Elements of Change-Pt:2 Ch:20

Genre: Crossover

Brave
How to Train Your Dragon
_{DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BRAVE, HTTYD NOR THE CHARACTERS FROM SAID MOVIES. THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.}
CLAIMER: ANY OCS BELONG TO ME.

Note: I haven't done much research on Norse or Celtic history/mythology. No flaming for inaccuracy please.

Wardrobe

After they were left alone in the Great Hall, Astrid took Merida back to her house. Most of the journey back was spent in silence, but occasionally Merida would slow to a near stop looking at everything around her. She had done the same on the way to the Great Hall, but the princess seemed more nervous about having to speak in front of the people then. Upon arriving at the viking’s house, Astrid moved to her trunk at the foot of her bed and opened it. Inside were many pieces of clothing as well as a few weapons.

“Well,” she said while pulling out articles of clothing “can’t have you walking around Berk like that…Here.” She grabbed a handful of clothes and handed them to Merida. “You can change in here. I’ll go wait outside.”

“Uh, thanks.” The princess took the clothes hesitantly.

Astrid moved to the door and opened it. “Call me if you need anything.” she said before she walked outside.

Merida nodded then set down the clothes and examined them. There was a dark, lightweight tunic with no sleeves that reached down to her knees, plus another light blue tunic with long sleeves with a belt. There was also a pair of brown slacks, a leather skirt with spikes lined down it, a pair of brown bracers, and boots lined with fur on the inside. Merida dressed herself carefully so as not to displace the bandages that still covered her burned skin, but it wasn’t long before she ran into a problem.

“Uh…Astrid?” she called.

“Yeah?” she replied.

“Th’ skirt doesn’t fit. Ah’m afraid mah hips are too wide.”

Astrid walked in too see the dilemma. Smiling softly, she walked over and took the skirt. “It’s okay. It’s one of my old skirts. You don’t have to wear it.” And she threw it back in the trunk. She continued to smile as she looked Merida up and down, satisfied. “Do you want me to braid your hair? Berk is full of dragons, and we wouldn’t want it getting singed.”

“Well, it already got singed in th’ fire.” the princess sighed.

“Doesn’t mean we have to let it get damaged anymore.” Astrid led her over to the chair and sat her down. Merida actually wanted her hair to be left out free, but she didn’t argue and waited for her to be done.

Astrid tried her best to braid it, but Merida’s hair came to be more difficult to work with than she imagined. Her curls just kept tangling with one another and refusing to separate. Eventually, she just gave up and tied a string around her hair near the bottom to keep it together, but even then some strands got loose.

Merida gave a small chuckle when she realized the viking had given up. “Don’t worry. Yer not th’ first. Mah mum could never get mah hair ta do what she wanted.”

“Well, your mom’s a brave woman for even attempting more than once.” She gave a small laugh as she stretched her arms and fingers, then patted Merida on the shoulders. “Well, do you want me to show you around Berk?”

The Scott looked up. “Ah have ta speak ta Hiccup about mah request.”

“We have a bit of time before that. Usually when he goes to talk with his dad like that it turns into an argument, and he’d need to cool off for a bit anyway.”

Merida nodded, then stood up. “Then ah suppose there’s no harm in lookin’ around first.”

Astrid smiled brightly and the two of them walked out the door. She took her all around the village, introducing her to everyone they came across and telling her all about them. The first dragon they ran into was Meatlug, who tried to rub against Merida’s hand, but the princess moved away quickly, not knowing what to expect.

“It’s okay.” Astrid tried to reassure her. “They aren’t gonna hurt you. Dragons are our friends here.” But Merida still didn’t go near it. During the whole tour she avoided every dragon they came across, even after she saw how well humans and dragons got along. It didn’t help when Hookfang nearly toppled her over while Snotlout tried to get her attention. He managed to land a good five feet away from them.

“Hey, babe.” called Snotlout from the back of the dragon’s neck. “Name’s Snotlout…Jorgensen.” he jumped off the dragon and approached Merida who raised her eyebrow at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him. “Oh! Yer th’ hothead!” Snotlout stopped and cocked his head, but Astrid burst out laughing.

“Who told you that?” he said, offended.

“Hiccup did. When he was in Scotland.” she shrugged.

