...oh. Oh. It's been...how many years...? Um. Well. If anyone is still following this account at all, then...color me surprised. Pleasantly so. :')
I have a lot of fond memories of working on this fic, years and years ago. (I have a certain amount of wistfulness about never finishing it, too.) The warm, encouraging, enthusiastic way that folks responded to this weird little crossover of mine has always stayed with me.
It recently came to my attention that Tumblr has eaten a bunch of the chapters that I posted here. Some of them are missing chunks of text; others are just a title and nothing else. I don't want to let the story decay into an even more piecemeal state, so I'm going to take some time this week to repair the damage. At the very least, it ought to be properly readable again, soon.
After that...we'll see? Hm. Yes, that seems fair enough. We'll see. <3
Hey, I know its been awhile but are you planning to update soon?
Hello, dear hearts. <3 Life has been a bit of a madhouse over the last year or two. Work has been busy, family has been busier, the ROTBTD and Hunger Games fandoms seem to have faded a bit, and to be honest, it started to feel like there wasn’t much point continuing to write Victorious Children.
I do miss working on it, though. I have pretty much the entire thing planned out at this point. It’s just a matter of writing it down.
Listen - I don’t want to be the sort of author who insists on responses from her readers. That always seems so desperate. But it would be helpful to know whether anybody would still read Victorious Children if I took the time to finish it, or if I would just be writing for nobody.
So, if you’d like to see VC come back - if you would enjoy reading it through to the end - could you let me know? Even in a quick way, like clicking Like on this post. Just a little wave hello, to say you’re still alive, too. And then...we’ll see where that takes us. <3
So in the chapter "collision" Hiccup said something about the theme of the games. Is it a surprise for later chapters or can you tell us now? BTW great to have you back.
Haha, well, it’s Hiccup’s theory about the “theme”, anyhow. (In the sense that other games have been themed around “winter” or “deadly beauty” or “clocks” or even a particular type of weapon.) It should be made clearer in the next chapter!
In the meantime, readers, what’s your theory, given what you’ve seen so far? :3
The last chapter was intense!! I through that Hiccup was going to die, you scared me! This is amazing, I really love your writing. I'm so glad that you are back.
Haha, thank you so much! I’m really pleased you’re enjoying the story - I couldn’t ask for more. The Games are harsh and cruel…but what do we say to death? Not today! Or at least, not like this.
It’s good to be back! Have a wonderful rest of the year, okay? <3
I’m making it a formal New Year’s resolution to answer all my reader messages from now on, and starting early! :3 (Block “asks” if you’d rather not have them on your dash.)
They run down the mountainside in a panic, an undignified rabble of frightened children, skidding and stumbling, herded by the shrieks of the unseen Mutts.
Every gasp of cold air sends a stab of pain through Rapunzel's side. She's staggering along, fueled by panic, half-falling with every step as gravity pulls her onward, her boots throwing up gobbets of mud and soggy leaves behind her. The lake, she thinks, desperately. The plan hasn't changed. She remembers it, has to trust it. They could still survive this, if it works.
She doesn't want to die like this. Not like this.
Those shrieks are shrieks of hunger.
"Downhill! Keep going, come on!" It's Hiccup, shouting somewhere up ahead. "Get to the water!"
And suddenly, there it is, glimmering ahead through the branches. Rapunzel crashes through a stand of damp bracken, moving too fast to slow down even as twigs lash at her face, and finds herself in the open air again, on the pebbled shore of the lake. The slopes of the mountains soar up and away in every direction around her, thick with trees, and out there, shimmering like a mirage on the water...
A small rocky outcrop of an island. Rapunzel's heart leaps into her throat, tight with hope.
Astrid is already ahead of her, running with strong, sure strides. She reaches the edge of the water and plunges in with a gasp, but no hesitation. Hiccup follows her in up to his knees, wincing and swearing at the cold.
There's a cry from up the slope. Rapunzel turns back to look. The little girl, lagging behind, has fallen, ankle twisted under her. Her brother is already running back up the hill, shouting something frantic and indistinct.
