"I dream of the day where men can own beautiful and dangerous things, and use them wisely."

-Grimbeard the Ghastly, How To Be A Pirate

~O~

Night Encounters

Merida gritted an apple in her mouth in the midmost of their kitchen, trying her best to look occupied while snatching a plate full of desserts. Time had slipped her fingers as she walked through the halls with a breathless pace. The great doors of their dining hall opened, revealing her family already at dinner and eating away. Her brothers were clearly not justified on the meals they had thought they deserved to eat. Her father, Fergus, king of their clan, never stopped talking about his legendary fight with Stoick the Vast, which quite worsened their condition.

"From nowhere, the biggest Viking you've ever seen! His hide littered with the weapons of fallen warriors — his fists clenched as I knocked off his hammer! I drew my sword…" he waved the chicken leg he was eating. Harris imitated him, drawing his own imaginary sword. He was about to roar when another voice interrupted him.

"And whoosh!" Merida exclaimed to her brothers. "With one blow of Stooick the Vast, dad's leg was clean off!"

"Aww," Fergus sighed. "That was my favorite part."

"Stoick has never been seen since," she continued in a more serious tone of voice. "Legends say he will return from the wild with beasts far more terrifying than bears, waiting for his revenge…" she whirled around her father, making eerie noises.

She set down the platter, and along came her bow, which earned her a disapproving glare from her mother.

"Merida, how many times do I have to tell you not to put your weapons on the table?" She calmly inquired while reading a letter in hand.

"Obviously ye haven't stopped trying after forty. So why stoop now?" She replied, still chewing about of the apple from her mouth. She spluttered and giggled when a piece managed to escape from her drooling mouth.

"Merida, a princess must always present proper manners." Elinor reprimanded, to which only Merida responded with a glower. Her mother suddenly noticed the abundance of desserts just beside her. "You'll get dreadful collywobbles. Oh, Fergus! Will ye look at your daughter's plate?" Her husband immediately turned to her almost at once, fear marked all over the contours of his stiff yet cheerful face.

He had his own large platter of food. Merida wrinkled her nose at her father as he chuckled in return. "Let her be, Elinor! She needs a full stomach, you know." The Queen rolled her eyes.

"Stubbornness; comes from your side of the family." Elinor mumbled, and continued reading the letter. Her eyes scanned to the nifty scribbling of each of the great lord's response to her invitation. As soon as she had read the last, she suddenly exclaimed.

"Fergus! They've all accepted!" Her eyes were bright and gleeful. Merida looked just as confused as her brothers when they were being asked by their mother to try and eat a good deal of healthy fare.

"Who's accepted what, Mother?"

Elinor looked confident, smiling away as she faced Merida with an effervescent face. "Merida, I think its finally time that a young lady such as yourself is finally taking a very serious responsibility," she cleared her throat. "I think ye are very much ready."

"For what?"

"The lords are presenting their sons as suitors for yer betrothal." Merida looked down to her plate, trying to comprehend what her mother had just said. Betothal? Marriage? Her? What?!

Elinor inched a bit closer to her daughter, who she noticed was hardly breathing. Her eyes were fixed on the food, but her mind was clearly set on the marriage issue. "Merida, you're getting married." There was an unnerving silence, before Merida jumped in her seat. Slabs of meat smacked the floor while vegetables rolled underfoot.

"WHAT?! DAAAD!"

"And here we go." Fergus sighed. He tried smiling at her, but she couldn't return the mirthful gleam in his eye.

Elinor rose, trying to calm her daughter. "Calm down, Merida. Its just marriage, not the end of the world."

"Ah will not!" Her face now matched the beets that were staining the floor.

"A princess does not raise her voice,"

"I'd rather die than be a princess locked up wi'in these walls, Mum!" She banged her fist against the table. "Wha' makes ye think I want tae do this?"

"Merida, you know very well our kingdom has followed this tradition for hundreds of years." Elinor said. "And we are in grave need of allies against a threat that could jeopardize our kingdom."

Berk. Merida thought, and suddenly enraged with every living thing on the island.

Fergus Dunbroch's archenemy, Stoick the Vast, had chopped off his leg in a bloody battle of the Scottish and Vikings back when Merida was very young. Then, the Scottish have angered the Vikings, when they killed Valhallarama, the wife of Stoick the Vast. And now, Stoick had wished nothing upon his highland enemies, but sworn vengeance.

Legends say he will return with beasts even more frightening than bears. Merida had heard all of the legends and stories, that was what motivated her to fend for herself, and not end up being one legged like her father.

Vikings are the terrors of the seas, the scourge of civilization, great Barbarian Warriors of the North. Not a soul in Scotland wanted a Viking Soul in their motherland.

"Aye, but you cannae just marry me off like some desperate wee lass. I will never fall in love, Mum! I won't go through with that," She yelled as she stood up, causing her chair to scrape over the stone floor. She picked up her bow and arrow and yelled. "And ye can't make me!"

"Merida, stop!" But it was too late, the stubborn princess of Dunbroch had already fled the halls.

Merida had to chide Angus a number of times as she led him from the stable. Eager to be free of his stall, the young stallion was skittish, tossing his head and almost treading on her heels. When she finally mounted herself upon him, Angus trotted towards the gate, his speed steadily increasing. When they hit onto the valley floor, he burst into a gallop. She leaned forward, letting her horse leap into a flat run. He stretched out, riding out into the glen like a gale in pursuit of the forest ahead of them.