He raised his eyebrows. “Wait. He talked about me?”

“Aye. More of mentioned really. Th’ only ones he really talked of were his mum an’ Astrid.”

The female viking stopped laughing. “Really? He did? What did he say?”

“He didn’t SAY much. But he blushed whenever he talked about ye an’ how FRIENDLY th’ two of ye were.” Merida smiled.

“Oh.” Astrid sighed. Unexpectedly, she looked more sad than anything.

“Somethin’ wrong?” Merida said, looking over at her.

Astrid just smiled again and shook her head. “No, nothing. C’mon, I wanted you to meet Gobber. He’s used to be the town blacksmith, but now he and Hiccup spend part of the day making saddles and fixing dragon teeth.”

“I’ll come with you, and help…show her around.” Snoutlout said salaciously.

“No…you won’t.” Astrid forcefully shoved his face, making him stumble away while they walked toward the smithy. “So,” she continued as they walked the path, “Did Hiccup mention Gobber?”

“A bit. He’s Hiccup’s teacher, right?”

Astrid nodded. “More or less. By the way, did you know who I was when I gave you my name?”

“Aye. Well, it took a bit of time, but as soon as ah remembered where ah heard the word ‘Berk’ from, ah knew.”

“How come you didn’t say anything before the meeting?”

She shrugged. “Ah didn’t know how ye’d react, an’ ah was in a wee bit of a hurry ta meet with yer chief. Speakin’ o’ which, ah’m still in a hurry.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure when Hiccup’s done doing whatever nonsense he’s gotten into, he’ll come find you this time.”

“How can ye be so sure?”

“Well, for starters, he knows you. So that means he won’t avoid you, and it seemed like he wanted to say something to you earlier before…well, before his dad came into the conversation.”

“Ah don’t know. He kind of looked like he wanted ta run away an’ hide forever.”

“Well, it didn’t help that you kind of laughed at his face.”

Merida chuckled a bit. “Well, ah’m sorry. But whenever ah remembered Hiccup all ah saw was an awkward, scrawny, wee laddie who could barely lift his own weight. An’ now he’s gone an’ grown up on me.”

Astrid laughed. “That’s what happened when you get older.”

At that moment they arrived at the smithy, but Gobber had only just gotten there himself, and by the looks of it, he had been drinking…a lot. As they got closer, they could see there was no fire lit, and all the blacksmith was doing was dancing and singing while stumbling over nothing.

“Heil! To the ladies over yonder!” he called as the girls approached. He kept humming and spinning while they watched in complete silence. Occasionally he would kick over a toolbox or fall on a table.

“He’s not usually like this, I swear.” Astrid whispered over to the confused Scott. Merida just nodded slowly. “Gobber, how much ale did you drink?” Astrid called, approaching him carefully as she would a wild dragon.

He stopped moving for a moment. “Only a few kegs. Don’t worry. I’ll have plenty room for more!” he skipped around a bit more before the female viking forced him into a chair. Even while sitting he tapped his peg leg and hummed some strange tune.

“Gobber, what were you doing drinking so much?” Astrid sat down across from him, tired from wrestling him.

“Well,” he burped, “Stoick offered, so I drank. Until Hiccup threw me out the door and pew…here I am…”

Astrid gave a heavy sigh, then wheeled around to lead Merida someplace else. “Sorry.” she said, “we can come back when he’s more sober.” taking her arm, Astrid tried to get the princess out of there as quickly as possible. 

To her surprise, Merida just gave a hearty laugh, amused by the drunkenness of the man. “He reminds me of mah dad. Jus’ drinks away till he fall over.”

“What kind of man is your father?”

Merida continued chuckling as they walked away from the smithy. “Well, known as ‘The Bear King’, mah dad is respected fer fightin’ the largest, most dangerous bears an’ still survivin’. Well, not without gettin’ his leg chomped off.”

Astrid’s eyes widened. “Woah, so is the bear still out there?”

“No, mah mum killed it.”

“Wait, what?” They stopped walking. Astrid was beginning to wonder what kind of people really lived in Scotland.

Merida gave a heavy sigh. “It’s a long story.” 

Conflict

“Dad, what were you thinking?” Hiccup groaned as he dragged his father away from the table. He had just scolded Gobber and sent him out the door as Stoick tried to get another drink. While he was upstairs, he heard their singing get louder, but he didn’t notice how drunk they were till their laughing turned into a laughing nonsense.

