"I can't believe that the Guardians would lie to me!" Jack said, pacing on this floating ice. "I mean, they gave me a different Guardian oath!"

"Don't worry," said Merida. "I was awake for one out of my four days, and they seemed pretty fishy to me."

"I trusted them," said  Rapunzel. "They were so nice."

"A wolf in sheep's clothing," murmured Hiccup. 

They had been floating on chunks of ice for several days now, and it was starting to get a little boring. This was the second time that day that Jack had ranted about how unfair his time a Guardian was. 

Merida tossed Björn a fish, and he gobbled it right up. She then stood up. "I recognize this place," she said. "It was close to where I woke up."

"We're in Scotland already?" asked Jack. 

"Spirits travel faster than mortals do," Rapunzel said. "I found that out my first couple of years."

"Come on, I think we can swim," Merida said, getting ready to dive in. "It should be shallow enough."

"Who died and made you leader, Princess?" Jack asked, twirling his staff. 

"Well, I guess that ye can stay here and ride your ice block until it melts, or come with me, Frosty."

"Can you two please  stop bickering? It's giving me a headache," Rapunzel said, rubbing her forehead. She looked up. "What are those?"

They all followed her gaze, but saw nothing. "Are ye --"

Rapunzel dove into the water, and started swimming.

"Do we follow her, or..." Hiccup said. 

Merida rolled her eyes anew jumped in. The water was colder than she expected, but she would manage. 

The swim was hard. Cold and deep water did not mix, and her wool dress was not helping things at all. But, with a little work, she made it to the small beach, and stared up at the sheer cliff face. Rapunzel was already trying to climb it, but she didn't know anything about mountain climbing. Merida, however, did.

"All right lass, let me help ye --"

A gust of warm, southern wind blew Merida fifty feet into the air, and held her there. She was terrified, and started screaming. 

"You all right there, Princess?" Jack called up. 

"Get me down  from here!"

"Get yourself down."

Grumbling, she tried to maneuver her way around the air currents, but they held her fast. Thinking about the nice, soft sand beneath her, she noticed that she was slowly decending until her feet touched the sand. 

She fell onto all fours, shaking. "That was terrifying," she gasped. "When can I do it again?"

Hiccup helped her to her feet, and the three of them stared at the cliff face. 

"What are you all doing, standing there?" Rapunzel said. "Follow the lights!"

Merida's eyes widened. "Are they small and blue, like little fires?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

Merida looked at Hiccup and Jack, then went to go and help Rapunzel climb up the cliff. 

* * * 

Merida pulled herself to the top of the cliff, then fell down, gasping for breath. The the other three Spirits soon followed suit.

"Merida," Rapunzel gasped, "you are absolutely crazy."

"Comes with the territory. All right, where are those blue lights?"

"Just... give me... a sec..."

Merida rolled her eyes and stood up, taking a deep breath. "Ah, smell that fresh Scottish air."

"Scottish air of sweat," Jack said. "I don't know why you wouldn't let me fly us up here."

Merida ignored him. 

Rapunzel stood up, breathing deeply. "They're that way," she said, and started walking into the forest. 

"Are you sure that we should follow her?" Jack whispered to Merida. "I mean..."

"Frosty, do us all a favor and shut up." He did so, grumbling. 

Hours passed, and they walked. On and on and on and on, until they walked into a clearing of stones.  Merida said nothing, gazing at the place where she had woken up eleven hundred years before.

Rapunzel ran to the center, and kneeled down. She waved them over. "Sit down." They did so.

As soon as they did, the circle of stones exploded  with light. Little blue flames danced in their vision, lighting the entire place up. 

"Will-o'-the-whisps," Merida whispered. 

"They're beautiful," said Hiccup.

"It's like Sandy's dream sand or something," said Jack.

The will-o'-the-whisps danced around, and it seemed that they were laughing. 

After a while,  the whisps disappeared, one by one, until only four were left. They spiraled up through the night sky, coming to rest at each of the Spirit's noses.

They disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Beautiful, aren't they."

A woman with green, earthen robes rose out of the ground. She had a hard face, worn by time and the elements. "I'm glad that enough will-o'-the-whisps remained to guide you here."

The woman sat down facing them. "I am glad that you left the Guardians. After years of being cooped up in their little hidey-holes, it was only a matter of time before corruption entered their ranks."

