Hiccup grinned as he faintly heard the bard inside the tavern lead his musicians to play a boisterous melody of bar-fight music. The front door burst open and pirates ran out, yelling after the princess and the viking.
Merida laughed and she raised her tankard in toast as a pirate fired a crossbow at them. She was bizarre, and she was fantastic, and he couldn’t ask for a better traveling companion.
[x]
Week 1, Day 1: The way you say “I love you” -- Over a beer bottle
As promised, here are the prompts early!! I hope you all enjoy them! I went more of a fluff route because of everything that’s going on, we could certainly use the happy feelings. Please use the tags #mericcupmonth and #mericcupmonth20 so we can see your wonderful creations!!
Week 1 - The way you say “I love you”
1. Over a beer bottle
2. In a letter
3. From very far away
4. As we huddle together, the storm raging outside
5. Muffled, from the other side of the door
6. Before we jump
7. In awe, the first time you realized it
Week 2 - The way you kiss me
8. height difference kisses where one person has to bend down and the other is on their tippy toes
9. when one stops the kiss to whisper “I’m sorry, are you sure you-” and they answer by kissing them more
10. lazy morning kisses before they’ve even opened their eyes, still mumbling half-incoherently, not wanting to wake up
11. breaking the kiss to say something, staying so close that you’re murmuring into each other’s mouths
12. staring at the other’s lips, trying not to kiss them, before giving in
13. a hoarse whisper “kiss me”
14. kisses meant to distract the other person from whatever they were intently doing
Week 3 - Locations
15. Berk
16. Dunbroch
17. Stonehenge
18. Loch Ness
19. Iceland
20. Greenland
21. New Zealand
Week 4 - Misc Sentences
22. “ People are talking about us. ”
23. “ I just want summer already. ”
24. “ I thought you, of all people, would understand. ”
25. “ Sometimes i just wonder why things turned out this way. ”
26. “ There’s something you’re not telling me. ”
27. “ I was hoping for a little sympathy, maybe. ”
28. “ This job is going to kill me. ”
Hiccup glanced down. He and Toothless were flying over Scotland. Hiccup didn’t want to meet anyone just yet. Right now, he just wanted to get the lay of the land, see what it was like, maybe even try to eavesdrop on a few of the locals and get an idea of the way the Scots worked. He was a Viking, and he knew that Vikings weren’t very well liked in these parts. Could they blame them? When all the Vikings these guys have ever encountered were of the pillaging and looting kind, it was only natural that they wouldn’t trust the first Viking who wanted to spread peace. Especially when that Viking was riding the unholy offspring of lightning and death. He smirked. Yeah, they really wouldn’t trust him with Toothless around, at least not at first. Maybe if he could show them how to bond and work with dragons, they could work things out. But first, he had to talk to a Scot, which he was avoiding at the moment. He was just wanting to see Scotland right now. It was beautiful, and green. So green. Trees everywhere! Sure, there were trees on Berk, but not as many as in Scotland, or the variety. He could see a few fruit trees, the fruit just beginning to grow among the green foliage. He breathed in the woody scents. Autumn must be beautiful here with all the trees changing colors.
Toothless let out a grunt.
Hiccup patted him. “What is it, bud?” Toothless nodded towards the horizon. “What in the name of Odin is that?” Below, a ring of stones jutted out between the trees. “Let’s land and take a look.” Toothless snorted, but descended, landing near the stones. Hiccup dismounted and walked up to the stones. He passed his fingers over the carvings in the stone. “Wow, there must be a whole history here. I wish I could read it.” A rustling occurred in the bushes to Hiccup’s right. He quickly turned, his hand instinctively reaching for the hilt of his sword. “Who’s there?” The rustling continued. Toothless let out a low growl as he stepped closer to Hiccup. A young woman stepped out from behind the trees with a bow and arrow aimed at them.
“Who are you? And what are you doing here?” she asked in a thick Scottish accent.
Hiccup quickly threw up his hands. “My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, I’m just exploring.”
The bow lowered slightly. “Hiccup is your name?”
Hiccup winced, here it comes. “Yeah.”
She burst out laughing. “What kind of a name is that? Did your parents think you were small and annoying?”
“Well for a time I was, I’m not that small any longer.”
Her eyes flitted over his form. “I can see that. Can you not change your name?”
Hiccup shrugged. “Haven’t thought about that, I’ve been known as Hiccup for so long it wouldn’t make sense to change it now.”