“I wasn’t…” Stoick chuckled and groaned as Hiccup led him to his bed where he flopped down. The chief wrestled the man’s mug away from him and set it firmly on the table.

“Actually,” Stoick leaned over and grabbed his son’s hand. “I was thinking about your mother.”

Hiccup froze. The previous conversation was just a giant reminder to Stoick and the village on what the Scotts did to his mother. 

“I remember her favorite song…” the drunken viking slurred. “I’d swim and sl…hnn…svage seas…”

Hiccup started cleaning up. Stoick released his hand as soon as he started singing again. The chief had heard the song over twenty times now while Gobber was still in the house, but he thought it best to let his father have it one more time.

“No freezing sun nor scorching rain…can evr hmm nnh…”

He continued mumbling through the song before he finally gave a large yawn which transitioned into a snore. Once he was finally asleep, Hiccup sighed and sat down at the table. His face curled into a worried look as his eyes gazed over his father. 

He remembered how conflicted he was once he realized he had woken up in Scotland all those years ago, remembering how his own mother was killed by such people, and in such an unforgiving manner. The only difference now is that no one has the need to trust this visitor. They could ignore her plea for help and not have anything to do with her kingdom. Hiccup, however, had to trust the people who saved his life and hopefully find his own way home.

Exhausted and conflicted, he placed the silver necklace on the table. He had taken it out of his dresser only seconds before he realized how drunk the two men were downstairs, so he carried it in his hand the whole time.

The more he stared at it, the more he could feel a large knot forming at the back of his throat. His guilt forced him to look away from it. At first, he did intend to go back, but with all the dragons and the academy and everything that needed to be done on Berk, he stayed. Within a few months, he forgot. And that’s what killed him the most. Had Merida not come to Berk, had Astrid not saved her, he would never have gone back. Groaning, he leaned back in his chair, allowing the back to catch him.

Why are dragons attacking DunBroch? He thought as he closed his eyes. Perhaps it’s another Death. A sigh escaped his mouth as he remembered the giant dragon he faced as a young 15 year old. He didn’t want to have to face another one again, but if it were to save the people he once came to love, he would do it.

Just then Toothless waddled down the steps. He still looked tired with his eyes only half open, and he gave a yawn as large as Stoick’s once he saw Hiccup sitting at the table.

Hiccup chuckled, “That’s what you get for sleeping in all day.”

The dragon glared at him, then walked over to whap him with his tail. Unfortunately, he misjudged the distance and only grazed his hair. Grumbling, he moved out the door by himself, his tail swishing behind him.

He blinked as soon as the sun hit his eyes, and he gave another wide yawn. Finally outside, he stretched his wings to their full span and loosened his muscles. After flapping his now awake bat-like wings he looked over across the village to the feeding station. There was still a good amount of fish piled up, and the fishermen hadn’t even come with another load yet.

The Night Fury bounded toward the feeding station with the smell of fish entering his flared nostrils. But there was something else in the air. Something familiar yet it didn’t belong. He stopped and sniffed the air. It didn’t take long to pinpoint the strange smell.

Suddenly his eyes widened as he realized what it was. Turning his head, he saw two familiar figures. One he recognized right away as Astrid and the other was the redhead he smelled from the burning ship.

Excited, he leaped toward them. He stopped right before them, smiling and ready for some form of affection. He knew this girl. Her face was hazy in his memory but there was no denying the smell of the nice girl from four years ago. 

“Hey there, Toothless!” Astrid said as she rubbed the side of his face. He purred at her touch, but he wanted more attention. However when he came over to the Scott she looked hesitant, and took half a step backward.

Slightly disappointed, he sat down and lowered his ears. Right then her face softened and she lifted her hand to him.

“There’s a familiar face.” she exclaimed, and he pressed his nose against her palm. Giggling, she stroked his face, then his neck and continued to rub and scratch it. Loving the great amount of affection, he purred and groaned at her scratches, until she scratched under his jaw and all the muscles in his body went numb. Happily, he flopped to the ground as she laughed and continued to stroke him.

“Where did you learn that?” Astrid said.

The princess shrugged. “There are some things ye never forget.”