Swords and fire

Someone's gotta try them

It was a small village in which everyone knew each other. There were the textile producers, the Spindles. The ones behind all the iron trinkets, the Blacksmiths. The farmers, known as the Greens, and many more. The sense of community was strong, and friendships between the villagers even stronger. For a village in the edge of a forest, the midpoint valley between the mountains and the meadows, Dun' Broch was quite the peaceful place. Sure, there were trained swordsmen and hunters, as every feudal valley village should have, but days went by in such a similar manner, the only concern of its inhabitants was surviving the winter. That and keeping the two mischief agents, known as Merida Spindle and Hiccup Blacksmith, in check.

Hiccup was born during an especially windy autumn night. He was small and quiet, and many worried that the poor child wouldn't survive the winter. Surely enough, he did in fact survive just in time for the spring, when Elinor Spindle gave birth to an extraordinarily healthy baby girl, Merida. One could begin to think those babies were the hope of the village, except, they were not.

Not a few weeks had passed after Merida's birth when the two babies developed some sort of supernatural connection. They cried and slept and ate at the very same time. They could be acres apart from one another, but somehow, they'd mirror each other's actions. And as uncanny as that was, the problem only grew with them.

From the day the pair learned how to walk, Dun' Broch didn't know peace again. The two little mischiefs would run around in a destructive frenzy, breaking the most beloved peace and quiet the villagers were used to. One two many times the pair got lost in the woods, only to be found right before sundown by Hiccup's dad, Stoic. They spent countless morning hunting for trolls in the meadows, that until Hiccup was old enough to learn his father's craft.

The days slowed down considerably after that, and once again, the small valley village knew what a quiet afternoon sounded like. Hiccup would spend hours by the fire, mimicking his father in the creation of many iron trinkets.

"Arrow tips for the hunters, my son, and swords for protection" Stoic would say, day after day.

"Protection from what?" Hiccup would ask, but he never got an answer.

It was a rather dull handful of days. Merida missed Hiccup, even inf he was just by the fire pits, she wasn't allowed to see him. She was too chaotic of a presence, Valka said. Everyone was better off if the village didn't catch fire, and Merida, well, one could say her personality was a Firestarter.

"Mum, weaving cloth is so boring" Merida repeated every day, and every day her mother would reply with, "Would you rather take a turn by the spindle?"

One day the routine was too Much for Merida. She missed her best friend and she loathed yarn and cloth and spindles. She missed getting lost in the woods and hunting trolls in the meadows, even if she never once caught one. She didn't even get a chance to say goodbye before the elders decided it was about time she and Hiccup would become functional members of their community, and what she what she hated most was that stupid old tradition of working the very same craft her parents worked before her.

And so, one day, young Merida of fifteen springs of age, fed up with the cloth nonsense, she walked toward the fire pits with a furrowed brow and clenched fists. As expected, Hiccup and Stoic were there, tending to the fire, tempering swords, pouring hot iron on its molds.

She chuckled. Why hadn't she done that before? Hiccup finished tempering the sword he was working on before turning to see his friend.

"So, there you are! I haven't seen you in forever." Hiccup greeted, truly delighted to see his friend, "And that's saying something, since we are neighbors."

"Aye, you have our mothers to thank for that" the red head replied, cautiously staying out of his way, "They say I'm too much of a bad influence to keep me near the fire."

Stoic, who had said nothing until then, added, "And you are, young one"

Merida looked at the older man. He knew her well, after all, she was the one behind all his son's shenanigans.

"But I want to help!" Merida said.

She wasn't sure whether she meant it, truth be told, she wanted to be around Hiccup, but she didn't mind the idea of crafting weapons. Before she could make up her mind about becoming a blacksmith, Stoic laughed.

His was a thunderous laugh, one that shook Merida's and Hiccup's insides. The young ones barely said anything after that.

"Even if you married into the family, lass, we wouldn't let you near a single arow tip."

Merida blushed profoundly at this comment, along with Hiccup, who seemed to suddenly be extremely uncomfortable with the heat.

"Wh-what? Mr. Haddock, you know Hicc and I are basically siblings," she excused, fanning herself with her hand, "And why wouldn't you let me, anyway?"

He laughed again. Apparently, Merida's visit was quite comedic.

"If you say so, lass" said the older man, "Women don't forge, that's the thing"

"Well, someone's got to try the stuff out, aye?" She reasoned.

Many times had her mother advised her not to question what her roles were and weren't because o her womanhood. Although it was annoying, she knew just how much the boundaries could be pushed before getting in trouble. She had gotten good at reading too far into things, enough to twist them around her heart's content.

"Do you two little devils want to play with swords?" Asked Stoic, understanding exactly what Merida meant.

"I mean, she's not wrong, father. We have to make sure our stuff is top notch quality."

Stoic sighed, knowing far too well that it was impossible to get something out of their heads once they thought of it.

"Fine, Merida, you get your wish. You can come by every afternoon, before sundown, to guarantee the quality of our productions," he said, "and to see Hiccup, he's too melancholic without you."

Merida's eyes lit up.

"Will I get to learn swordsmanship and archery?" She asked, barely able to believe it.

Stoic shrugged, "I guess your father could teach you a thing or two, you know, to make sure our products are functional."

She beamed at them. Hiccup chuckled; he had missed his friend. Now how was he supposed to get the idea of marrying her out of his head?