The first of the Mutts bursts into sight, galloping down the slope. It's an awful shaggy four-legged thing, tawny and speckled brown, with a heavy, blunt head and jaws that look built to crush bone. As it lopes downhill toward them, its yellow-fanged maw gapes wide and lets out that chilling cackle of laughter.
A hissing snarl answers it. Toothless is balking at the water's edge, hunkered low and baring his teeth at the oncoming mutts. Hiccup has grabbed him by one wing and is desperately trying to pull him into the shallows, but he might as well be pulling a boulder. "C'mon, bud, we can't stay here!" he pleads, bracing his feet and yanking as hard as he can.
The redheaded girl has reached the shore. She turns back, bow in hand, strings an arrow and looses it. The first Mutt drops, hitting the ground and flipping hind legs over front to land in a limp heap, almost at the little girl's feet.
At the same moment, her brother reaches her. She stretches out her arms, face running with tears, and he swiftly scoops her into his arms as if she was a tiny child and carries her the last few steps down the slope.
"The water!" Rapunzel shouts to them. Stones crunch and shift under her boots as she begins to wade out, freezing water soaking her legs. "We have to get to that island!"
Terror and despair twists the little girl's face as her brother sets her down. "Jack, I can't swim!" she wails.
The boy has gone pale. "We'll think of something," he says, gripping his sister's hand tightly, but sweat has broken out on his skin. How would either of them have learned to swim, in their district?
Treading water, Astrid shouts breathlessly, "Hiccup, get out here! Hurry!"
Hiccup is still tugging at his Mutt's wing. "You can't take 'em all, bud! We have to go!"
More shaggy, speckled Mutts are emerging from the fringe of the woods, slinking cautiously now, with their flashing eyes fixed on the archer and her arrows. Their shrieks have quieted, but they hoot softly to each other, paws padding on the stony beach. Rapunzel realizes with a jolt that the creatures are fanning out to surround them. At their back, there is nothing but the cold water of the lake. And the shore offers no shelter, only a scatter of bleached driftwood...
A light clicks on in Rapunzel's head. "That's it!" she cries, and splashes out of the water to grab a weathered log. She braces her feet and starts to drag it across the stones, shouting, "Help me, quick!"
The other tributes stare at her - and then a delighted grin splits the boy's - Jack's - face. "C'mon!" he shouts, and suddenly all three of them are working as one, scrambling to roll the log across the beach and into the freezing water. Behind them, the redheaded girl fires off a few last arrows - one, two, three - dropping Mutts with each one, then splashes into the water after them.
The lake rises around their waists, their shoulders, sloshing and soaking their clothes...and then, with one last push of booted feet, the log bobs out into the waves with all four of them clinging to it in a shivering, gasping huddle.
"Hiccup!" Astrid's voice rises in a desperate scream. Teeth chattering, Rapunzel twists around to see the older girl swimming back toward shore.
The hooting Mutts have closed in, jaws snapping at the wings of their larger cousin as Toothless turns in snarling circles and swipes at them with his heavy claws. He strikes one of them a blow that knocks it into the shallows of the lake, and it screams and scrambles out again, soaked tail tucked tightly between its legs.
Hiccup seems to have given up arguing with his Mutt and has climbed onto the great black reptile's back, clinging to his neck. There's something in his hands - a length of rope? She barely glimpses it before a Mutt launches itself at Toothless. He roars and knocks it aside, but another is already lunging from their other side, and its sharp teeth close in the scaly skin of his neck. Blood spurts across the sand, and Toothless shrieks.
Rapunzel hides her face against the slick wet side of the log, gulping back tears, unable to watch...
...but she can't help hearing Emma's gasp. A shocked expletive from Jack. And a single shout of breathless triumph from high overhead.
"Yeahhh!"
She opens her eyes, and gasps. They're in the air.
Toothless has taken flight, broad wings beating wildly - and somehow, impossibly, Hiccup is still on his back. She can see the boy's pale hands gripping a rope looped around the Mutt's neck, and hear him whooping - half in terror, half in delight - as they circle overhead, once, twice, then coast away over the lake.
Behind them, the Mutts pace the water's edge, whining and moaning. They watch the tributes hungrily, but not one of the creatures will set paw in the chilly water.
