Merida huffed as she ran through the forest. She used her tracking skills to follow Gaston. Not that she really needed them since he was leaving a trail of blood behind. The cold air burned her nose and throat.

"I hope Hiccup and Toothless are alright," Merida thought.

'Hiccup we need to get out of here! They're trying to kill us!' Merida remembered Astrid saying.

"That's right! Astrid took Hiccup, so I'm sure she'll keep him safe," Merida reasoned with herself.

She didn't hold a grudge on Toothless since she knew Gaston had been behind it all. If anything it only fueled her determination to find him and stop the entire mess.

She made it to the usual clearing with the large stones in a circle. Somehow, she was always led there.

"What happened to your little knight in shining armor?" Gaston mocked her.

He was leaning against one of the stones-- the same one her mom had used to defeat Mor'du.

"Why won't ye just give up? Ye'll bleed to death if ye don't come with me," Merida said as she pointed her sword at him.

"Didn't hear you very well. That accent of yours is too thick," Gaston replied.

He threw various eggs toward Merida who dodged them knowing they were the reason Toothless acted strange before.

"What do ye want from me!" Merida exclaimed.

"It's simple really, to end your life and his," Gaston replied.

"What did we ever do to ye?" Merida growled.
"It's not so much what you did as what you'll do," Gaston replied.

"Merida!" Hiccup called from the air.

Merida looked up giving Gaston the chance to throw an egg at her. It exploded and her eyes were covered in black dust. She fell on her knees from impact.

Toothless landed and growled at Gaston while Hiccup jumped off and ran to Merida. Toothless jumped and pinned Gaston down.

"Merida, are you okay?" Hiccup asked.
Merida rubbed her eyes and looked at him.

"Stay away from me you sorcerer!" She exclaimed and swung the sword toward him.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked and dodged.

Toothless turned toward her. She gasped once she saw him.

"Hiccup! Get away from him Mor'du!" Merida exclaimed and ran to him, ready to strike.

"Merida, help me!" Gaston said.

Hiccup had to tackle her so she wouldn't hit Toothless.

"What did you do to her?!" Hiccup demanded.

"Hiccup!" Merida cried and clawed at the ground.

She elbowed Hiccup's face and scrambled to her feet. Hiccup ran in front of her but she tackled him instead.

"I'm ending this now!" Merida exclaimed and held the sword above his chest.

"Toothless, now!" Hiccup yelled and grabbed Merida's hands.

Toothless shot Gaston. Merida saw and screamed out as she cut Hiccup's side.

"Merida... It's okay. I'm here," Hiccup told her.

Gaston's body turned to dust and blew away. Merida blinked as the black dust in her eyes turned gold and disappeared. She gasped and got off Hiccup.

"Hiccup! What happened?" She asked and looked at his injury. "Was that... ye?"

Large clouds began to form above them.
Thunder boomed throughout the kingdom. The clansmen back at the castle stopped fighting.

"Where is Lord DingWall?" Young McIntosh asked through the silence.

A few men pointed to the dining area. Young McIntosh ran over wanting to know the cause of his betrayal. Lord DingWall was on top of the table leaning on a chair as he massaged his head. Wee DingWall, was gagged and tied down to a chair near him. Catriona and Iseabail were surrounded by guard in the corner.

"Lord DingWall, why would you do this? I thought we were supposed to be united," Ryan told him.

"What? What are ye blabbering about?" Lord DingWall asked.

"Don't play coy with me," Ryan growled. "You're the reason all of this happened!"

Wee DingWall shuffled around in his chair. Ryan ran over and untied him.

"He's innocent! That sorcerer the princess was looking for did it," Boyd explained.

"How are you so sure?" Ryan asked.

"His eyes were a reddish purple and when I asked him to let Ruffnut go he said he'd kill me before letting her go," Boyd explained. "He'd never tell me that."

"He's right! Da loves us so much. He has never once raised his hand at us," Iseabel agreed.

"Can someone explain why my head hurts?" Lord DingWall asked.

The four young adults looked between each other. The soldiers backed up allowing Catriona and Iseabel to walk toward their father.

"It is a bit hard to believe," Catriona told their father.

Merida could barely contain her sobs, "I... I should ... I should have never let him get to me."

"I've been in worse situations," Hiccup chuckled and lifted his leg slightly.

"I'll take you back! We can get ye cleaned up!" Merida frantically told him.

She tried lifting him but he hissed in pain.

"I don't *sharp breath* think I should move," Hiccup told her.

Merida's face crunched up as she tried to contain her sobs.

"Toothless! Go get the- go get the royal doctor! He lives in the wooden h-house in front of the castle!" She told him. "Please hurry!"

