like two massive sails they suspended against the air, while the muscles in Toothless's back writhed with determination as its feet left the ground. Before Merida could object she was rising, gliding towards the edge of a much steeper cliff that ended in what looked to be a two hundred foot drop into the ocean.
"I do not think this is a good idea," croaked Merida. But Hiccup could not hear her. He was goading Toothless further, pointing with his dirt stained index finger towards the ever-approaching grass's end. Suddenly Merida loved the forest she was leaving behind, and the moss that tangled into the grass. Suddenly she hated the thought of flying anywhere. But it was too late. With a screech to curdle milk Merida dug her fingernails into Hiccup's yak vest and gritted her teeth. In response Toothless leapt from the grass and whizzed like an arrow over the edge of the cliff. Then with his nose turned down he dived, making Merida's heart fly into her screaming mouth. The twinkling waves magnified as the dragon fell towards them in a spiral. As the outline of a silver fish shimmered against the ocean blue, Merida clung to Hiccup's back so tight that he coughed for want of breath. But before she could shut her eyes and bury her face in his back, a great whooshing noise assailed her eardrums, along with a painful change in pressure. The ocean was becoming smaller again, and the silver fish that Merida had been close enough to stroke a moment before disappeared. Now, as she looked up, she noticed that Toothless was rising like a rocket towards the stratocumulus clouds that dotted the sky above.
There was no description for the feeling that held Merida's heart. In this moment of ascension she seemed to herself as happy and as sad as she would ever be, and with all her might the girl stretched her right palm towards the oncoming clouds. As they passed her nose bled and she wiped the red away, extending her palm again so that her fingers disappeared into a stratocumulus directly above. Then with a cry she lowered her head as Toothless rose again, riding just above the clouds as if they were a white sea and he a ship. As Merida looked around her the spray of precipitation stopped her nosebleed and made her shiver. But her blue eyes were wide with glorious wonder.
To her right the sun shimmered through the clouds like a hot lamp, its midday rays painting Merida's cheeks deep gold. The smell of water mixed with sweat and salt from the sea and from Hiccup's back, hitting Merida the hardest as she was seated last. With closed eyes she curled forward and settled her forehead against Hiccup's vest, imagining that it was the matted beard of her father. The current of the wind and the brown hair of Hiccup's head whipping against her scalp transformed into Angus' brilliant black mane, while the occasional purr of Toothless became the horse's neigh. The sun was the warmth of the Grand Hall's hearth, Hiccup's laughter her brothers' as they stole tarts and licked them before the fire's warmth. The light that bathed her cheek was the sensation of spring on the loch. And the water filled clouds were the mist that hung about the DunBroch bogs, their breath the whisper of the Will O' the Wisps.
"I really did try to get through that thick skull of his," sighed the Elinor of Merida's memory. In her mind the woman glance towards her with a knowing grin, the red glow of the firelight softening the pinks of her cheeks. Her brown eyes were warm. "You know your father, Merida. Sometimes I think he lost his brain when he lost that leg of his."
"Daddy can make his own decisions," mumbled Merida to herself, causing Hiccup to glance behind him in confusion.
"You are right, little bird. You know I am hard on him because I love him. The same goes for you." As the chocolate brown eyes turned upon her Merida sighed in irritation. "I know, mother," she mumbled.
"Thunder?" blurted Hiccup in response, but Merida ignored him.
"You just remember that one day you may have a husband and little ones who drive you to distraction as well," chuckled the fire lit Elinor as she stared upon the quilt she was sewing. "And perhaps, if I or your brothers are still close by, we can all laugh about it together."
"You will have to count on the triplets to give you grandchildren, mother," Merida murmured.
"I gathered. But you never know, little bird. Do you like my quilt? It will go on the bed of the triplets."
"It is lovely," whispered Merida. When Hiccup responded with a thank you, Merida snapped awake and raised her head to look around her. She was met with Hiccup's befuddled stare.
"Were you talking in your sleep?" the boy asked. Without elaborating Merida murmured yes. So Hiccup turned back around and hummed as he watched Toothless fly. By this time it was evening and the sun was sinking beneath the sky. The temperature had dropped. Now the dampness of the clouds was not refreshing but bracing. So with chattering teeth Merida clung tighter to Hiccup and wrapped her fiery tresses around her bare shoulders like a shawl.
"How far to Corona?" she muttered. Hiccup shrugged. "The last time I went was on foot."
"What were you doing?" asked Merida. Hiccup scratched his head. Then he murmured that he was visiting the mainland with his father. "We were invading," he added with a violent nod. "And I came across this tower built on a really high rock pile. It had a purple roof the same shape as a hood if you held its end up with your fingers."
"And this tower is in Corona?" inquired Merida with suspicion. Immediately Hiccup nodded. Then he fell silent. For a moment Merida let him think. But after that moment was finished she demanded that Hiccup tell what he knew of her. The boy seemed surprised when this was said. Instead of blathering he shrugged. Then he snorted.
"Well, you told me that you were Princess Merida of DunBroch. Then you fainted. There was nothing to rest your head on so Toothless sacrificed his fish for you." As this was said Toothless's rabbit like ears perked up and fluttered. In return Merida gave him a conciliatory pat on the side. Then she muttered curses beneath her breath. She had forgotten her little slip up the other evening.
"Why did you not tell me immediately after I had lied?" asked Merida. Hiccup shrugged again. "I guess I just thought that you needed to lie. I also didn't want to die."
"I would not have killed you," barked Merida in return, watching as Toothless' ears pricked up again. Ahead of her Hiccup sighed. Then he chanced asking her why she lied in the first place. Merida bit her lip. When she had decided completely, she responded that she would tell him when they landed in Corona. With a returning snort Hiccup patted Toothless on the forehead and leaned forward against the great beast's spine, sighing with the moving air.
"Isn't it beautiful being up in the clouds like this?" he asked. Without hesitation Merida nodded. "It is funny how many memories an unfamiliar place brings up," added the princess with blinking eyes. The breath of the north wind fluttered past them in a deep chill and was gone, and with its passage Merida was reminded of the winter spirit who had accompanied her across the mainland of her home country. In irritation she spat into the falling wind and gritted her teeth as light warmth fluttered upon her shoe soles. "We must be getting closer," muttered Hiccup ahead. Though Merida tried nodding she gave up from exhaustion, and as her head slumped against the nape of her companion's neck she closed her eyes and fell asleep.