"That's a lot of people," Tuffnut commented.

"Yeah, we tend to bring the most people possible to events," Merida told him.

"Especially the Lords," she teased and nudged Ryan.

"I can't argue there," Ryan chuckled in agreement.

Hiccup cleared his throat and asked, "So, where do we go to give the speeches?"

"Right, follow me," Merida instructed them.

They followed her through the crowds of people, booths, and small areas with different events. They made it to the small shaded stage where Merida watched her suitors shoot for her hand. Somehow her parents were already there. She noticed that there was another empty chair beside her own.

"Merida, come on and sit," her mom called and beckoned her on stage.

She excused herself and climbed on stage. Ryan MacIntosh decided to use that opportunity to investigate some things.

"So, Hiccup was it? How is your relationship with Astrid? I heard you two were getting married," Young MacIntosh asked him.

"Yeah, we are. I would say our relationship is strong and filled with trust, why?" Hiccup asked.

"How'd you two start dating?" Ryan asked curiously.

"Oh, you should have seen them. Astrid was like a dragon killing prodigy while Hiccup was dubbed the walking disaster. After Hiccup managed to tame a Night Fury she started to treat him nicer. Then, it was a few years of awkward flirting before either of them admitted their feelings," Tuffnut answered for him.

"So she liked you because you showed her your strength," Ryan mused.

"Well, I guess you could say that but-" Hiccup tried to find a way to explain it thoroughly but Merida called him.

"Hiccup! Come on, you have to sit beside me," she smiled and patted the chair beside her.

"Merida is quite beautiful, isn't she?" Ryan asked as Hiccup walked to the stage.

Hiccup blinked in confusion but sat beside Merida regardless.

"Just talk about how you hope Vikings and Scots can form a union based on this, then introduce me, and you'll be fine," Merida whispered to him.

"How do you want me to introduce you? "Princess Merida", just that?" Hiccup asked.

"Good question, how about 'And now your strong-willed princess', sounds about right, eh?" Merida asked him.

"Everyone gather around!" Fergus commanded.

Many people stopped what they were doing and walked as close to the stage as they possibly could.

"We have special guests here today, who would like to say a few words," Queen Elinor presented Hiccup and stepped back.

"Hi- Hello everyone, I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, and I think that I speak for my entire tribe when I say that I hope this will lead to...umm... stronger ties between two former enemies," Hiccup started off great but as he looked around he got nervous, especially when he looked at Ryan who pointed between Merida and Hiccup like there was something there.

"And now your beautiful Princess-I mean strong willed- Not that she's not beautiful, because she is... Princess Merida," Hiccup quickly added and made a weird motion to show Merida was speaking next.

Merida blushed from embarrassment but got up regardless.

"I know many of you may feel that an alliance between us and the Vikings could never be true, but it has. We must put aside our differences and what better way than with our youth? The young adults present here are the future of our vast country, so I hope that you will all enjoy this festival," Merida spoke using every lesson her mother had taught her.

Hearing the future Queen of Dunbroch speak in such a way made everyone ease into the situation. If the Princess believed it could work, why was there any reason to believe it wouldn't? Everyone cheered and went off to enjoy the festival.

Merida walked offstage and punched Hiccup's arm.

"Ouch! Hey, what was that for?" Hiccup asked.

"You embarrassed me!" Merida exclaimed and covered her blushing face.

"You told me to say that!" Hiccup defended.

" 'Strong willed', not beautiful!" Merida corrected him.

"I was nervous, okay? Ryan certainly didn't help with all his weird hand signals. What even was that?," Hiccup replied.

"Don't drag me into this," Young MacIntosh replied and raised his hands in defense.

"You're the one who- Hey, wait, where's Tuffnut?" Hiccup asked him and looked around.

"He said something about going to go belch?" Ryan replied with uncertainty.

"Well, I guess it's just us three. What do you guys want to do?" Merida asked them.

"Belch? Oh, he's going to get his dragon, great," Hiccup replied sarcastically.

"Do you guys mind if we go get Toothless and Tuffnut before he burns down the festival? Knowing the twins they will somehow meet up and destroy something," Hiccup explained.

"Not at all, lead the way," Young MacIntosh replied.

~~With another group~~

"Alright, what do you ladies want me to do first?" Snotlout asked as he flexed his muscles.

"Whatever is fine with me. I don't know what things they have here," Heather replied.

"Callum is very fond of caber throwing, why don't we watch them do that?" Aileas asked.

"Caber throwing? What's a caber?" Snotlout asked.

"It's a log," Aileas replied.

"Aye, ah think ah jis saw ae owergyan aire," Callum excitedly replied and pointed to their left.

Heather and Snotlout glanced at Aileas for a translation.

"He thinks he saw one over there," she replied.

"Okay, lead the way," Heather agreed.

Callum smiled and they all walked toward a patch of land where groups of people were throwing logs one by one. When it was finally their turn Callum and Snotlout went against each other.

"Listen, I'll go easy on you if you want," Snotlout boasted as he stretched.

"Thanks ah ll div the same," Callum replied.

Callum was declared the winner by the man running the mini event which greatly embarrassed the poor Viking. Callum had also done the best out of all the other participants who had gone before him, so he was gifted two prizes of his choosing. He chose two boxes of chocolates which he gave to Heather and Aileas.

"Oh, thank you," Heather replied in surprise.

"It was nae problem," he replied sheepishly.

Heather cleared her throated and turned to Snotlout.

"Come on, the festival will last for 3 days, you can come back later," she told him.

"I'm not leaving until I win this," Snotlout declared.

"Dinna fash yersel, ye ve anely jis yokit," Callum tried to encourage him, but the language barrier made it pointless.

"He won't leave until he wins, so we might as well go on without him," Heather told them.

"Very well, we can continue to walk around until we find an event we'd like to try," Aileas agreed.

The trio continued to walk while admiring all the events. Some were like a mini version of the Highland Games. Others were set up in small tables were you had to hit something with a rock. There were even some games where you had to dance, sing, or play an instrument.

"Callum, why don't you play the clarsach?" his sister asked him.

"Ye ken ah m nae gye braw aat it," he replied sheepishly.

"Nonsense, go on," she told him.

He nodded his head and slowly walked on stage.

"What is he doing?" Heather asked.

"He's going to play the harp," his sister replied.

"He can play the harp?" Heather asked in surprise.

She looked on stage and saw him getting ready. He looked extremely nervous, so she gave him a smile in order to ease his nerves. He smiled back and began to play. The notes came out so majestically that everyone quieted down in order to hear it. The song came to an end and everyone cheered. Callum walked off stage while trying to avoid everyone's eyes.

"So, you said your brother spoke Doric, right?" Heather asked Aileas.

"Yes, we both do," Aileas replied.

"Do you think you could teach me?" Heather asked her.

Aileas MacGuffin's face filled with pride and excitement. Most people wanted her to translate, not actually teach. That moment filled her with so much bliss that she almost wanted to tear up.

"Of course," Aileas replied enthusiastically.

"Div ye girls wint tae try onything yet?" Callum asked them.

"Let's just walk around for now," his sister replied before turning back to Heather.

"Let's start. Lesson number 1, 'aye-aye min' means hello," Aileas instructed.

"Aye-aye min?" Heather repeated albeit awkwardly.

"Yon sounds braw," Callum commented.

"He says it sounded good," Aileas translated.

"How do you say 'thank you'?" Heather asked.

"Thank ye," Aileas replied with her accent.

"Thank ye," Heather told Callum with a smile.