Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons [COMPLETED]

Chapter 16

Queen Elinor paced back and forth in front of the cave where her boys were sleeping. She quickly halted and faced the sea. In the dark she could barely make out the Night Fury flying towards her, but the sound of wings beating the air was clear enough.

The Scottish queen met the dragon as soon as he collapsed on the sandy beach. "Where's Merida?" She could read the answer on Hiccup's and Rapunzel's faces, but she hoped it wasn't so.

Hiccup stared at his hands still holding the front of the saddle. Rapunzel glanced at him before trying to answer the grieved mother. "We . . . We left her behind," she said slowly.

Queen Elinor fixed her eyes over Rapunzel's shoulder to where she knew the island was. Her daughter. In danger. And Elinor couldn't do anything to help her. With her hand on her mouth to hold back a sob, the queen hurried back into the cave.

Angrily, Hiccup dismounted. Rapunzel sniffed and ran her hands along a lock of hair. Hiccup sent a spray of sand in the direction of the shore.

"Why do the gods hate me so much?" Rapunzel heard him mutter. Then, he opened his hands to the sky and shouted, "Can you let just one thing go right for me?"

Rapunzel slipped out of the saddle and came to stand beside him, her long brown hair dragging behind her. "Don't worry, Hiccup," she said quietly. "I-I'm sure it's not all hopeless."

"Seems pretty bleak to me," he grumbled, not looking at her.

Before she could answer, a cold breeze blew in from the trees further up the shore. Rapunzel gasped and whirled around to see Jack fly out of the bushes and land on the beach. "Jack," she gasped in delight and ran to wrap her arms around him.

Jack stood there for a moment letting this person hug him. Then he recognized the dress she wore. "Rapunzel?" He gently pulled her off of him and looked her over.

She chuckled sadly at him. "Like my haircut?" she asked and brushed her hair behind her ear.

He caressed her hair, taking in the new color. "Oh, Punzie," he whispered sympathetically and hugged her.

"It's all right," she murmured and leaned into his embrace. He was always so cold, but in his arms, she never felt warmer.

"Wow," a cheery voice said. Rapunzel and Jack pulled apart and looked up to see Tooth zoom out of the trees. She hovered over Rapunzel's hair stretched along the beach. "That is a lot of hair." The Tooth fairy flew up its length to its source. "Oh," she cried in surprise when she fully saw Rapunzel. "Hello." Tooth jerked her whole body from looking at Rapunzel to looking at her hair and back again. "You have really nice hair." She flitted around the couple in a halting fashion. "Of course, it's not like I really know much about that." She self-consciously brushed back her head feathers and glanced at Jack under her eyelashes.

Suddenly, a great shout came from the sky. The foursome looked up and saw a great sleigh driven by large animals careen through the air toward the beach. "Make way!" the driver shouted. "Scatter!"

Tooth screamed before zipping out of sight. Hiccup dove out of the way, and Jack scooped up Rapunzel and flew up in the air before the sleigh crash landed on the beach.

"Whoa!" North laughed, bringing his reindeer to a stop. "I'm getting better all the time!" The noise had awoken even the triplets, bringing the royal family out into the open to investigate.

Jack slowly landed. Then, he realized how he was still holding Rapunzel bridal style. He nervously chuckled.

Rapunzel giggled and placed her head on his shoulder. "My hero," she teased.