Trapped (A Big Four Story)

Chapter 6

Rapunzel's P.O.V

After the incident with the snow, Merida went absolutely mad; cursing the air for all she was worth. She refused to let Hiccup help her clean up her corner and plonked herself down and fumed silently. I would have tried to help her, but she wasn't the friendliest person in the world; I haven't the slightest idea how Hiccup put up with her.

We were all sat down now, silence rang in our ears. No one seemed in the mood to talk, I know I wasn't. All I could think about was what my parents thought had happened to me. Did they think I'd ran away? Did they think I'd been kidnapped?

Finally, I wondered what had happened to Pascal. The one morning I happened to leave him sleeping is the morning I'm thrown into a box. I wish he was with me.

The others were looking forlorn. Merida was stroking her bow, a comfort motion no doubt, and Hiccup was just staring at a piece of paper in his hands. In my state of curiosity, I went over to ask him what it was.

"Hey, Hiccup. Do you mind if I sit down?"

"No, not at all." He replied, hurriedly folding the paper and putting it in his pocket. Although I was slightly offended he wouldn't openly share the piece of paper with me, I pursued my quest to find out what had had him frowning.

"What were you looking at just then?" I asked sweetly.

"Uh... " He hesitated, looking awkward. " Nothing. Just a plain piece of paper." I looked at him skeptically and he just swallowed and half-smiled. I was about to push him further when, once again, it started to snow.

It had happened several times since the first, on and off, getting stronger each time, but this time Merida really reacted.

"I'M GONNA GET YOU THIS TIME, FROSTY." I looked away from Hiccup to see she was already on her feet, bow at the ready, firing at the frost patterns making their way around the walls of the box, but she stopped without warning, looking as if she'd seen a ghost.

Merida's P.O.V

I saw him. I don't know who I saw, but I saw him. I was trying to anticipate where the winter spirit would be when I caught a glimpse of a boy running on the walls, dodging my arrows. He disappeared just as quickly, though.

"Are you alright?" Rapunzel was asking me from Hiccup's corner, where they had been talking in low voices.

"Did you see him?" I asked them frantically.

"See who?" They replied in sync.

"The boy. The winter spirit."

"Merida, there was no one there." Hiccup said tenderly.

"But there was! I saw him. He was running along the walls creating frost behind him." I was desperate for them to see I was telling the truth, but let's face it, I would be the first to laugh if someone else started shouting such ludicrous statements. What affected me was the fact that all they did was look at each other, a look that questioned my sanity.

"Merida, maybe you should get some rest. Confinement is known to play tricks on the mind." I looked at Hiccup to see if he really believed his words, sympathy and unease looked back.

With a huff, I declared I was going to bed. But as I laid down in my corner, snow and all, I faced the wall and came up with a plan to catch the Winter Spirit. There had to be a way to prove to them that I wasn't crazy.

Jack's P.O.V

The joke I'd played on Merida was fun, and it set me in good spirits for a while, but my mirth wore off after the hours they sat in silence, unbothered by my mini-blizzards. However, Frizz soon regained her feistiness on the twelfth attempt.

She was good with her bow and arrow, I'll give her that! I was running on the walls and I was having a lot of fun dodging her arrows. I wasn't sure her mortal weapon could harm me but I was not taking any chances.

When she stopped firing, I continued running along the wall. She proceeded to ask the others if they'd seen the 'Winter Spirit' or 'the boy', I realized then that she'd seen me. She had actually seen me! For a few seconds she had believed in my existence. But why was I invisible to her now? She clearly believed I was real.

Frustration boiled inside me. I'd just blown my chance at being believed in. Even Frizz seemed to have given up on me, relenting to their requests that she rest. When she drifted into a deep slumber, snoring like there was no tomorrow, I let my anger out. I let out a shout of frustration and froze a bowl of punch resting on the table. It toppled over and smashed on the floor, frightening Fishbone and Blondie.

"Oops." I said flatly to myself. I carried on freezing things, prancing and dancing, waving my staff around to a tune of nonsense, but I missed out the cupcakes because they seemed to be the only thing Rapunzel had eaten so far.

My final act of annoyance was to freeze the room to my temperature. If they couldn't see me, they couldn't complain to me.