The moon tore through the sky decked in heavy clouds, penetrating the forest in individual, blue rays. Streams of mist reached down, finger-like, to grasp the hillsides which had just begun to glow with the passing of summer.

Angus reveled his speed, as well as giving out a whinny of excitement. With his nose blowing hard against the wind lashing through her cheeks, she couldn't hear the startling cry that struck her horse with fear.

Merida let out a yell as Angus sprang forward with a sudden jolt, leaping into the moor. She righted herself into the saddle and hauled back on his mane, despite all her strength put in the effort, Angus was aflame with his own power and wouldn't stop kicking his legs like a roiling thunder ready to burst into storm.

"Angus!" she mumbled in his mane. He ignored her, running as if the hordes of hell were in pursuit of him. He plunged on with a shrill whinny. Merida grasped the horse's neck and gave it a sharp jerk. At the same moment, she shouted with all the breath she saved from screaming. "ANGUS STOP!"

Startled by her shout and the sudden jerk upon his mane, he abruptly stopped. His hooves slid along the wet ground sending a shower of grass and soil in cascade around them. While the horse stopped, Merida did not. She catapulted over his neck and head, crashing to the ground on her back, Merida rolled back on her feet, driving her hair out of the way.

"Angus!" She scolded, but her horse seemed to pay her no heed. She watched Angus looked at the sky in feverish gaze, fear and terror washed up on the shores of his black, liquid eyes.

Two silver streaks sailed into view, but incredibly fast. Merida narrowed her eyes into thin slits as she focused on the sky. A sound edged her forward, and she knew it was no ordinary sound. It was far too steadier than the usual fall and rise of fickle spring gusts. She plunged deeper into the darkness, curiosity getting the best of her.

A blue mist crept out from the sodden thickets. It was a wisp, and it was leading her to the darker side of the forest. She had this sudden urge to follow it. Merida looked behind her to see a reluctant Angus.

"Angus, come!" She beckoned with a wave of her hand. Angus gave a snort and hid beyond the thicket of bushes.

"Oh come now ye wee baby!" Merida said in a hoarse whisper. "Fine then." She scoffed, turning away and following the wisp. The young stallion blew his nose hard, yet sprang forward to follow her anyways.

Merida was starting to get excited. Whenever she touched one, another wisp would appear, with only a slight distance of difference. The farther they had gotten, the more trees scattered and encompassed them. They were all so still, like pillars of a solemn temple. After they passed by five wisps when Angus stopped once more in his tracks.

"Angus, wha' now?" She huffed. He replied by standing up on his hind legs and pumped his front hoofs into the hair. "Will ye calm down? There's absolutely nothing…" she whirled around to find four, large yellow eyes staring into her own.

"…there." She breathed.. Caught in the moonlight, the animal's features were made plain, and Merida twisted at the sight. Never had she seen such a creature in her life. Its skin feverish green and dotted with yellow streaks on its scaly back, its skin leathery and whittled with spikes. Its talons slashed the air in frustration as it hovered towards her.

What's worse, it had two heads. Two heads, one body. Had Angus thrown her hard enough to make her this insane? She hadn't had enough time to think. When the creature neared her enough, Angus let out a shrill whinny, causing its pupils to suddenly morph into thin, black lines.

It launched at Merida with its razor sharp teeth, gnawing at clawing at her when she immediately ducked. Angus sprang forward, but the creature's tail lashed him with one swipe, throwing the stallion against the bark of an oak tree. It began chasing Merida away from Angus, blocking her way whenever she tried to run to him.

"Angus!" She called out as she ran as fast as she could, making brief shifts and turns to make the creature slip with every move she made. Merida eventually tripped, and it wasn't long before the creature stood on top of her, ready to chew off the head of his evening victim. Its hot breath sniffed her face and tickled her cheeks, and the princess closed her eyes to avoid seeing how her fate turned out to be.

She thought the next thing she would hear was the sound of her head being chewed on by this creature, but instead, it was another voice. Human voice. "Barf! Belch!" Merida heard the constant flapping of wings nearby, slowing when its feet reached the ground with a thud. At once, she felt the heavy weight of the animal's body lifted from hers. Surprised, she opened her eyes to see the creature splattered on the ground, its head bent low in surrender.

In front of it, was a person she assumed the voice belonged to. But this person seemed so foreign to her. He didn't look Scottish at all. He wore chausses instead of the traditional Scottish skirts and decked in brown leather vests over his pale green shirt. She was lost for words when she saw, just beside him, was another one of those creatures. Just as scaly, yet was the colour of dusk, and its eyes were yellow and enormous.

Before she could reach out to grab his attention the boy became alarmed and quickly swung himself onto the saddle of the black creature and took off, tailing him was the green creature who had previously wanted to eat the living daylights out of her. Their silhouettes were outlined by the moon, making them look like tiny little birds slowly fading to the string of clouds and stars.

She didn't know who he was, or what he is exactly or how he managed to make a creature a hundred times larger than him submit to his command. She had never seen it before. There had actually might be some truth about the ancient prophesies and legends for there was something unusual about him that made chills race down her spine.

He was something different, and she had this feeling she would see him again.

Legends repeating itself. Prophesies coming true. The existence of what never existed. She knew it couldn't be possible.

Despite of that, something tells her that everything she knows is about to change.

A/N: This was something far different from my usual fandoms, but I really love this couple! They give me so many feels. Do you ship them hard too? If you do, here's a donut *hands out virtual donuts* Let me know if you enjoyed the donuts..oh and the this chapter too XD.