Rapunzel heaves a shaky sigh of relief, and looks around at the awestruck faces of her fellow tributes, bobbing on the waves. They're shivering and soaked, but safe for now.
"C'mon," says the redheaded girl. Her ruddy curls are plastered to her head, but she's grinning from ear to ear. "Let's get tae that island of yours."
Slowly, with all of them kicking, the makeshift raft begins to move.
It feels like he bounces off every rock in the gorge on his way down. At last, he slithers to a stop in a spray of muddy water. Hiccup just lies there for a moment, cheek to the wet ground and eyes squeezed tightly shut, hoping the world will stop spinning soon.
Gradually, a long low vibration filters into his ringing ears. Toothless is growling.
Aching in every bone, Hiccup pries himself up onto one elbow and blinks away the worst of the dirt. The narrow ravine has tipped them out into a shallow, swampy-looking pool - more of a giant puddle than anything. A few feet away, a crumpled form is half-submerged in the muddy water, limbs splayed loosely around her.
Hiccup's breath catches. Rapunzel.
Just beyond her, his Mutt is crouched low, green eyes flashing, wings mantled in a hostile display. Toothless' tail lashes back and forth, churning up the brown water into a froth.
Standing at the edge of the pool are two girls and a boy. Tributes.
The boy is shielding the younger girl with his body, a makeshift spear gripped in both hands. She peers out from behind him, wide-eyed. Hiccup realizes with a jolt that they're the sibling pair from District Five, still alive somehow. The other girl he remembers from the parade. Her long curls were twined around green branches, then, in the usual District Seven tree costume. Now, they hang limp around her face, soaked with rain.
There's an arrow on the string of her bow, and she's sighting it directly at his Mutt's throat. Her eyes are wide with terror, but her grip on her weapon is perfectly steady. "Emma, stay back," she whispers, fingers curled against her cheek on the draw.
Hiccup realizes, as his beautiful Mutt shakes the mud from his wings and prepares to spring, that she cannot possibly miss this shot. His stomach goes cold...
"Don't shoot!"
Hiccup's heart lurches. Rapunzel! She's alive - alive! - and half-risen to her knees in the muck, her hands outstretched and pleading. She's so covered with mud that her hair looks almost brown, but her voice is strong. "Please," she cries again, "don't shoot him! He won't hurt you!"
The girl with the bow hesitates, confusion flashing across her face. Hiccup seizes that split second and dives for Toothless, throwing his arms around the Mutt's neck.
"Toothless, stop!" he shouts, hoping his weight will be enough to slow the enormous animal if he lunges. "Down, bud!"
There's a moment of jumbled confusion, shouting and splashing and the offended snarls of his struggling Mutt. "You've gotta trust me," he whispers, as Toothless shifts angrily from foot to foot. "C'mon, bud."
Hiccup squeezes his eyes shut, skin prickling in anticipation. She'll fire any second, any second now... Astrid is calling his name from somewhere up above - she must be climbing down the cliff - and he can hear the boy with the spear yelling, "What the hell is going on?"
But precious seconds pass, and they're still alive.
There's another rattle and splash of rocks into the pool. Astrid leaps the last few feet to the ground and lands in a crouch, axe out and ready. "Hiccup," she says, tension in every line of her body as she stares past them. "Don't move."
Like an idiot, he looks anyway. Oh.
The arrow is still on the string, but now the girl is pointing it at him.
"How...how are ye doin' that?" she demands. "Why isn't it attackin'?"
Oh, boy. Hiccup swallows hard. Right, no big deal, just gotta think of a quick, simple -
"It's you!"
All eyes turn to Rapunzel, who has wobbled to her feet. She's smiling. He's never seen her smile before. It lights up her whole face, even through the smears of dirt. "You're alive," she exclaims, visibly delighted, then hesitates. "Don't you remember? The training hall..."
The curly-haired girl's brow unknots as sudden comprehension dawns. "Miles o' wheat," she whispers. The point of her arrow wavers, then drops ever so slightly. "What's happened to ye?"
"Wait. You know her?" The boy is still pointing his spear in their general direction, but he's looking at the archer in bewilderment. Astrid splashes up to stand by Hiccup's shoulder, her axe gripped in both hands.
