The Red Archer

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"… Ah don' care wer sheh ceme from, as long as-"

"Mer, she's waking up now.."

As soon as Zell opened her eyes, her head began to throb with immense pain. Where was she? Why was she hearing voices? Was she dead? Had she gone to heaven?

No, this was certainly real.

Zell groggily sat up, rubbing her closed eyelids. Letting out a deep breath, she opened her eyes and gasped.

Standing a few feet away, was a girl about Zell's age with enormous red hair. It was very tangled and curly, and bounced around as she spoke. The girl had a very thick Scottish accent, so Zell had to strain to hear her words.

"Good mornin', lass. Did ya sleep well?" The girl asked kindly, although there was a hint of an "I Don't Really Care" tone in her voice.

Zell simply nodded, not having the energy to speak yet. Her hands had left her sore eyes and found her knees, to which she now held on quite tightly. The red-haired girl smiled slightly, and it was then that Zell's memory returned.

A flashback seemed to occur in her mind, and she recalled a recent encounter with the red head. It had been a week or so before, on her first day at school. Zell had been riding on the bus, when the girl sat down next to her.

"Um, what happened to your eye?" Zell asked curiously. The girl snorted. "Ha! You shooda seen the otha guy!"

"Oh. Did you get in a fight?"

"Well, it was mar of a scuffle."

" How did it start?"

"You're a very nosy lass, aren't ye?"

The memory faded, as Zell's eyes widened in recognition. Merida, that was her name. The "Lass" with the crazy red hair and black eye (which seemed to have healed, evidently).

"What r'yeh starin at, lass?" Merida asked impatiently, her foot tapping out a hurried rhythm on the floor. Hiccup sighed from across the room, his wings now hidden inside his shirt. "Go easy on her, Mer. She's had a rough couple of days."

Zell was sitting up now, her back resting on the back of the… bed? It was right up against the wall and had no back board, so perhaps this wasn't a proper bed. Although to be fair, it was certainly comfortable like on.

"Hiccup?" She asked, her voice returning to its usual state. He slowly approached her, and sat down gently on the side of the bed-like thing. "Hey, did you sleep alright?"

"No, my head hurts thanks to YOU." She said angrily, although with a subtle hint of teasing in her tone. He chuckled softly, his chest gently rising and falling. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that… but you didn't give me a choice. Gothel's minions were still out there, and I-" He said, stopping very abruptly mid-sentence.

Zell frowned deeply. "Gothel who? Is she that woman who attacked me?" She asked curiously, with only a slight hint of vulnerability in her voice. Merida rudely swatted Hiccup on the back of his head, and he winced slightly. "Look what ye did now, Hic!" She said angrily, her eyes bulging with intensity.

"Well," Hiccup began, returning her angry tone. "You can't expect me to tell her NOTHING, and she has a right to know! After what Gothel's done to her parents, it's only fair!"

Zell's eyes visibly widened, and in an instant she was on her feet. "What?! What happened to my parents?!" She practically yelled. Hiccup sighed deeply and stood, while Merida simply rubbed her temples in aggravation.

"Look, before you get all angry, just give me a chance to explain!" He said quickly, raising his arms up in surrender. "Please?"

Zell shrugged her shoulders and folded her arms, but kept a stern look on her face. "Fine, but I want the truth. And THE WHOLE TRUTH, please."

Hiccup sighed once again, and gestured for her to sit. Once she did, he sat down across from her on a nearby chair.

"Okay," He started, his words coming out smooth and even. "I guess I should start at the beginning…"

"Long ago when our world was young, there was the Moon. From the heavens he ruled justly, and everyone was well within his reign."

"But then a darkness arose, by the name of Pitch Black."

"He wanted to take over the world, to use fear to enslave all mankind. So the Moon had to form a team."

"The Guardians."

"They were immortal spirits, chosen for their gifts and strengths. Pitch's power was great, but the Guardians' power was greater still. Soon, they defeated Pitch and sent him back to the underworld."

"But all was not well."

