“Yeah, we can agree on that one,” Anya laughs a bit at the redhead’s remark. “It’s definitely an improvement from my last residence, for one. Then again, the bar isn’t that high for orphanages, is it?’
With that, she starts fiddling with her locket out of instinct. After a beat, she shakes her head, changing the subject.
“Okay, this is going to sound weird but I could swear I’ve seen your face before, somewhere. I think it was..a whiskey ad? Or a magazine?”
Yes, that must be it. That’s why she seemed familiar. And yet, something in her gut still felt…wrong about this conclusion.
+
Merida had opened her mouth to reply, something funny and witty, had been her intention. But at the mention of an orphanage she closed her mouth again, biting her bottom lip idly before shrugging one shoulder. “I uh, guess it’s probably not. Wouldn’t know much about them.”
A frown works its way between her brows as they continue walking, and she can feel an awkward silence growing between them. Merida blows out a breath of relief when Anya breaks it with her question and Merida can’t stop the laugh that breaks past her lips.
“Dunbroch Whiskey, that’s me. Well, the family. The marketing team came up with this brilliant idea of putting the whole family into one of the ads a few years ago. Because everyone knows drinking whiskey should be a family affair,” she blows a strand of hair out of her face and turns to grin at the other girl, “My brothers were twelve at the time, which makes it even better I think. Y’know, promoting the underage drinking and all that.” Her mum had tried to point it out, but none of them saw the issue with it, Merida had found the whole thing hilarious. “I’ve done a few solo ads for it too, in the last year, maybe from that?”
Val was minding his business, or Val was minding someone’s business because on the whole he considered most things that happened around him as his business. Point being, he was distracted and scrolling through screens on his phone. It wasn’t too common of him to have his head in the clouds, he was far more the down to earth type, but something had Val just a little off his normal paces lately. Or someone, getting technical with it.
Maybe he wandered too close to the archery range, maybe he didn’t really know where it was in the first place because he didn’t pay much mind to the people out there with their bows and arrows, their targets and all the rest that went with it. Just didn’t hold his attention much because Val had attention directed elsewhere and his nose buried in text messages.
In hindsight he’d be a bit irked about it, off his game like that? Unforgivable.
He didn’t even see it coming. Not until a streak of red hot pain shrieked over his nerves and he dropped the phone with a vicious curse ‘hijo de perra!’ hissed through his teeth. What was that?
An arrow, Val realized dumbly as he stood there trying to process, in vague order; shoulder, bleeding, arrow. It irritated him even more that the feather part of said arrow mocked him, all bright and cheerful, from and angle as he glared it down where it was embedded in the flesh of his upper bicep.
Really? Really?
It didn’t even hurt nearly as much as it just pissed him off. His own fault, probably, but still plenty enough to put a damper on his mood. And what the hell was he supposed to do about an arrow? Pull it out? Leave it alone? Guns Val knew but this? It was a new one for him.
He was going to have a few words with someone, oh yes.
+
Merida liked practicing with the archery team, she liked going off into the forest for a few hours, she even liked that there were people here who liked to shoot targets as much as her. But, sometimes she liked to just practice by herself. So she set up a series of foam targets at random distances and heights, checked there wasn’t anyone around, and let herself loose.
There was something calming about it all. The rhythmic way she pulled out an arrow, notched it, pulled back the string, aimed, let it fly. Over and over. She could let her thoughts wander, think over problems she’d been avoiding, sometimes she just planned her shopping list for the week.
Arrow from her quiver, notch it, she needed to get a new mascara, pull back the string, definitely needed some chocolate, aim for the back target, hm there was someone walking in front of her, let the arrow fly. Wait. Merida felt her eyes going wide as she watched her arrow move through the air and land directly into the guys arm.
“Fuck,” she hissed, already dropping dropping her arms, grip tightening on her bow in one hand as she quickly made her way over to her unintended target. She really hoped that it hadn’t gone it to far, because Merida had no idea if this school even had a medical facilities.
“Don’t pull it out!” It hadn’t been her intended first words to her victim, but she had shouted them now, so there was no taking it back. And he looked the type to pull out without thinking it through. Hovering next to his injured side, Merida eyed the wound, slinging her bow over one shoulder so she would have both hands free. “Are you okay? How far in is it? Shit, I’m sorry, but what are you doing out here anyway!? This is an obvious danger zone.”
