One Equal Temper of Heroic Hearts

Guided

All six of the crew remained more or less silent as they packed up camp the next day. It was early in the morning, and the first sunlight streaming through the trees was pale and delicate as porcelain; there was a vague morning mist lingering in the trees, cooling and graying an already less than bright, warm morning, even as it clarified the rays of sun peeking through the canopy.

Mahina had kept their fire going, and was cooking some eggs and fish she'd found someplace while humming something soft and mournful to herself. After a moment's listening, Jack identified it as May it Be from the Lord of the Rings movies, and was surprised at how comforting the familiarly modern tune was.

He melted his own ice tent, and as the others emerged and settled around the fire with bleary eyes and shuffling movements, he did the same with each of the others.

Merida drew in a slow, deep breath as rough wooden plates were passed around, silently appreciating the splendor of the morning, and Jack found himself looking around and doing much the same. Even with the sun, it was pleasantly cool, and a light breeze brushed at their hair and clothes with nary a trace.

Once they finished breakfast, Jack stood as extinguished the fire with a burst of icy power. Eugene and Merida, he noted, eyed his results less than eagerly.

Thankfully, neither tried to interject as he spoke. "Right. We're headed down the road towards where Eugene and Rapunzel thought that town would be? Any objections?"

Merida and Hiccup shook their heads, and Mahina shrugged, unbothered either way.

"Good. Maybe we'll be able to figure out where in time and space we are," Jack said. "Rapunzel, care to take point?"

"Sure!" She said cheerily, quickly checking that she hadn't left anything behind before beelining it for the road.

Eugene, Merida, and Jack were pretty quick to follow, with Hiccup close behind and Mahina calmly taking up the back.

It didn't take long for Hiccup to drift back and walk silently beside Mahina, listening to the rest of the group chatter up ahead. He seemed to be watching them closely.

"Everything okay?" Mahina asked quietly, speaking for the first time that morning and nearly making Hiccup jump clear out of his prosthetic leg fastenings.

"Uh- um, yes, yeah," Hiccup said. "Just don't want to walk too close to Merida."

"Mm. Fair. Don't worry, I won't let her attack you," Mahina offered.

"I appreciate that," Hiccup said.

"You know," Mahina said quietly, "if you two hadn't met under such terrible circumstances, I'm not sure you'd have fought at all."

"How do you figure?" Hiccup glanced at her.

"She craves exploration and novelty," Mahina pointed out. "She'd probably find that inventive streak of yours fascinating."

"... I hadn't thought a lot about it, given the whole war situation," Hiccup said, a bit dryly.

"War isn't personal," Mahina said. "Give her time. Let her anger fizzle out. Maybe when we all get home, you two can save your peoples from hurting each other any worse. I think that'll end up being more important to her. Deep down I think feeling at peace matters more to her than her pride."

"I hope you're right," Hiccup said. "I don't think I could take her in a fight."

"Neither could I," Mahina said. "Our problem, my friend, is weak wrists. Either of us could throw a perfect punch but our wrists would just give out."

Hiccup looked at her. "You know, I've been made fun of all my life, but no one's ever made fun of themselves and me at the same time before," he said, finding himself laughing a little.