Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Merida! Merida!"

Merida giggled as she waited for her mother to find her. They were playing hide-and-seek: one of her favorite games. Merida was 6, and when she was little her mother could call out her name and Merida would emerge from her hiding place. But not today.

"Oh, Merida, where are you?"

Merida giggled again.

"Are you hiding under...here?"

Merida screamed as her mother's face came under the table. Eleanor laughed. "I found you!"

Merida crawled out from under the table and her mother picked her up. Merida giggled again. Then her father came up from behind her mother. "Hello, Merida," He said, smiling.

"Hello, dad." Merida said, smiling back.

"I've got you a birthday present."

Merida gasped and Eleanor put her down. Her father brought out from behind his back a bow. Merida gasped. "A bow!" she exclaimed.

"Have a try at it," Her father said, leading her off to the archery range. Eleanor trailed them, feeling a little worried about her daughter with a bow.

Fergus helped Merida pull back the first arrow, and even though she missed, he thought that she had some skill that would come out later.

"Now just pull back, yes, just like that...and let it loose!"

Merida let the arrow fly, and it went out and past the target into the woods. "I missed." she said.

"Well," Eleanor said. "Go and fetch it then."

Merida smiled, and then ran out into the forest, searching for her arrow. When she found it, she pulled it out of the tree trunk it was sticking out of, and then turned to see a small little blue figure. It looked like fire, though Merida knew what this was. It was a Wisp.

Merida gasped, then ran over to it. It disappeared, but more appeared from behind where it was before, forming a trail. Merida smiled, then ran out and began to follow the trail.

When she came to the end of the trail, she was in the middle of nowhere. Why did the Wisps lead me here? She thought.

A sudden voice made her think twice.

"So, Punzie," it said. "How old are you?"

"I'll be 6 in May."

Merida followed the voices over to see two people: a little girl that looked to be her age, and an older boy with white hair. Merida ducked down and watched them from the bushes.

"How old are you?" The girl asked.

"Me? Oh, I'll be about 132 on December 27th. I lost count, but I'm guessing."

132?! Merida thought.

"Really? You've been around for that long?"

The boy shrugged. "Yeah. I don't really know how old I am, only that I was born on December 27th. Well, "born" isn't the right word. It was more of a, "created" kind of thing."

Merida shifted her weight, causing a twig to snap. The boy looked over, before standing up and walking over. He peeked his head in the bush, and, when he saw Merida, smiled.

"Hey," He greeted.

"Um," Merida trailed off, avoiding the boy's eyes.

"What're you doing in there?"

"Oh, um, well...I just heard you two talking and thought that..well.."

"Hey, it's fine," The boy said, smiling. "In fact, I think that you may have just been my lucky day."

He led Merida out from the bushes and over to the other girl. Now that Merida could see her better, she realized that she had long blonde hair that was in a braid. The girl eyed Merida for a moment, before smiling.

"Nice to meet you," She said. "My name's Rapunzel."

"Merida." Merida said back.

"And I'm the babysitter." The boy said.

"Hey!" Rapunzel said.

"Just kidding, Punzie. I'm Jack Frost."

"Really?" Merida asked.

The boy nodded.

"I don't believe it!" Merida exclaimed. "Jack Frost? The guy that brings around the snow? You're him?"

"Uh, yeah..."

Merida squealed. "I knew that you were real! I told dad, and told him, but he wouldn't believe me! But this proves it!"

Jack's eyes were wide. "Um....okay?"

Rapunzel had her hand over her mouth, a hidden smile on her face. "I think that you and me will be very good friends, Merida." She said.

Merida smiled. "No, we'll be more than that! We can be sisters! I should introduce you to my parents!"

Merida started to bounce down to the path. Then she stopped when she realized that they weren't following. "Well? Are you guys coming?"

"Ju-just a second, Merida." Jack said. He knelt down to Rapunzel. "Okay, Punzie. This is where I draw the line. You follow Merida."

"But, you're coming too, right?" Rapunzel asked.

Jack shook his head. "Not this time."

"Bu-but you promised that you would stay with me until my mother came."

"That's why I'm leaving, Punzie. I'm going to go and find your mother. When I do, I'll lead her here."

Tears came down Rapunzel's face. "I don't want you to go."

Jack smiled. "I'll be back. That I swear. You will see me again, no matter what it takes."

Rapunzel gave a small smile. "Okay. But only if you swear."

Jack laughed. "Don't worry. I swear."

Then he gave Rapunzel a small kiss on the forehead. "I'll find your mother, Rapunzel. Don't worry."

Jack turned, picked up his staff, and began to fly out of there. Then, Rapunzel turned and ran up to Merida. Merida smiled. "You can be my sister," Merida said.

"That would be nice." Rapunzel nodded in agreement.

Merida led Rapunzel back to where her parents were. When Eleanor saw the other girl with her daughter, her eyes got wide. "Merida! How-"

"Mom, I found her out in the woods." Merida said. "Can she stay? Please?"

"Why, my dear," Eleanor said, looking at Rapunzel. "Where is your mother?"

"Gone," Rapunzel answered. "I don't know where she went, but she just left one day. I haven't seen her for nearly 4 days."

"Well, of course you can stay with us. What is your name?"

"Rapunzel."

Eleanor smiled. "Well, Rapunzel, you are now part of the family, at least until your mother can find you. We can send out search parties-"

"No, that's alright," Rapunzel said. "My friend is already looking."