“ hey, you better watch out !! we’re practising here, ” anna shouted, lowering her bow. archery was definitely not her forté, but damn if she wasn’t trying her best at it. but how was she supposed to succeed and hit her target at least once, when someone blatantly walked through her field of vision_ ??_ well, it wasn’t exactly like they were using the real practice area, just a random fence with cans on it because the actual·archery club was practising. merida was just kind enough to spare anna the embarrassment of making a fool of herself in front of the other members.·_“ _gosh, people are so·inconsiderate !!·i could have hit him with my arrow.·”
Merida crosses one arm over her chest, biting her lip to try and stop herself from laughing as she watches Anna shout at the unlucky stranger. While she was fairly confident that the chances of the other girl _actually _hitting something were slim, it would have still be funny to see her shoot someone. Can’t hit a still object but lands a perfect shot on a moving target, Merida bit back her snort of laughter.·“Anna, if you had managed to actually hit him I’d have given you _my _bow and never shot an arrow again.” Lifting her own bow Merida pulls back the string, squinting her eyes a little as she follows the poor stranger now trying to run out of their makeshift practice area.·“You still need to lift it up higher, you’ll never hit anything with it that low.” With her eyes still following the stranger she raises her voice to shout, “Hey! Move faster!”
Anya walked along the halls of the university, being accompanied by a girl she’d just met in history class. They’ve seemed to hit it off quite well so far and Anya didn’t mind walking with her to their dorms, especially since they were next to each other. There was also something familiar about her, though Anya couldn’t put her finger on it.
“Real talk, I didn’t expect to find someone decent here so soon. This place is kind of a mess,” Anya admits, thinking of the basket she’d recently spotted near her dorm with bloody garments in it. Well, fake blood. But still.
There was something about her new friend that was so, so familiar to Merida, but she couldn’t work out what. She was fairly certain they had never met before, Anya wasn’t exactly a name you’d forget. She supposes it’s possibly they met in some dingy club while they were both too drunk to remember. But that doesn’t seem right either. Merida shrugs it off – the strange feeling of missing some part of the puzzle – she’s never really been overly bothered about mysteries.
“Oh, I’ve been here like, a week now, and can fully confirm this place is fucking wild,” Merida laughed, readjusting the strap of her bag a little as she walked and thought about the red hue the dorm building had recently adopted. “But it’s a fine kinda mess, y’know? I’m in full support of more red heads in the world, even if its via fake blood.”
a somewhat bitter laugh pressed passed persephone’s lips as a tired smile ( was it a smile or more of a grimace? ) settled on them. simple make-up with a sharp cat-eye liner was trying ( and failing ) to take attention away from the last minute non-voluntary hair dye she’d received from the halloween party at clumber house. luckily, the red had scrubbed clean from her skin, bar a thin line along her hair line and scalp, but it had clung to her hair for dear life. so the usually raven haired woman, had a decidedly red tinge. persephone wasn’t sure if she liked it at all, or if it actually wasn’t so bad. regardless, she had to agree with merida. the food was pretty great. “I can’t disagree with that,” she uttered, taking a large bite from her coffee and walnut muffin. she licked her lips. “i’m torn between loving and hating the drama,” she admitted.
Peering over her sandwich the redhead looked at the muffin her companion was eating, pursing her lips at little in thought, “What kinda muffin is that?” Normally, Merida wasn’t a big muffin person, they were trying to hard to be like cakes but just not getting there, in her opinion. But that muffin was looking good. Shrugging her shoulders, she took another bite of her sandwich before replying to the other girl. “I’m always in favour of loving the drama. As long as no one gets, y’know, hurt, it’s always pretty funny to some extent.” Her eyes drifted up to Persephone’s hair and grinned, tugging at one of her own curls, “Plus, always supportive of more redheads in the world.”
Jasmine was in her dorm room with Merida, watching as the female ate a sandwich. “I’m glad you’re enjoying the food.” She didn’t know Merida well yet, but what she could tell was that the female seemed very confident, which she had a lot of respect for. “How are you holding up Merida? The Halloween party was kind of insane.” She shook her head at the thought. If only the anger would go away. Everyone seemed to be calming down now, but things still seemed tense.