Toothless hesitated for a second before running off. Merida could hear the familiar drip drop of rain. She looked up, letting the rain mix with her tears, and then looked back at Hiccup.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered and sniffed. "Everything will be okay. The doctor will fix ye."

She ripped the hem of her dress and gently wrapped it around Hiccup's torso.

"Merida, you need to go back," Hiccup slowly got out. "They don't know that the cause of all this is gone."

"I'm not leaving ye," Merida replied and sniffed.

"I don't want you to leave either, but I'll be fine. One rainy day won't ruin my life," he replied jokingly.

Merida bit her lip when she realized something.

"A rainy day," she whispered.

She looked to her side and gasped when she saw the small bag was still there. She quickly grabbed it and took the contents out. There were two rings and a note.

'When you share these rings, you share a bond not even death can break as long as love is the source within the knott. This has a one time use, use it wisely," Merida read aloud.

The ink on the note began to run so the words ran into each other.

"Not even death can break," Merida repeated and looked at Hiccup. "I don't want ye to be tied down to me, but I also don't want ye to die."

"You could use it on someone more
important," Hiccup replied slowly and put a hand on her face. "Someone you love... Who was th—the guy you said wouldn't— wouldn't notice you? I'm sure you don't know how he really feels."

Merida sniffled and shook her head.

"He's engaged to a wonderful girl who he's really happy with," Merida replied. "She's beautiful, strong, loyal. She's been with him when I haven't... Which is why I don't want these rings to break that bond."

Something in Hiccup's mind clicked. Merida placed her hand over the hand he had on her cheek and carefully pulled it away from her.

"Don't worry. I know this doesn't mean anything to ye," Merida bit her lip, trying not to cry again. "I promise this won't get my hopes up."

She gave him a small smile and placed the bigger ring on his left ring finger. She was about to put the other one on when he stopped her.

"What if... I'm the one who gets his hopes up?" He asked her.

Merida was stunned, if the situation wasn't so serious she would have laughed it off, thinking it was a joke.

"Let me," he interrupted her thoughts and took the other ring.

Merida's heart skipped a beat, her promise lasting only a few seconds. He gently placed the ring on her left ring finger.

He tried to pull her closer, but he was too weak.

"Ye don't really mean it," Merida whispered more to herself than to him.

Still, without thinking, she leaned in and their lips touched. When they pulled apart Merida looked at his wound and found that it was healed, but his shirt was still soaked with blood.

"Ye're okay!" Merida exclaimed and hugged him.

He laughed and hugged her back. She stood up and helped him stand. They both laughed in relief.

"I guess magic is pretty handy. I'm glad that's over," Hiccup replied.

Over. Of course, now they had to go back and pretend nothing happened.

"We should go back now," Merida replied and started to pull her hands away, but he held on tighter.

"Wait just a few seconds, please," Hiccup told her and stepped closer.

He put his forehead and hers and closed his eyes. Merida smiled and closed her eyes too. She wanted to enjoy what little time they had together.

"I did mean it," he whispered.

Merida opened her eyes and looked at his face in surprise.

"Hiccup! We have the doctor don't—," Astrid said as she flew down with Stormfly, but stopped when she saw them.

Hiccup turned to her, his eyes wide and filled with guilt. Merida tried to pull away from him, but he held on to her hand. She looked frantically between their hands, Hiccup, and Astrid. Toothless, Stormfly, and the doctor stared at the three young adults.

"Astrid, we need to talk," Hiccup told her.

"I thought you were dying! And you're just here... with her," Astrid exclaimed, her lip trembling slightly.

"Astrid, please," Hiccup begged.

"I was right to be suspicious," Astrid scolded herself.

"Astrid if ye'll let me explain," Merida said and her hand on her chest.

Astrid stared in disbelief at her hand. Merida followed her gaze and bit her lip. Despite her guilt, she hadn't let go.

"Ye don't understand," Merida tried to reason with her.

"Save it!" Astrid exclaimed.

She hopped on Stormfly but before leaving she took her betrothal necklace off and threw it on the ground. She flew away toward the castle.

"Umm, so are ye both okay Princess?" The doctor asked awkwardly.

"Yes, thank ye," Merida replied. "Hiccup, I'm—"

"No, don't say it. We shouldn't regret this, just wish it could have happened without hurting Astrid," Hiccup replied.

"Ye're right... Let's go look for her," Merida replied.

Hiccup nodded and they both got on Toothless. The doctor stood to the side awkwardly.

"I'll just walk back, I felt like my back was going to break on that," he told them.

"Very well. I'll ask a soldier to come for ye," Merisa told him before they flew off in Astrid's direction.