For a long moment, they all just look at each other, across the shallow, muddy water, rippling with reflected branches. Six children and one Mutt. The silence stretches out like a prayer.
And then, a high eerie shriek rings out from somewhere in the trees. It crescendos, bursts into a cackling sound almost like inhuman laughter, and fades away.
Toothless snarls and pulls free of Hiccup's arms. "Toothless, no!" he shouts, but the Mutt whirls away from the unknown tributes, lifts his head and bares his teeth at the cliff. From high up the rocky slope comes another cackling wail, and another. Louder this time. Closer.
Hiccup swallows. "You know," he murmurs, feeling a little faint, "I think I might have a theory about the theme for these Games."
He casts an uneasy glance at the girl with the bow, but she's staring up the slope in dawning horror, weapons held loosely in fingers gone slack. The growing chorus of strange ululations rises and harmonizes. A little shiver runs up the gathered tributes' spines, almost as one.
"Jack?" the little girl says, reaching up to tug at her brother's sleeve...
And then, Astrid moves. She shoves her axe through her belt with a short, sharp motion, and lunges to grab Hiccup's arm. "Are you all stupid?" she snaps. Her face has gone white. "You think that climb's going to slow them down? They're coming!"
With that, she bolts into the trees, dragging Hiccup by the wrist so hard that he's nearly pulled off his feet before he manages to match her pace. Behind him, he can hear a burst of shouts and splashing as the other tributes follow...and the wild stampede begins.
Hello! I just wanted to say i'm so glad you are back =) I really enjoy your story and you really capture emotions/scenes really well! It is so exciting that you guys had your first baby! I hope you are loving every second of caring for your baby! Congrats
Thank you! ♥ That really means a lot to me. (And one of my resolutions, now that I’m back, is to get better about replying to messages like this, including the anonymous ones.)
The baby is a marvelously mellow and sweet-tempered little person, as well as healthy and strong, and we’ve been having a great time getting to know each other!
Okay, first things first - a giant hug for everybody who stuck with this story while I was too busy to write. Especially those, anons and otherwise, who sent messages of encouragement. You’re the biggest reason I’m back. (The lesser reason is my own cussed stubbornness, haha.)
I can’t apologize enough for leaving you on a (literal!) cliffhanger for several months. Thank you, thank you, thank you for enjoying, commenting, reblogging, and believing.
And now, the actual news - two completed chapters are in beta right now, and should be posted soonish, depending on my glorious beta readers and my own unpredictable daily schedule. Another couple of chapters are at various levels of completion. Basically, expect more Victorious Children soon!
Hullo, all! Thank you to anyone who’s still following this stagnant little story. I could go into long excuses, but instead, here’s the simple explanation for my long hiatus:
My husband and I had our first baby. ♥ As it turns out, I haven’t had a lot of time for writing, haha.
Things have been pretty hectic over the last several months, but with the last installment of Mockingjay coming to theaters soon, I’ve been hoping to fire up the engines again and make some progress on Victorious Children. All your kind messages during the hiatus kept me inspired and thinking of new ideas, and I can’t wait to get some of them posted!
Now, time to see if my poor beta readers are still interested... Heh.
So is Rapunzel dead or alive... idk because either I missed the cannon or she's sill alive. P.S. this story is amazing! :D
Ack, I'm sorry to leave you on such a (literal) cliffhanger! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story, and I promise, that question will be answered in the next chapter - which is in progress as we speak. <3
Victorious Children is an ongoing series of short AU fanfics which transplants the characters of the Big Four superfandom into the world of the Hunger Games. The odds are in no-one’s favor. There will be blood. You have been warned.
read the full story (in order, to date)
CHAPTERS
The Reaping
The Farewells (1)
The Farewells (2)
The Train
Midnight
Breakfast
The Prep Rooms
The Stylists
The Chariots
The Parade
The Training Center
Training, Day 1
Training, Day 2
Training, Day 3
The Scores
Coaching
The Elevator
The Interviews
After The Interviews
Supper
The Last Night
The Launch Room
The Bloodbath
The Kill
The Valley
The Token
The Windfall
The Betrayal
The Trap
The Sunset
The Shadow
The Healer
The Attack
The Monster
The Stockpile
Knives
The Choice
The Sacrifice
Shelter
The Deluge
(Day 5 - Morning)
"So much for the beautiful scenery," Hiccup mutters, flicking a raindrop from the tip of his nose. Last night's pouring rain has faded to a damp and steady drizzle.