"Mother Nature," Jack said reverently. "They said that you were just a myth."

Mother Nature snorted. "Yes, they do that. They probably told you that you were the only elemental Spirit out there, too, I expect?"

Jack nodded. 

Mother Nature cocked her head. "You are the Tsar's chosen one, aren't you?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"And you," she said, turning to Rapunzel, "have Sola's pure power within you. They'll want that.

"And you two," she turned to Merida and Hiccup, "are neutral in both the Sun and Moon, night and day. Which makes you possibly the most powerful ones here."

She looked at each of them in the eye. "I am here to offer you protection from both the Guardians and Pitch's forces."

"So he's back," Jack interrupted.

"No, you took care of my father. He's not coming back for a long time. However, he has an accomplice. One who turned into dust with her dying breath. One who wants revenge."

"Gothel," Rapunzel whispered. Mother Nature nodded. 

"She is powerful. Parts of Sola's power are in here, due to her prolonged use of the Sunflower. That added to her thirst for more of Sola's power and revenge on her scapegoat daughter, she is a force to be reckoned with."

"Ye said that ye had a way out for us," said Merida. "What is it?"

"Patience, Little Sister. I am getting to that part.

"Because of my position in the Spirit social structure, I am untouchable by all sides. Do any of you know why?"

They shook their heads.

"It is because I am a neutral force. Because I am not bound to one side or another, my powers are almost unlimited. Regular mortals can see me, and I them. If I didn't have as much power as I do now, I could easily pass as a human.

"This is the offer. However, there is one catch. You cannot get involved with anything that does not involve other neutral Spirits. By doing this, you will be a target. All sides will want the Spirits of Seasons because of their raw power.

"It will be harder to get your memories back, and there may be a few that you will never receive. Ultimately, it is your choice. I hope that you choose the right one. Take your time, but make your decision before sunrise. By then, both the forces of Pitch and the Guardians will be here, and you will have no hope to defeat them, and you will die.

"Choose wisely."

Mother Nature left with a summer breeze. 

Hiccup looked up at the sky. "We have minutes before dawn."

"Talk about not rushing into things," Jack grumbled. 

Merida stood up, and walked towards one of the stone pillars. It was the shortest by far, and it had a rough top.

A faint memory... Two bears... A tapestry... A will-o'-the-whisp... 

"We need to go neutral," said Rapunzel. Her voice was fading. 

Two bears were fighting. One with rough, coarse fur and another, smaller bear, with smoother fur.

"What if we can't?" asked Hiccup. "There seems to be a lot of strings attached."

The larger bear slamming the smaller one into a stone pillar, and it cracking. 

"Do we have any other choice?"

The smaller bear getting an idea. Baiting the larger bear into putting it's back to the cracked pillar, she shoved with all of her might.

Dawn was starting to break.

Again and again the smaller bear shoved the larger one against the pillar, until she could no longer move.

Growling, the larger bear reached out for the smaller one just as the smaller bear ran away.

"We need to make a decision. Soon," said Jack.

The stone pillar broke in two, and fell on top of the larger bear. The sun was cresting over the horizon, and a girl ran to the living bear, tapestry in hand.

Another decision, made at dawn. Was it too late to make another?

"We take the deal," Merida said. "It's the least that we can do."

"But, Merida --"

"Look, can't you see? Big decisions are made at dawn, and usually the right ones. Mother Nature offered us a way to safely use our powers, strings or no strings."

"I'll take the deal," said Rapunzel.

"I second that," Hiccup said.

"I guess that I have no choice, do I?" Jack sighed. "I really hope that I don't regret this."

The sun broke over the trees, and Mother Nature was there, standing in all of her glory.

"What is your answer?" she asked. It seemed that the earth itself shook with the power of her voice.

Hiccup stepped forward. "We'll take it."

Clouds covered the sun, turning the circle of stones into darkness

"Well, now you're near impossible to harm, Little Spirits. I guess that I will have to use the only means that I can to break you up."

"Gothel," Merida growled.

Cold laughter, a scream, and all was light again. Except for one thing.

Rapunzel was gone.

A/N: Hey, sorry for the late update... Ya, sorry 'bout that. This is dedicated to inksplots for writing REALLY good ROTBTD stuff and yeah.

Vote, comment and happy reading!

~Allie