The second event that day was quite boring to Merida. By the time dinner rolled around, she wanted nothing more than to ride into the forest with Angus and shoot some arrows to let out some steam. So that's what she did instead of going to dinner with the crowds of men in the Great Hall.

Every arrow she loosed brought up a new stream of thought.

Marriage.

Hiccup.

Clans.

Hiccup.

Peace.

Hiccup.

Toothless sleeping in a tree.

She stopped at the last one, making Angus turn back. The black form of the dragon was hanging from a thick branch of a tall tree. Dismounting the horse a few feet away, she slowly made her way closer to the pitch black animal. "Toothless," she whispered, then gently placed her hand on one of his wings.

His eyes darted open a the sudden touch, and for a moment she was afraid he would attack her. Recognition filled his eyes and Toothless got down from the tree. He started rubbing his giant head against Merida, as if asking for her to pet him. She decided to scratch behind his ears.

She was confused as to why the beast was allowing her to pet him now. At their first encounter, he showed nothing but hatred towards her.

It was one of the days when she had no lessons, no responsibilities, all she had to do was ride and shoot. She had reached the bottom of Fire Falls and took a drink. She planned on climbing the steep rock in a few years, as she was too young right now--only thirteen.

She and Angus spent a good couple hours just relaxing, feasting on the apples she had packed for the day. It was nearly an hour until sunset, so she would have to start heading back to her dungeon-of-a-castle soon.

Out of nowhere, a big black dragon fell from the sky and landed in the river.

Merida shrieked in fear, but had her bow out and nocked an arrow at lightening speed. She cautiously walked closer to the water's edge and was surprised to see the beast had a saddle on. The rider--a boy--was unconscious and floating down the river. Great she thought.

Merida slung the bow around her shoulder then quickly ran downstream to get ahead of the boy so she could bring him back to shore. There was a fallen tree that could use to grab onto once she got the boy. When he was closer, she jumped in. The water was freezing, as it was autumn, and she began shivering almost immediately. The boy was heavy, therefore hard to carry, yet she somehow managed.

She was able to get a good look at him when they reached the shore. Merida practically screamed his name, "Hiccup?!"

He was older now, and missing a leg, but he still had the same kind face and shaggy auburn hair. He began coughing up water, his eyes opening slightly. They were the exact emerald green she remembered.

"M-Merida?" He rasped, squinting up at her.

As relieved as she was to see him alive, she couldn't have been more angry. "Where  have you been?" She shouted.

"Wha--" He sat up, now concerned about her sudden anger. She could tell he felt woozy, but that didn't matter at the moment. "Merida we're in a war! Did you just expect me to drop everything to visit the daughter of my father's enemy?"

"Yes! They weren't always enemies, it never had to be like this!"

"Your dad was the one that blamed the bear attack on us! How would we train a bear anyway? We don't have any on Berk, and Fergus knew that."

"I never said--"

A growl from the dark dragon cut her off. It was charging right for her. Again she pulled out her bow with another arrow, aiming at the creature's head.

"Toothless, no!" Toothless stopped charging, but continued to growl menacingly at her. Hiccup focused his attention back on Merida with her bow drawn. "Please don't, Mer--"

"Don't call me that."

"It won't kill him, if anything it'll make him more angry. Trust me."

Merida glared at him. "How could I? You were the only other person to understand what it was like, an you left me all alone, Hiccup. Do you have any idea how many days I waited to see the ships on the horizon? To hope my friend would come back for me, or even send a letter."

"Merida please just--"

"No. Leave Hiccup, don't even think about coming back." She disappeared into the trees, taking a longer way back to Angus so Hiccup wouldn't follow her. Once she got to the Clydesdale, she mounted then had her new best friend gallop all the way back to the castle.

Merida stared down at the Night Fury with a smile on her face, "So you like me now?" Toothless did nothing but purr. She was curious as to what made the dragon change his mind, they were stubborn beings. "Well, I'm still mad at Hiccup."