A Winter Affair [a JackFrostxMerida a.u]

After Everything We've Seen

AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE SEEN

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This was bad. Oh, this was bad. Clutching the lower right side of his abdomen, where McCollough's sword had grazed him, Jack hurtled himself down the hallway as fast as he could manage. Pausing for breath, using one of the large beams at the corner of the railing for cover, his thoughts flew to Merida, hoping she was alright.

"Get out!" She yelled. McCollough ignored her.

"Nothing quite like your first time, is there boy?" He sneered. Jack tensed himself to fight, the female Guardian's words returning to him. "No magic, no immortality," 'I can do it,' he'd said.

The time had come to prove it. McCollough advanced on Jack, sword gripped tightly in his right hand. Jack had so far forced himself not to panic, but then he caught sight of Merida, clad in only her chemise, ripping the decorative bow from the wall above the bed. Followed by the single arrow that accompanied it. McCollough swung at him, and he scampered to the left, hoping his speed would be enough to keep him alive until he found some sort of weapon.

His attention turned back to Merida for a moment before he had to duck again. She had nocked the arrow and drawn the bow, and was aiming with fierce concentration. Jack wondered fleetingly if it would even shoot straight, not being meant for actual use. But his skepticism was for naught, he knew, as Merida let the arrow fly.

But no. He moved. McCollough stumbled slightly to his left, no doubt still a bit intoxicated, and her arrow hit him square in the left shoulder. It would have pierced his heart, Jack thought with chagrin.

McCollough roared—though surely more with anger than in pain; he had no doubt suffered much worse wounds on the battle fields—and turned on Merida

"My wife," he seethed, stepping closer. "Will be punished when she misbehaves!" He raised his sword, smirking maliciously, reveling in Merida's fear as she shrunk back against the wall. It was not lost on him when he eyes flicked to his right, and widened almost unnoticeably, then returned to him. Their was a scuffle of feet where she had glanced, and his smirk widened as he swung his sword to meet Jack midair—he had lunged, not knowing what else to do, or how else to distract him from Merida.

Jack was sent flying sideways into the wall, landing with a thud.

"No!" Merida screamed.

He was dizzy. So, so dizzy as he pushed himself up off of the ground, touching his side and feeling the warm, seeing the red. He'd never bled before.

"G-Go," he heard himself trying to tell her. "Run…" His head was swimming, and in his haze he grabbed for something anything…and he found it. Hard and jagged…a piece of the wall perhaps, broken off when he'd collided with it.

He could hear two sets of footsteps, one light and quick, which disappeared almost instantly, and one heavy and furious as they approached him. His head reeled and he almost vomited as he was overtaken by the sensation of being lifted into the air. McCollough had him by the throat.

He heard distant shouting.

McCollough glared at him, a twisted smile of victory contorting his face.

"Any last words, lad?" He sneered.

He couldn't see Merida.

"She got away," he said softly, smiling weakly at the bed. McCollough's eyes grew wide with realization, and he turned his head to see that it was true. She'd fled. Jack summoned all of his strength, gripping the chunk of wall he'd found tightly, and as soon as McCollough's jaw came back into view, he struck him in the temple as hard as he could.