Water drips from every branch on the mountainside, spattering the tributes' heads as they walk. Worse yet, the ground underfoot is a slippery mire of rocks and slime. Not that Hiccup was delighted with the dust and dead grass, but at least it was easy to walk on. Their boots slip and slide in the slick earth as they hike downhill, despite the heavy treads in the soles.
Even Astrid has fallen once, leaving her streaked with mud and as touchy as a wet cat. She's bringing up the rear guard now, glaring into the trees as if she's daring the Careers to attack and let her blow off some steam.
The new girl - Rapunzel - is ahead of them, gently resting one hand on Toothless' neck as she walks. She hasn't bothered to put up her hood, and her shorn hair is plastered with rain and mud.
She's hardly said a word since they found her.
Hiccup sighs, grimaces, and jogs ahead until he's a step behind Toothless' sweeping tail.
"Hey," he says, and clears his throat. "Uh...are you okay?"
Both the girl and the Mutt stop in their tracks and turn to look at him. Toothless makes a faint grumbling sound that ends in a snort.
"Sorry." Hiccup winces. "Stupid question."
Her hand is small and pale and bruised, but it's pressed unhesitatingly against those shining black scales. She's braver than she seemed, at first glance, even if it is a quiet sort of bravery. "You're not afraid of him," Hiccup murmurs, impressed. "Are you?"
She shakes her head, and reaches up to gently stroke one of the Mutt's earflaps. Toothless purrs low in his throat, eyes half closing.
"I had a little lizard, at home," the girl says. Her voice is so quiet, as if the rain has washed all the color out of it. "I found him in the cornfields." It's the most words he's heard her string together since she joined their little pack. She looks up at the big Mutt, who looks calmly back down at her, and adds, softly, "There are worse things out here."
Hiccup can't argue with that. "Yeah," he says, for lack of a better response, and shoves his muddy hands in his pockets to keep them warm. He's gonna need that warmth. Their only way down from here is a narrow, wandering gorge, struck deep into the steep cliff. He can't see what lies directly at the bottom, but once they get there, the rest is a slope of dark treetops, sheltering a long, soggy stretch of who knows what. Monsters. Traps. Other tributes, armed to the teeth.
And there, at the very bottom of the mountain valley, the gray glimmer of water.
"Hey," he says, and points over her shoulder. Maybe this will cheer her up. "We're almost there. You can see the lake from here."
Rapunzel looks up from navigating the first rain-slick steps down into the gorge. "Where?" she starts to say.
At the same moment, somewhere far uphill and deep in the trees, something lets out a long, wailing, inhuman cry. It rises, quavers, and fades out on an unearthly high note that lifts the hair on the back of Hiccup's neck.
He freezes in his tracks - the girls have done the same, Astrid's hand already on her axe haft - but Toothless lunges instinctively up onto his hind legs. The Mutt bares his fangs and lets out a bellow of challenge in reply that echoes off the rocks.
For a moment, he's magnificent, wings half-unfurled and scales gleaming even in the dim light.
And then, with a wet scrape, one of the Mutt's hind legs slips, and he overbalances on the steep slope, lashing his tail in surprise. Toothless's wings slap painfully against the rocky sides of the gorge as he scrabbles for purchase, claws tearing stones out of the ground and wallowing helplessly in the slick earth.
One flailing wing crashes into Rapunzel's shoulder, knocking her into the mud with a splash. She shrieks and grabs at the stones, sliding rapidly downhill.
"Toothless, no!" Hiccup yells -
The Mutt roars and loses his grip on the steep incline completely, plunging out of sight in a filthy landslide of churning limbs and loose stones and soil. Hiccup rushes to the edge and frantically peers over it.