“Mhm, but of an understatement,” Merida mumbled around a mouthful of food before swallowing (her mothers voice in the back of her mind scolding her about manners) and grinned at her roommate. In all honestly the Halloween party hadn’t really effected her all that much, mostly because she was still so new to the place that she’d just found the whole thing hilarious. But she didn’t think Jasmine found it all that amusing. So she shrugged her shoulders a little, “I’m alright y’know. The whole thing was kinda wild to watch when you have no idea who half the people involved are. Who even did it, do you know?” Because Merida still didn’t, not that she’d know who they were even if she did.
Honestly? For people to remember me for me, not because of my family. And I want to do something that’s worth remembering, y’know? I don’t want to just– to inherit a fully functioning company that just needs me to sign my name every other day. I want to do something, build something, start something, find something. I love my family, but I want to be known for more then just them.
What are the pros and cons of being raised in a wealthy, influentual family like yours?
Obviously the pros are the money, the fact I never got arrested because all the police knew my da and drank his whiskey. Actually, the way I got away with pretty much everything at school. It opens all sorts of doors too, doors that should be open to people better then me. People are always awfully nice to you, y’know? Mostly because they want something, but they’re nice all the same.
But it’s also a con too. Because people always want something, they see the last name, connect it to a bottle and try to work out how to use that for themselves. And stuff like that, it doesn’t bother me too much. I can take people as they are, real friends or not. But aye, well, it would be nice to know that someone was actually my friend because of me, not because of the money or free booze I can get.
Not that I can really complain. My families money and influence has got me here, it’s done nothing but benefit me.
I try not to regret things in life, especially the things that I canne change, y’know? It just seems pointless and like a waste of time on my part. But– well if there’s one thing I do regret and it’s probably how I left things with my ma when I first left. Things have never really been the same between us since.
So far Merida’s experiences of Sherwood had consisted of a party (good), alcohol (also good) and a letter from the bloody dean of the school (not so good). She was on day five, had attended a single lesson and was already being threatened with expulsion. And she wouldn’t have minded, but she honestly had no clue what anyone was talking about and hadn’t been apart of any prank. Her mum was seriously gonna murder her if she got kicked out so soon, and she was pretty sure at least one brother would be loosing a bet. Blowing a strand of hair out of her face Merida picks up her sandwich, taking a bite. “’hole place might be fucking dramatic but the food supply is great.” It was the small things in life.
Now I don’t want to go tooting me own horn or anything, aye, but I’ve wont myself a fair few bob on the ol’ dart betting ring. Mostly by betting on myself, of course. Y’know, fluff up a few egos, make sure they’ve had more then a few drinks. Throw a few bad shots at the board.
Then, when they’ve put down some proper money and think they’ve got you pegged, you throw each dart right in the bullseye and watch all there dreams die. Sometimes, you can get real lucky and they’ll think that it was just a fluke and ask to play again! You can come away with a few hundred quid if you play it right and find the place.
I mean, not sure if it counts as a stray but I did come across a bear once. Great big thing, had this tree branch stuck in it’s paw and was bleeding. And look, I’m a nice person but there was no fucking way I was gonna walk up to a bear and pull a stick out of it’s paw, y’know? Called the RSPCA when I got home later like. Not sure they believed me. Not that I blame ‘em. I mean, who finds a bloody bear, y’know? Pretty wild.
Ah well y’know there was this one time, middle winter mind you, this big snow storm comes rollin’ on in. Whole countries been talking about it for weeks, news hasn’t shut up about it, weather warnings all over the place. And it’s the weekend my ma’s decided we’re off to up to visit me wee grannie up near Glenfinnan, aye? Well I’ll tell ya, we got trapped at bloody Loch Lomond didn’t we. All had tae get outta the car and walk through a foot of snow to this wee little hotel that was open. Had some crackin’ cakes.
✦ — [ sophie turner. 21. she/her. brave. ] MERIDA DUNBROCH was just spotted coming out from THE GYM, with BRUCE SPRINGTEEN’S, BORN TO RUN; playing as a constant tune inside their head, it might as well be their song. easily noticed by their WILD RED HAIR, AURA OF MISCHIEF AND BEAT UP COMBAT BOOTS.. MERIDA is not one to be forgotten.
