The Witch and the Viking (Mericcup fanfic)

Chapter 2: The Young and the Old Witch

Merida's room was the smallest in the house, but she did not mind it. She was rarely even in her room, as the stables were her favorite place to be.

She remembered her father painting her room though. A berry blue she had chosen made from blueberries that grew behind her house. He had refused to use a spell as he thought it was more rewarding to do things the hard way. Her father was strong tall man, he had great red beard that was curly and twisted. He did not feel the need to rely on magic like her mother.

"You never know, it could come in handy some day." Her father's voice ran through her head as she stared at her blue ceiling.

It had been four years since her parents disappearance. Her teacher had made the cloaking spell permanent on her house. Merida never saw anyone from her coven as her teacher began growing suspicious of them. She had stated that the only people who had disappeared were her parents, a young witch named Rapunzel, and the halfling Jack. They had barely  been of age to attend those council meetings. Merida would have been able to go in just a short couple of weeks if her parents had not disappeared.

Merida did not know them well, but she did have some memories of them. Rapunzel was known as a prodigy learning healing spells at the age of 5. She was a nice young witch, never spoke out during class.  Then there was Jack, he was... different. Halflings were not very...popular or common in her coven. Jack had been born with white hair, which was like being born with a sign around your neck that said "HALFLING" Merida remembered the rumors that Jack was half elf or even half sprite.  Some even said his mother was such a powerful witch that she created him out of pure magic just so she could have a child. Merida knew this was a lie, witches could not make life even if they were the most powerful witches in the realm.

Merida always wondered what would have happened if she had been able to attend the meeting. Would she had been taken instead of her parents? Or would they all be taken together?

Merida turned her head into her pillow. She needed to get up to distract her from her thoughts. She continued getting up as early as she could, as if her mother were still here. She barely slept as it was and staying in her bed just brought up bad memories.

Merida walked through the living room into the kitchen, no longer expecting her parents to be in the living room. Her new routine involved greeting her teacher in the kitchen who was making some sort of breakfast...well really her ravens and her were making breakfast. Hilda and Zelda the twin crows that her teacher loved like children. They swooped and clawed at spices and brought them down into the pan as the eggs began to fry.

"Please tell me you washed their claws," Merida asked, reaching for a cup.

"I did a bath spell on them this morning," her teacher stated. She was still concentrating on the eggs in the pan.

Merida began making the coffee, she poured the beans into her hand grinder and slowly began turning the device. Her father had invented it as hammering the beans proved to be ineffective and quite messy. The grains fell into the thin paper filter, Merida still loved the smell of fresh ground coffee beans as it reminded her of her father.

"Why you waste your time with that device I will never know," her teacher chuckled. "You could just use the coffee spell I taught you,"

Merida rolled her eyes, "It tastes better this way, magic leaves a weird after taste in my mouth,"

"You're too picky," her teacher said in a sing song voice. She snapped her fingers and the fried eggs floated in the air still sizzling. They landed gracefully on the wooden plates.

"There breakfast is ready, don't complain about the after taste," her teacher said taking her plate.

Merida smirked, pouring the hot water into the filter.

She sat down for breakfast at the dining table, another thing her father had built with his two hands. Everything in the house reminded her of her family, sometimes it made her happy other times it made brought her back to the day she lost them.

Today however was a happy one as she recalled a memory of her father hitting his thumb with a hammer, and her mother using magic to heal it.

"I'm leaving for a bit," her teacher said before Merida could even sip her coffee.

"How long is a bit?"

"I don't know but at least two weeks," she replied. She could see there was more to her travel that she was not letting on. "If I am not back by the solstice then come looking for me,"

"The solstice is two months away, where are you going?"

"I am traveling to see if I can find you a new teacher, someone I can trust,"

Merida put down her cup. Why would her teacher want to leave her? She promised to protect her. Now she was being abandoned and handed over to someone else.

"Before you go on blubbering, listen to what I have to say. I am old, there is no denying that, you need someone who will be able to teach you two years from now for your final exam and I'm afraid I won't be there to do it,"

"You are only 106 years old you still have almost half your life left,"

"Merida I cannot explain it, I just know the time to rejoin my ancestors is soon, sooner than I would like but nevertheless soon,"

Merida could feel the tears well up in her eyes. Her teacher was all she had left of her old life. How was she supposed to move on from this?

"Don't cry for me, I've had a long life, a good one too, I just want to prepare you for the worst,"

"I've been through the worst for the past four years,"

Her teacher sighed "I tried my best-

"No I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry," Merida said quickly, "You did wonderful under these circumstances,"

Her teacher smiled, "Once you are a full witch you can go wherever you want, you'll be old enough and skilled enough to protect yourself,"

"I'll never be a full witch you know that," Merida said bitterly,

Merida could not perform in the coming of age ceremony. A blood relation was needed in order to participate. Merida did have a maternal aunt but her mother had burned the bridge with her long ago. She could be anywhere and Merida's mother had banned her name from the house.

This ceremony was supposed to allow you to unlock your inner magic, meaning you could perform powerful spells without speaking them into existence. Without this ceremony, Merida would have to rely on casting spells with her words therefore she would always have a power that she would never be able to access without participating in the ceremony.

"There have been plenty of powerful witches who were unable to participate in their coming of age ceremony,"

"Name one,"

"I'm old my memory is fuzzy," Her teacher replied avoiding her eyes, "but I know you are a powerful witch with or without it,"

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, Hilda will stay with you and Zelda will be with me so we can communicate," she said, "make sure to feed her mice she likes the live ones best,"

Merida hated hunting mice for the crows, sometimes she would feed the crows corn or worms because she could not stomach the mice being eaten.

"I will try my best," Merida said suddenly losing her appetite.

Author's note: Next chapter will be a Hiccup chapter! Please vote and comment there will be another update in a few days!