Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons [COMPLETED]

Chapter 3

A robin settled down on a pine branch and began to preen itself. As it was just about to finish, the air suddenly grew very cold. It snapped its head around to the trunk of the tree and let out a startled chirp at what it saw. Without hesitation, the bird took flight and flew away from this new danger. Jack Frost adjusted his position against the pine and let his legs dangle off the branch. "Weirdo," Jack chuckled. He extended his staff to further down the branch and made contact. Frost spread all over that end of the branch. He dragged it back covering the entire limb with an icy layer.

"Sigh. The forest. So quiet. So serene. So boring." A harsh clanging noise shattered the peace of the afternoon. The clang was followed by a scream of terror. "Oo. Sounds like fun." Jack leapt off of his branch and tree-hopped till he found the source of the noise. Down in a glen, that scrawny boy was hiding behind a tree while the red-headed girl holding a sword stood on a rock. She moved her gaze back and forth, obviously searching for the boy.

A rustle came from nearby. Jack saw his robin friend perched on the branch in front of him. Before it could fly away, Jack tapped the bird's claws with his staff, freezing it to the branch. The bird's alarmed chirps grew more intense. Jack glared at it. "Shush." He froze the bird's beak shut. A smile spread across his features. "Ah, much better."

~

Merida stood over Hiccup, pointing a sword at his throat. "You let your guard down again."

"I thought I heard something." Hiccup scooted out from underneath the pointed blade and rose to his feet.

"That's no excuse." Merida placed her sword between a huge boulder and a tree, its designated hiding place. "You must stay focused at all times."

"I know." Hiccup retrieved his own sword and set it on top of Merida's. He rolled his shoulders and groaned. "This feels just like the beginning of Dragon Training."

Merida shouldered on her cloak. "Earlier today, what'd you do to that blue dragon-?"

"It's called a Gnadder."

"I know. How'd you make just roll over like that?" Merida picked up her bow and tightened her quiver of arrows around her waist.

"It's called Dragon Nip." Hiccup pulled out a sample from his inner vest pocket.

Merida sniffed it and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yick! I was wonderin' what I kept smellin' around you."

"How do you know it wasn't just my manly musk?"

Merida raised an eyebrow at him. Hiccup chuckled and put his Dragon Nip back in his vest. The two of them headed off towards the village.

"You know, you're actually doin' much better than yesterday."

Hiccup stared incredulously at Merida. "Am I dreaming or did you just compliment me?"

"Ach!" Merida slugged him in the arm.

"Ow! Just like Astrid."

"Astrid." Merida searched for the right face to match with the name. "Is she the one with the twin brother?"

"No, that's Ruffnutt. Astrid's the one with the axe who was glaring at you on her way out of Dragon Training."

"Oh. Is she always that angry?"

"No . . . Well, not all the time, anyway. But you have to admit: she is pretty."

Merida halted. Now, it was her turn to look incredulously at Hiccup. "Brave," Hiccup added quickly. "Pretty brave. That's...what I meant to say-."