✦ — what are you keeping from the original canon
The main aspects of her character and her family are staying the same (tense relationship with her mum, big fan of her dad, always mildly annoyed by her triplet younger brothers, has a horse.), she still spent her childhood running wild through the highlands and shooting arrows and being anything but a ‘proper little lady’. She’s not the heir to a clan but instead the supposed heir to a multi-million pound whiskey company (Dunbroch Whiskey, Scotland's Finest since 1809), but she doesn’t want to be because she’s scared of being stuck in one place for her whole life.
✦ — personality
Merida has always been known as the wild child of the family, never backing down from a competition (or a fight, much to her mother's annoyance), always looking for something new to do and willing to try anything once. She’s never met a person she can’t have a conversation with, even if the other person ends up finding her annoying they’ll always come away from it remembering her name. Despite being a little wild, a little free spirited, a little loud, she’s always incredibly caring about the people she lets into her inner circle - it’s small and restricted, she doesn’t let many people full in, but when she does she’ll defend them for life. Merida has been known to get into situations without fully thinking them through first, often resulting in her having to call her parents for help and sitting through a lecture of proper etiquette for an ‘heiress’. It’s never stopped her from repeating the same mistakes.
(+ outgoing. adventurous. compassionate.)
(- oblivious. argumentative. impulsive.)
✦ — your characters schooling
It came as much surprise to her family when Merida had declared she was going to be studying history, with a focus on her own Scottish heritage. It wasn’t that they didn’t think she was smart or that she wasn’t interested in, it’s more the fact she’d never really shown much interest in school at all. Always slacking off, putting in minimal effort and avoiding things if she could. Her grades are never going to be perfect, but Merida has perfected the art of the average grade. C’s across the bored with the occasional B thrown in, just to mix it up sometimes.
Her real love is the archery club that she started, lugging targets across the grass when it’s dry enough and setting them up inside when it’s too windy. Hitting a target has always been something she excelled at and is often happy to teach others her skills too.
She’s housing in Clumber House.
✦ — two connections
( sophie turner ) our MERIDA DUNBROCH is looking for UTP to fulfill their ARCHERY BUDDY. They would be 18-22 and would most likely look like UTP. You DO NOT have to contact the player. @yoururlhere. Description: just someone that she hangs out with, shooting some arrows and egging each other on. either competitively or as friends. they could also just be friends outside of archery i honestly don’t mind!
( sophie turner ) our MERIDA DUNBROCH is looking for UTP to fulfill their ENEMY. They would be 20-22 and would most likely look like UTP. You DO NOT have to contact the player. @yoururlhere. Description: this is based loosely on the witch in the woods from brave, the one who gives merida the bear potion. it’d be someone who pretends to have here best interests at heart but is actually just trying to ruin her life/reputation. possibly someone from a rival company and/or clan.
✦ — three head canons
Merida has been competing in archery competitions since she was old enough to hold a bow up by herself, at first they were just friendly things between friends at school or family members. But when it became apparent that she was beating them all each time, and not being shy about it, her dad signed her up to the Scottish Archery Club and let her loose on them instead. By the time she was fifteen Merid had won four world competitions and been banned from seven different clubs/locations around the country. Ever since turning eighteen and taken to drinking in pubs, Merida has started playing darts too, finding it a fun pass time and also making extra money via bets.
Though there is a pretty big age gap between her and her three younger brothers, Merida is very close with them. She knows that they’re all different and all equally as entertaining. While they don’t talk on the phone every day, she makes a point to text all of them intermittently throughout the day and they have a group chat that is mostly full of homemade meme’s about their mum.
When she was eighteen, after a bad fight with her mum about her future, Merida had stormed up to her bathroom and cut off half her hair. The curly red locks had once reached the middle of her back but when she was done they settled unevenly above her shoulders. Her mum had almost fainted when she’d gone back downstairs an hour later, while her brothers and dad had stared in a mix of horror and amusement. It was a truly terrible haircut, and had taken nearly two years to even out a little (mostly because she had refused to go to a hairdressers to fix it). Now Merida keeps her hair shorter, the longer strands reaching the top of her spine but when wet reaching the middle of her back. She thinks it’s much more dealable. Her mother is still upset.