"For deep within the dark caverns and crevices of the earth, Pitch Black had hidden certain objects, things that could indeed be used to resurrect him."

"A staff."

"A bow."

"A dragon scale."

"And a flower."

"These four items had the power to do many things, things that no mortal man could even dream of. Forged by ancient magic, they were indestructible as well as extremely dangerous. And it was through these things, that Pitch Black secured his future reign of terror."

"And now," Hiccup spoke softly, his unshifting eyes never leaving hers. "An evil woman, who calls herself "Mother Gothel", Is going to extreme measures to retrieve these objects. There is a dark kind of magic called "Efiálti̱s Skóni̱" which means "Nightmare Sand". Its origins are unknown, but we do know that Pitch was quite skilled in the art. Gothel also uses Nightmare Sand, to attack others mentally and causing them to feel a different kind of pain. Halucinations, horiffic migranes, are just a few."

"Another thing she can do is knock someone out completely, causing them to fall into a deep and tormented sleep. That's what happened to your parents, Zell."

She instantly covered her mouth in shock, her eyes now the size of softballs. "What?! Isn't there something we can do?!"

Hiccup shook his head, a sad expression on his face. "I'm afraid not, Zell. The only way to remove the coma is for the person who originally cast the spell to either reverse it, or be killed."

Merida chose that moment to chime in, as she took the empty seat next to Hiccup. "I suggest the second option; it's the onlee weh to realleh be rid of her."

"Merida, violence isn't always the answer! I'm sure we can find some way to convince Goth-"

"Oh, fer goodass sakes! You and aye both know tha' there's no reckonin' with her!"

Zell had been sitting patiently as the other two argued, but now she had had enough. Quickly rising from her seat, she now stood tall and firmly planted on the ground. "Stop! You need to stop this!" She screamed loudly, much louder than Merida and Hiccup had been. They both instantly stopped their arguing, and lowly turned to face the blonde.

Zell felt a certain satisfaction in their expressions, and she smirked slightly. But after a moment of silence, and both of them still staring, Zell realized that they were looking at her arms.

The markings on her body were glowing brightly, and the golden glow seemed to light up the entire room. She could hear Hiccup's breath catch, and even Merida seemed to have nothing to say.

"Zell….." Hiccup began softly, his eyes immediately finding hers. "What happened to you?" He whispered.

"Hiccup…" Merida murmured, before gently nudging him with her elbow. "Hiccup, do you realize what this means?" She spoke more firmly now, yet still she maintained a quiet tone.

Hiccup frowned slightly, although he never took his eyes off of the glowing tattoos. "What?"

Merida rolled her eyes. "The flower, Hic. She must have found it in the woods… Where we saw the light…"

Zell saw Hiccup's eyes widen in shock as he turned to face his red-haired friend. "Yes, you're right! Merida, you're a genius!" He yelled excitedly before quickly wrapping Merida in his strong and warm embrace.

When they broke apart, Merida's face was bright red. She quickly turned away from him to hide her burning cheeks.

Hiccup was standing now, and he instantly darted out of the room while mumbling things like "I can't believe it" and "After all this time".

Zell giggled softly at Merida's flustered expression. "Soooo…. I think I'll start calling you "Red", instead of "Merida". Because that would appear to have multiple meanings now."

Merida folded her arms and let her curly hair fall over her pale, freckled face. "Oh, shut up Blondeh." She muttered before standing up and taking a deep breath.

"Theres a mineh fridge with some soda in eh, in case your thirsteh or somethin'." She said before quickly walking to the door.

"Wait!" Zell called out hastily to the other girl. "I forgot to ask, but where am I?"

Merida turned her head slightly as she reached the doorway. "This is theh institute, and once your feelin' better you can meet theh otha's."

Others? Zell thought to herself as Merida quickly exited the room with a loud door slam.

What have I gotten myself into, exactly?

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Please review this chapter, it took me a while to write and post this one so for that I am truly sorry. But if you're still mad at my empty apologies, feel free to Private Message me! Any feedback at all is better than none…

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