Battle Cry | Mericcup (REWRITE)

Chapter 10

Merida was surprised to be out with the same man who locked her up. The night was cold and peaceful. The groggy feeling was gone and she was wide awake. The winds were soft and sweet as they ran. Hiccup held Merida's hand, pulling her with him until they reached the deepest part of the forest. They went inside a cave-like path to reveal a wide circular cliff with a lake in the middle.

When Hiccup stopped, Merida could hear him panting. She was also panting, tired, and mostly confused. "We will stay here for a bit until we formulate a plan." Hiccup said inbetween panting.

Merida did not speak but she stared at their hands. She was still too stunned to speak. First, she was sleeping inside her cell, now, she escaped with the sole person who put her there. She should kill him now. By the looks of him, Merida thought she could take him down with one enormous flip. But as she remembered her last sword fight with him, there was a slight probability that he could knock her out as well. Hiccup was still panting beside her, but less than he did a minute ago. He sighed and noticed what Merida was looking at and did not realize that he was still holding her hand. He quickly let go and brushed his hair awkwardly.

There was a long awkward silence between them if it wasn't for the soft coo of owl from a distance and the faint whisper of the lake below. The silence went on for a few minutes until Hiccup turned his gaze back to the place where they were. "This is where Toothless and I first met," Hiccup said after clearing his throat. "After I shot him."

Merida's mouth dropped open. "You shot your dragon?" Merida asked, surprised. "How did you get to tame him?"

"It's a long story, really." Hiccup answered.

"Yeah, I don't really want to know if it's long. I have not the time." Merida shrugged.

Hiccup went down first. Merida followed wherever he stepped. The moon was their only source of light. Her eyes already adjusted in the darkness, but she still find it hard to see where she was suppose to step. Hiccup had already set foot on the grass when Merida accidentally missed a step and fell down. Out of reflex, Hiccup went over to pull her up.

"Don't," Merida said forcefully. "Touch me."

She stood and dusted herself. Without surprise, her back had hurt from the fall. But she bit down a grunt because the last thing she ever want was for this viking to help her deal with her own pain. "I can handle things on my own." She said with her thick Scottish accent.

Hiccup let her be. Instead of arguing, he went over to a wall of enormous rock covered with vines. He then moved the vines away to reveal a cave leading who knows where. It was what Hiccup discovered while he was out in the woods alone to think. He usually wander around the forest whenever he wanted to breathe for a bit. For some reason, he felt the urge to go back to where he first met Toothless. Alas, he found the cave.

Behind him, Merida trailed. Hiccup did not know what to do or how to start. When he busted Merida out of her cell, he did not have a concrete plan. All he had was the will to save his mother that he will do anything for her.

As Merida and Hiccup sat inside silently, it starting to get colder. Then suddenly, someone's stomach growled. It was probably Merida, or Hiccup, or it could be both their stomach, dying to get a taste of food.

"A-are you hungry?" Hiccup asked. "I forgot to pack food. I guess I got a little too carried away that I have forgotten to pack."

Merida rolled her eyes and stood. Hiccup followed her. "I can catch a fish for you." Hiccup said. "If you'd like."

"No, thank you." Merida answered as she scanned the place for a branch of oak that she can use. Hiccup decided to sit on the grass as he watched Merida work. She had successfully found a branch that does not seem to be an oak but it's bendable. Merida measured the branch and nodded.

She walked over to Hiccup, reaching her hand out. "Give me your knife."

Out of instinct, Hiccup covered his hand protectively on his belt where the knife was sheathed. "Uhh-" He said.

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Merida cursed. "I will not stab you. You do know I could have choked you to death by now?"

"That does not make me feel good." Hiccup said but still handed Merida his knife. He took a mental note to keep a small distance from her so he could run away as soon as he could if ever she thought of a clever idea to kill him.

The knife that Merida took was sharp enough to carve the branch. Merida had thinned the branch enough to bend, but not too thin for it to break off easily. She then poked holes on either side of the branch and reached out to the inside of her skirt. Which Hiccup quickly averted his gaze from. "This lady shows no decency for a princess!" Hiccup thought.

Merida had busied herself by tying both ends of the string to the ends of the branch tightly until the branch bended well enough to form a bow. She then took the other sticks that she gathered and began scraping one end of it until it was pointy enough to scour Hiccup.

Hiccup stared at her in awe. "I have no idea a princess can do that."

"Well, you took my bow and quiver." Merida said, handing back the knife to Hiccup. "And believe me, being a princess sucks. All those rules and traditions." She did not want to be open to him, but she still told him how terrible it was to be a princess. She left the details about the marriage that her mother was forcing her to get in to. And to her surprise, Hiccup was a great listener. He nodded and commented where she expects him to be. But mostly, he just listened. To Merida, it felt good to let it out.

"And, well, that's my horrible life." Merida exclaimed. "Now! Do you think there are fishes in here?" Hiccup nodded.

Merida loaded the bow that she made with the poor arrow that she carved. Under the moonlight, she spotted a faint movement in the water in which she followed with her bow. She waited. When the timing felt right, she released the arrow and it pierced straight to the fish.

She turned to Hiccup triumphantly but her faced dropped when she saw him staring. "What in the world do you think you're doing? You were suppose to make fire!" Merida exclaimed. "You can't expect me to do all the work for you!"

The young man snapped back to his senses and said, "Oh yes, sorry." Hiccup went around to gather sticks while Merida tried to catch more fish. Once enough sticks were bundled on his arms, he placed it down and stared at it for a while.

"Here goes nothing." Hiccup whispered to himself and started rubbing sticks together. With no such luck, he started grunting and cursing under his breath, "Skít'r!"

Merida walked over to him with two fishes skewered in each sticks that she was holding. The bow the she had made was slung on her shoulder. Merida sat across Hiccup and gave him a disapproving look. "Do you even know how to make fire?" Merida asked.

"I...uh..of course I do." He said before trying again to light a fire.

Merida watched him struggle.

"Come on, light up." Hiccup muttered under his breath. To his surprise, Merida laughed. He stopped to turn his gaze towards her, her silhouette emphasized by the light of the moon.

"That's not how you do it!" She said, grabbing the sticks from Hiccup's hand and started making fire. "You angle it like this. Then, you take a dry grass or leaf to help the fire start."

Hiccup pursed his lips, embarassed that a princess who he thought would be a pain to be stuck in the woods with was better at surviving than him, a viking. If his cousin, Snotlout, hears about this, he would not shut up for months. "Toothless is usually the one making fire for me." He admitted.

Merida rolled her eyes as she handed Hiccup the other stick so they could cook their meal. "The dragon? You should learn how to survive for some situations like this."

"I guess I should." Hiccup sighed.

It was a surprise to Merida that the person who she thought was intimidating, cold, and heartless would be this less skilled at surviving. To think that he was a viking after all. He was quite innocent, and mostly awkward. For some reason, Merida felt bad for him. He really just want to save his mother.

"We need to have a plan, Hiccup." Merida said, feeling weird to say the boy's name without hatred or loathing. "We need to get your mother and make sure the person behind this will not remain unpunished."