Maybe I'm Afraid... (Mericcup)

Chapter 3

Sneaking in with the dragons was a success, next to the triplets finding them in the hall. They had agreed to keep the secret in exchange for sweets. Astrid and Merida's rooms were joined by a door in the wall, so the two stayed up talking about weapons, fighting styles, and Stormfly. "So, I know how Hiccup got Toothless, but how did you find Stormfly?" Merida inquired. "Simple, I road Stormfly when we went to fight the Red Death. She was would've been eaten if it wasn't for Hiccup and Toothess coming in at the last second," she answered.

"Yeah," Merida laughed, "He seems like the 'last-second-hero' type of guy." Astrid laughed, but it seemed sadder. Merida tried to lighten the mood by changing the subject. "So... You and Hiccup," Merida said. Astrid tensed, "What about me and Hiccup?" Merida smiled, she had found it. She could tell that something seemed to be bothering the blond and now she's found it. "Oh....you know.... I can tell there's something between you two," Merida said, smirking. "Was," Astrid corrected. Merida's smile fell. "Oh...," was all she could say, "So you two aren't together...?" Astrid sighed, sitting down on the bed. "We we're, but then... Life happened," she said, trying to find the best words. Merida listened with interest.

"We were actually engaged when Hiccup's father was killed. Before that, Stoick was already talking to Hiccup about making him chief and Hiccup didn't exactly like the idea. He told me about how it just wasn't him to sit around making sure everyone has their sheep. How he prefers to explore and find new dragons. When he became Chief, I realized that he was right. Hiccup just isn't that kind of person. We tried to make it work. I had almost completely taken over the job of watching The Edge and manning the Dragon Acadamy, two of Hiccup's favorite things, and he was always working. Eventually, things just stopped working out. We hardly ever saw each other anymore and when we did talk, we would always end up arguing. So, one day, about a month ago, I had enough and ended it," Astrid explained as if she had been reliving the past year while doing so.

"I'm sorry," Merida said, guilty for bringing the subject up. They sat in silence girl a short while before they started to yawn. "It's getting late," Astrid said, laying down in her bed, "We should probably get some sleep." Merida also lied down, agreeing with her new friend, "Yeah, knowing my mum, we have a big day tomorrow." Stormfly took that as her cue to also go to sleep. She curled up with her head within arms reach of her rider and was soon asleep. "Goodnight girl," Astrid whispered, scratching the top of the Nadder's head. Merida smiled at the duo in the dark though the opened doorway, and fell asleep.

Merida was awaken by sudden light on her face and the sound of her curtains opening as well as her mother's cheery voice. 'How can she be so happy? It's morning!' she thought as she buried her head in her pillow.

"Up, up, up, Merida! We have to get ready!" Elinor said, pulling the covers away from her daughter. "Get ready?" she mumbled, half awake, "For what?" she clutched her pillow in an attempt to go back to sleep. "The lords will start arriving tonight. We need to make sure everything's ready," her mother replied, finding her daughter a dress that would be suitable for that night.

Eventually, Merida sat up and rubbed her eyes. Once she was mostly awake, she looked over to Astrid's bed. She was surprised when she found it empty. "Um...Mum? Where's Astrid?" she inquired. "She went out for an early morning flight," her mother replied. A look of displeasure covered Merida's face. She had wanted to take her new friend to show her her archery range and the Fire Falls. "If you hurry, you might be able to find her. But I don't know how you'd get her attention."

Elinor turned around to face her daughter only to see that she had rushed out the door. She chuckled to herself before heading to the triplets room.

Merida grabbed an apple from the kitchen as she rushed through. She didn't noticed that in her hurry she had gone past Hiccup. He silently made the decision to follow her. Merida jumped on to her horse and immediately took off. Hiccup did the same with Toothless, staying on the ground. In a matter of seconds they caught up to her. "Morning Princess," he said cheerfully, catching Merida off guard. She quickly recovered and responded, "Well, if it isn't dragon boy." He laughed, "Hey! That's Chief dragon boy, to you!" The wind rushed noisily rushed past them, causing them to raise their voices. "Well then, Chief, see if you can keep up!"

With that, she took of even faster than they had been going. Hiccup and Toothless took on the challenge and speed up. As they raced through the forest Hiccup began to notice targets set up randomly throughout the trees. After taking a closer look he noticed they were full of arrows. He slowed to a stop to examine them. Merida noticed and backtracked to him.

"Who's arrows are these?" Hiccup asked. "Does it matter?" Merida replied, raising an eye brow.  "They're all bulls eyes," he stated, "Who ever shot them has perfect aim." Merida was flattered. "I try."

Hiccup gave her a surprised look. "You shot the arrows?" Merida nodded her head and hummed a reply.

"Hey!" came a voice from above. They looked up to see Astrid and Stormfly above their heads. Hiccup called out her name and waved. Merida waved as well. Merida then got an idea. She turned to Hiccup with a dead serious expression on her face, "There's a giant waterfall about a mile in that direction. You and Astrid come meet me there." Hiccup looked at her strangely, but flew up to Astrid to fill her in. He couldn't help but wonder what she was up to.