Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons [COMPLETED]

Chapter 5

       Merida stood off to the side with her arms crossed and rolled her eyes impatiently. Hiccup tried very hard to think of what to say, but he had never dealt with a crying girl before. Rapunzel was sitting in the grass with her back to a rock. She was having another one of her "moments"- as Merida liked to think of them- where she was mentally kicking herself for leaving the tower. Merida nudged Hiccup with her elbow and nodded at Rapunzel. 

        Hiccup shook his head. "No," he whispered, "you." 

        "You," Merida insisted.

        "But you're a girl-."

        "You're just noticin' this now?"

        "Well, girls can talk to girls better."

        "I don't want to talk to her!"

        "What? Why not?"

        "Ach. You know what I mean."

     "No, I don't know wha-." Both paused in their whispered argument and looked down at Rapunzel. She was staring up at them with her tear-stained face. "Uh . . ." Hiccup chuckled nervously. 

        Merida sighed and knelt down in the grass beside Rapunzel. "Look, don't beat yourself up about this, all right? You're doin' the right thing."

        "Really?" Rapunzel wiped away her tears with a hopeful smile.

     Merida glanced back at Hiccup. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She turned back to Rapunzel. "Sure! Sure! In fact, it's just what your mother needed."

        "It is?"

        "Aye! You're bein' too hard on yourself. Your mother totally deserves this."

        "She does?!"

        "Of course! She locked you away in a tower for years on end! I'm just surprised you didn't rebel earlier. If it had been me, I would have stood up years ago, and said," Merida rose to her feet for effect, " 'Look, Mom! I'm goin' to see the lights whether you like it or not! I'm decidin' my own fate!' Then, I'd probably spit in her eye."

        Rapunzel slowly ran her hands down a lock of her hair. "That doesn't sound very nice . . ."

       "It's not," Hiccup interrupted, stepping forward. He got down on one knee to look Rapunzel in the eye. "But Merida is right when she says that you shouldn't be too hard on yourself." He took Rapunzel gently by the hand and pulled her to her feet. "You can do this."

        Rapunzel looked away, considering what he had just said. Then, she made eye contact again. "Y'know," she smiled, "you're right, Hiccup. I can do this!" She scooped up her pan and chameleon from their perch on a nearby boulder. "Let's go!" She started in the direction they had been heading before she had her "moment" and paused to look back. Hiccup and Merida were still standing by the boulders. Rapunzel chuckled. "Well, come on, you guys," she teased. She reached back and hooked her arm around Merida's.

        Merida quickly pulled her arm away in surprise. The only time she had had her arm grabbed was when she was rough-housing with her dad or brothers. Then, she realized that Hiccup and Rapunzel were staring at her. "Well, what are we waitin' for?" She briskly walked away in embarrassment. Rapunzel and Hiccup followed a moment later with Toothless trailing last.

        Merida allowed herself to lapse into a sullen silence while Hiccup and Rapunzel chatted pleasantly about art and indigenous plants. Sometimes she would look back at them out of curiosity to find their heads bent close together as they examined pictures in Hiccup's little book. Merida found that she didn't like how the two of them had become such fast friends. Their pleasant chatter grew very annoying. Why does this bother me so much? I mean it's not like Hiccup is going to stop being my friend just because-. Then, she realized how she had just described Hiccup as "her friend." She couldn't remember the last time she had ever labeled someone as her friend...besides Angus. She had tried to make friends before, but so many children had just wanted to be friends with the princess, not with Merida. The servants' children weren't any better with all their curtsying and bowing and always calling her "Princess" or never having anytime to play with her. But Hiccup didn't act like that around her. He acted like she was just a normal person and would even sword-fight (however poorly) with her. She liked having a friend...besides Angus.