"Hiccup, get back! Get away from there!" It's Astrid, running toward him. Hiccup twists to face her, taking a startled step back - and the heel of his boot slips.
The fingers of his out-flung hand just touch hers, in the moment before he falls.
SS HERE AND THEY ARE SORRY THEY COULDNT MESSAGE ALMOST ALL WEEK ;;3;; please forgive me and tbh honest i have no idea what to do for you this christmas but i will do my best :)) i hope youre having a nice day/night and well good luck with the next four tribute chapter! i specially love the jack/merida/emma ones, god it's going to break my heart in the future i just know it. laters!
Lovely Secret Santa, thank you so much for all your messages! Every one has been wonderful. <3
I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to them all - it was silly of me to sign up with a writing blog (I forgot that I can't reply privately to anon messages), and it wouldn't be fair to my followers to fill up this blog with posts unrelated to the story. That said, if you need ideas, nothing would make my Christmas more than fanart for Victorious Children...or anything else you want to draw for me, of course.
Happy holidays to you, and to everybody reading this blog! More chapters are in the works!
(Day 4 - Evening)
Thunder cracks the clouds just after sunset. Merida looks up with a grimace, as the first raindrops patter lightly into the dry dust underfoot. "Ach, that's lovely," she says, and yanks up her hood. "Just what we all needed."
"Caves!" Jack shouts, and points downhill. "C'mon, before we're soaked!"
It's a mad dash after that, skidding even in their sturdy boots as tumbling rainwater sluices around the boulders and turns the dust into mud. Jack is right, at least; there are caves along the cliff, just deep enough to fit the three of them. They tumble inside and huddle together, shivering in their soaked clothes. Any wood outside is too wet to burn, and the rain is falling harder with every passing minute.
"Berries for dinner," Emma sighs, as she struggles out of her damp pack. "Again."
There's just enough room to sit shoulder to shoulder while they eat. Their packed bodies do warm up the tiny cave a little, at least. Still, when the Capitol seal shimmers into sight overhead, the blare of trumpets is almost drowned by the roar of the storm in the trees.
"Long live Panem," Jack mutters, and sketches a mocking salute. "Rain today, rain tomorrow, rain forever."
"Jack, no." Emma winces, but giggles all the same. Merida is trying to lay out their sleeping bags in the cramped space, and only makes a rude noise under her breath.
The fanfare ends, and faces begin to flash across the stormy sky. The boy from District One appears first, his cocky smile barely visible in the dark and the driving rain.
"You know," Jack grumbles, "if they really want us to watch this, maybe they should turn off the waterworks?"
"Jack, hush," Merida says, watching the projection intently. It's a girl's face, now. District Four. "We have to keep track..."
The girl's face fades, and one last face appears.
Sharp black eyes glare unforgivingly at the camera over a proud swoop of a nose. She'd teased him about that nose, once. He'd stalked off in such a huff...
"Oh," Merida says. Her own voice sounds tinny and hollow in her ears. With one last flourish of trumpets, the projection fades.
"That was him, wasn't it?" Jack sounds shaken. "With the bow."
So he was watching, after all. She doesn't trust herself to speak, so she nods instead.
"He saved Emma."
Merida nods again, remembering that familiar silhouette in the trees. "I..." She stops. Struggles for a moment, with this sudden hole in her world. "I dinnae even know how he died," she says, faintly. Something drips onto her hand, too warm to be a raindrop.
"Oh, Meri." Emma puts down her handful of fruit, and dabs helplessly at the older girl's face with her damp jacket cuff. Her small hands are grubby and cold, but gentle. "Meri, please don't cry..."
Merida shuts her eyes, fists clenched, and tries to take deep, steady breaths. She can't break down, not now. There won't be anything left of her. After a shuddery moment, she hears a rustle of damp waterproof jacket as Jack awkwardly puts his arms around them both. He doesn't say anything - which is probably a blessing - but the extra warmth is welcome.
"You should sleep," Emma says. "Both of you."
Merida manages a watery smile. The urge to wail has faded a bit, at least. "When did ye become my mother?" she jokes, weakly.
"I mean it." Emma's big brown eyes are worried. "I'll keep watch tonight. It's past my turn and you know it."
