Betrothal (a merricup story)

Seven- dragon tamer

"I can't believe we did it!" Rapunzel cheered, walking hand in hand with Jack.

"I wish I could've brought Angus though..." Merida sighed. The horse had been guarded by a couple of guards as well. Simply escaping the castle grounds was hard enough, with all the guards Queen Elinor had positioned throughout the castle. "Well, at least I've still got my bow." She grinned, glancing at the bow slung on her back.

"You shoot well." Hiccup said. "Even dad was impressed the other day."

Merida swelled with pride, she'd impressed a mighty Viking. But as she glanced at the scrawny Viking boy, she was filled with curiosity. "Hiccup, just a question, but...don't Vikings usually train their children how to use weapons?" She asked.

"Yeaaah....about that." Jack said. "Hiccup here was banned from using weapons."

"What? Why?" Rapunzel asked.

"It's a long story." Hiccup muttered. "Long story short, I almost torched the village after a....um, slight accident."

Merida's eyes widened. "What kind of accident?"

Hiccup laughed nervously. "Trust me, it's better if you don't know." He said. "Anyway, I should really be going now..... stuff to do..." He backed off. "So...bye." He ran off.

Merida watched as he ran off. "What's up with him?" She asked.

"He's probably...busy." Jack said.

"Hmmm. Oh well. Time for practice." Merida said, reaching for an arrow. After a few shots, one of the arrows went askew. "Oh, shoot." Merida muttered, going after it. She climbed over a rock, trudging through the underbrush to get to the arrow. She pulled it out of the ground.

A low growling sound made her look up. And into the eyes of a large, black creature.

"Meri?" Rapunzel called, rushing through the underbrush, Jack by her side. They both stopped at the sight of the creature. "Oh, boy." Jack muttered.

"It's a dragon...." Rapunzel whispered, half in awe and half terrified.

Merida snapped back to her senses. "RUN!!!" She yelled, sprinting back towards them. The dragon roared, going after her.

"Merida!" Rapunzel shrieked as Jack picked her up and ran. "Jack, put me down!"

"And let you become dragon feed? I don't think so, Punz." Jack said, running.

Merida ran through the underbrush, she stopped, turning around. She had barely aimed at the dragon when a brunette boy ran out, stopping the dragon. "H-Hiccup?!" She exclaimed in shock as she realised who it was. "Wait, what are you doing?! Get outta the way!" She yelled, aiming her bow.

"No, look, put the bow down!" Hiccup shouted. "You're scaring him!"

Merida's jaw dropped. "I'm scaring HIM?!" She shrieked. "Hiccup, that's a bloody dragon!! Now move out of the way!"

"Merida!" Jack shouted, running over. "It's ok. Put the bow down." He said.

"Are you crazy-"

"JUST DO IT!!" Both Hiccup and Jack shouted. Merida stared at the both of them. She looked at Rapunzel. She nodded encouragingly, and Merida reluctantly lowered her bow. "I hope you know what you're doing, Hic...." She muttered.

Hiccup looked at the dragon. "Toothless, calm down." He said to the still growling dragon. "She's a friend. They're friends." The dragon quieted down, but it's eyes never left Merida.

Hiccup bit his lip nervously. "Erm...guys, this is Toothless. Toothless, Jack, Rapunzel, and Merida." He said.

"How did you do that?" Rapunzel breathed.

Jack grinned. "Hiccup's a dragon tamer. The first, in fact." He said. "So, this must be that Night Fury you were talking about..."

Merida blinked. "Dragon tamer?" She asked. "Interesting..."