Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons

Bear Trouble

  The wisps made a long line that went deport and deeper into the woods. The blue light moved any darkness away and allowed the group behind them to see further up. Merida was at the front, being cautious of whatever may be up ahead. Jack followed behind with baby tooth hidden away in his pouch. Rapunzel walked right beside Elinor, making sure she was doing fine. Toothless and Hiccup picked up the end, making sure they're not being followed by Pitch or any other kind of magic.

Everything was going smoothly, until Elinor groaned while holding her stomach.

"Are you alright?" Rapunzel asks while holding her paw.

Elinor looked at her, with eyes that were sad and sick.

"I think the queen needs a rest," Rapunzel said to everyone.

As Elinor tries to sit down on a very large rock, everyone rushed to her side with worried faces, except for Merida.

"We can't rest," she said firm, "we have to keep going."

"Your mother just needs a minute Merida," Jack argued. "She needs to rest."

"We don't have time for a rest," Merida nearly shouts. "In case you've forgotten, we have until sunrise tomorrow to break the witch's curse."

"We know," Rapunzel said, "your mother just-"

"Just what?" Merida yells with her impatience building.

Hiccup got a sense that this is argument is only going to get worst and will waste a lot of time. He rushes to Merida to get this under control. "Take it easy Merida," he said in a calming tone. "Let your mom rest for five minutes, and then we will go again. And look, the wisps aren't going anywhere. They will lead us to where we need to go, but for now let's take a breather and gather our strength for the journey on."

In Merida's eyes, she was fighting the urge to yell at him, but in her head she knew he had a point. "Fine," she said. "Five minutes."

To try to ease some tension, Merida and Hiccup said on another rock just little ways away from Elinor and the others. Merida looked down the path to the wisps, seeing that they are still there.

Hiccup looked at her, getting a sense of discomfort and uneasiness. He could guess from what's been happening, Merida is taking all her world's problems and wants to fix them herself. But he has to be sure.

"Are you ok?" He asks.

"I'm fine," Merida said as she tries to shove him off. "I'm not the one who got turned into a bear."

"Yeah," Hiccup said. "But you don't seem fine at all. But that's something I can expect. Your kingdom is in danger, your mother is cursed, and we still have our quest to defeat Pitch. This is defiantly not your day."

"This is not what I wanted," Merida said, mostly to herself but loud enough for Hiccup to hear. "When I wanted to run away, I wanted to change my fate. But now I changed my family's fate. I didn't want any of them to suffer for my decision."

"But you are the future queen here," Hiccup said to her. "And I totally get what's it like with that kind of pressure of that. But every choice we make in life is bound to have consequences. We have to make those kinds of choices, but not when we're angry. I mean, you remember what I did when I was angry, and what Rapunzel did when she was hurt. We nearly destroyed what was dear to us. Now I guess it's your turn to learn from this."

"I know," Merida said, but not feeling any better. "But I... I don't know how. I know I sort of started this whole mess when I left. That's why I need to fix this, to change my mum back. I have to."

"But not alone," Hiccup said grabbing on to her hand. "We're here for you too. We'll make it work."

As if to prove Hiccup's point, Toothless came crawling in and poke his head between them. They giggled as they patted the dragon's head. Merida smiles at Hiccup, silently thanking him for talking with her.