Reminder that this is set somewhere between 1880's and 1920's

I do not own the characters nor their franchise; I'm merely a fan girl.

That night was stormy. It was like the rain would not calm. Its impact on stone roofs muffled any sound coming from outside. Even if one yelled, it would only come out as distant talking, a whisper, and imagination. In the Dunbroch manor, the home of a wealthy, highly respected family, shouting of two women were hushed by the rain's overwhelming gushing down the city. The always quiet, ambient and humble home of the Dunbrochs was now a chaos.

The mother of the household, Elinor, attempted to make her daughter, Merida, to understand their situation. Other than they needed money, it was a sure way for their only daughter to not suffer from poverty and shame, but their daughter did not know about it. They did not want to tell her just yet.

They hid it by disguising their motive by saying they wanted her to be happy, but she did not want to. She disliked the idea. She loathed the thought of it. It wasn't that she did not understand, it was just that it was so sudden. They were going to marry her off to someone she didn't even know! From disbelieved talking to angry yelling, the young Dunbroch stomped to her room.

"Ah won't go through with it!" She flung her arms up in frustration as she marched with angry steps to the stairs. "An' ye can't mak' me!" Her hands clenched tight on her dress as she made her way up to her room.

"Merida!" Her mother called her, but she had slammed the door already.

The young redhead, frustrated, unlaced her dress as she muttered curses under her breath. Once she got out of her outfit and was just in her undergarments, she threw her dress on the chest by the foot of her bed and plopped on the mattress.

She was just 19. She didn't know anything about the guy they were going to marry her off to. Much more, she didn't know anything about married life. Happiness? Clearly, her mother didn't know what her happiness was. She never asked her what would make her happy. It was always 'this is good for you' or 'that is better for us'. The woman never asked the young one what she thought was better for herself. Her mother said they were going to marry her off no matter what.

No matter what eh?

Merida's eyebrows furrowed. Fine, then. She had made up her mind. She was going to run away but how? If the servants would see her, she was bound getting locked up in her room and guarded for. Her gaze trailed across the room.

She needed a disguise... but what?

Her vision lay upon dirty clothes that were on her dirty laundry basket. Her eyes flickered from the realization. Of course! Merida rushed to her laundry basket and got the dirt-stained clothes. These clothes were the ones she and her mother argued about the other day; the ones she bought and wore because she liked them and they felt much more comfortable than her corset dresses, but her mother said no because trousers and shirts were for men, and she looked not very feminine in them.

Perfect, she smirked mischievously to herself.

It was only a matter of time until her mother would probably unlock her door and talk to her about it. So before that would even happen, Merida got bandage from her drawer and wrapped it around her chest area to flatten it, before she slipped into the shirt and trousers. As for her footwear, she grabbed her riding boots.

Now her hair was the problem. It was a bundle, a mass of long curly red hair that reached her waist.

Merida looked at herself in the mirror and tapped her chin thoughtfully before trying out a few hairstyles that could conceal it. When she found the right one, she got her cap (one of the few she hid from her mother) and wore it to conceal her long hair. She stood once again in front of the mirror and checked herself.

Good. She smiled with determination.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps from the hall. Her mother. Merida grabbed the first thing she could reach: a few coins, and pocketed them. She opened her window, slipped out and closed them as she leaned carefully from kneeling on a sturdy tree branch.

Her heart was beating fast and she was only keeping her panic at bay. Everything seemed slow even though they were really fast. She went around the trunk to get to the side where a branch extended close to the high brick fence that walled their property in. The lass carefully crawled her way to the wall and before she knew it, she heard her mother's muffled scream from finding out her loss.

Panic took over so she jumped over the fence and did a somersault on a puddle. The rain had soaked her within a matter of seconds. One by one, lights were turned on in their dark household.

For a while, all she could do was stare back, but she shook her head to snap out from what she had done and ran away, away from her home. She wasn't going to look back anymore. She ran until her knees ached for fear that her parents and their servants would find her if she stopped too soon.

Merida almost reached the other end of the town and the rain hasn't stopped yet, nor has it even wavered. It was late in the night and a pub was open by the end of the street. She strode her way there and entered. This could be where she could sleep for the night. Hopefully, her coins would suffice.

The young Dunbroch closed the door behind her, forgetting what was before and faced freedom. It wasn't going to be easy; not even the slightest, but this was where her freedom would start, where her happiness would begin.

End

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