Merida and Jack exchange uneasy frowns. They've been splitting watch since the Games began, an unspoken agreement to make sure Emma stays rested.
"Please, let me help." There's a stubborn set to Emma's chin, now. "You need rest, too! I can't carry you both if you pass out, you know."
Jack cracks a grin at that. "Fair enough, Em," he says. "Promise you'll wake us if you start to feel sleepy?"
"Promise," Emma agrees, and they lock pinky fingers. It has the look of a sibling tradition. Merida's heart squeezes sharply, and she turns her attention to prying off her wet boots.
The sleeping bags are damp, but blessedly warm. Still, it's hard to settle. Merida pillows her cheek on her arm, and tries not to think about her last night in the Tribute center. It's no good. She can still taste that bowl of soup.
"I'm sorry." The whisper is just loud enough to reach her ears.
"What?" Startled, Merida rolls over to peer at Jack through the shadows. His face is half-outlined in the light from the cave mouth, a silvery glimmer in the dark.
"He was your partner," he says, quietly. "And...it's my fault you weren't with him. You should have been there. I shouldn't have mixed you up in this."
Merida grimaces, too tired and heartsore to mince words. "None of this is your fault, ye daft bawbag," she mutters. "And who are ye to tell me where I should and shouldn't be?"
"But I'm going to get you killed - " he tries to protest.
"No, ye're not!" Anger sharpens her fierce whisper more than she means it to. She cannot, /cannot/, carry any more guilt. Her own is heavy enough. "I'm going to get myself killed, my way, in my own good time, and I'll thank ye to keep your nose out of it, Jack Frost!"
He inhales sharply - and then there's a quiet thump from the mouth of the cave, and they both go still. Breath held.
Listening.
Two more quiet thumps follow, and then a rustle as Emma gets up to retrieve her weapons. She's practicing, Merida realizes. Throwing the knives into the bark of a tree, hard enough to stick, the way Merida taught her this afternoon.
In the shadows next to her, Jack whispers, "Forrester."
"What?"
"Our name's Forrester," he says. "Not Frost."
Merida hesitates, thrown. After a moment, she whispers, "D'ye know, I'd actually forgotten?"
Jack lets out a bleak little chuckle. "Figures." He swallows, then adds, "Look, forget I said anything, okay? Just...keep looking out for her, and you can call me whatever you want."
"Careful," Merida warns him. "I'll hold ye to that."
Listening to the rhythmic sound of knives striking wet wood, and the steady drumming of the rain, they drift into an uneasy sleep at last.
What? Oh, yes, hello! We're back from our two-week hiatus, right on schedule, and -- what. It's been how long. You're kidding. Oh, gods. D:
Jokes aside, I'm not going to go into a bunch of excuses or details about how a genuinely-intended two-week break stretched out this long, guys. I'll just say, I'm so sorry. But also, updates are coming. One tomorrow, and more to follow. Pinky swear!
(Also, thank you to everybody who sent kind and encouraging messages to my inbox in the meantime, including my RotBTD Secret Santa. You guys keep me coming back. <3)
Sooo...it being summer, we're going on vacation. To Africa. Where my access to the internet is going to be sporadic at best.
I could struggle to keep up with the update schedule during that time, but I think it'll be a nicer trip if I can just relax and enjoy it. And if I set myself a firm hiatus period, I'll have to stick to it, not waffle around forever after we get back.
Therefore, Victorious Children is going on a temporary two-week semi-hiatus starting today (8/15).
If I get the chance to answer asks or post a new chapter during that time, I will totally do so, but I wanted to give you all an explanation for why I might not be able to. See you on the other side!
Okay wow so can I just say the way you killed off Eugene was genius - what a great way to tie it into the cannon with him still cutting her hair! I guess I had to know it was coming but I wont lie I am still sort of hoping that everyone gets on Toothless and flies off into the sunset, your going to break my heart though I know it
It feels a little odd to get complimented on a character death, but...thank you. I worked hard on it, and I'm glad it came across well. ♥
You're right - there are a lot of deliberate nods to canon in this story. Some breaks with canon, too, of course...it is an AU. Saying more than that would be a spoiler, though...