“Fair enough. So you’re just exploring, huh?”
“Yes.”
“With your dragon?”
“Oh, yes, flying’s a lot of fun, and faster than a boat.”
“Where are you from?”
“A little island north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death.”
She blinked. “Wait, really?”
“Well, considering how cold it gets there . . .”
She laughed. “Oh, oh I get it. Those aren’t names of islands, are they?”
“Well, no, not really.” Hiccup rubbed the back of his head. “Why would you think that?”
“With a name like Hiccup, I wouldn’t put it past you.”
“Hey!” He paused. “Though, you might be right.”
She chuckled. “But I’ve never heard of Berk.”
“Oh yes, a well kept little Viking secret . . .” Wrong thing to say. The bow went back up.
“A Viking? You’re a Viking?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that. See, I’m not here to loot or pillage. We’ve gotten a whole lot of that on Berk too, we get it, it’s pretty annoying.”
“Pretty annoying? More like downright horrible! People have lost their lives!”
Hiccup winced. “Right, sorry, we Berkians have dealt mainly with the dragons. We managed to make peace with them though, and, well, we were thinking of trying to meet some new people and extend a hand of friendship.”
“And you thought befriending Scots is about the same as befriending your dragons?”
“Well, yeah! I mean, thanks to the dragons, we have found out that not everyone is bad, mainly just a few. And we’ve had our fair share of dealings with bad Vikings. So I get that you don’t want to trust any, but I am hoping we can come to an agreement.”
“What would it mean for us?”
“Well, for one thing, we’d help you out with any further Viking raids. And we could teach you how to work with dragons.” The bow went down a lot as the redhead glanced at Toothless. Hiccup held out his hand. “Would you like to pet him?” Toothless and the woman glanced at him in shock, Toothless huffed.
“Can, can I?”
“Sure, he won’t bite. He just doesn’t like it when I’m in danger.”
The woman glanced at her bow. “Oh, right.” She placed the arrow back in her quiver and placed the bow over her shoulder. She took a step forward. Toothless growled.
“Toothless! She put away her bow. She’s willing to give us a chance, you need to give her one too.” Toothless stopped growling, but he eyed her approach suspiciously. She stopped a couple of feet away from them. “Hold out your hand and close your eyes. Let him come to you.” She glanced at him. Hiccup smiled. She smiled nervously back before holding out her hand and closing her eyes. Toothless glanced at Hiccup. Hiccup motioned him to go through with it. Toothless rolled his eyes and let out a huff before touching her hand with his nose. She opened her eyes and gasped.
“Aw, you’re not so bad are you? You’re a good boy!” Toothless panted and nodded.
“Hey, what? Well you changed your mind pretty quickly,” mumbled Hiccup. Toothless chortled. Hiccup grunted and crossed his arms. “Stupid reptile.”
The woman laughed as she continued to pet Toothless. “I don’t know, I think he’s pretty smart. Aren’t you?” Toothless nodded enthusiastically. She threw her arms around his neck. “Aw, you are a very good boy!” She looked at Hiccup. “What’s his name?”
“Toothless.”
She blinked. “Seriously?” She opened Toothless’s mouth. “However did you come up with that one? He’s got all his teeth!”
“Well, he can retract them,” said Hiccup. As he said that, Toothless did retract them.
The woman’s mouth dropped. “That’s awesome.”
Hiccup grinned. “Isn’t it? Oh, I don’t think I got your name.”
The woman held out her hand. “Merida DunBroch.”
Hiccup shook her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Merida. Mind if I ask you a few questions about Scots?”
“Sure, but I can’t stay for long. I have to get home for dinner.”
“That’s fine. We can meet back here tomorrow, if you’d like.”
Merida smiled. “I’d like that.”
The three met up every day after that, chatting about the similarities and differences between Vikings and Scots. Eventually, Hiccup wanted to try talking to the clan chiefs and try to form an alliance. Merida persuaded him to let her try to talk to them about it first and get an audience. She didn’t want him to go into a room full of Scots and nearly get killed because they’re just itching for a fight. She got him the audience, and eventually a new school for dragon training was opened.
…
Merida urged Angus to go faster. She didn’t want to be late. The horse just about threw her, again, as they neared the ring of stones.
“Hiccup? Hiccup!” She glanced around the ring. She couldn’t see the Viking nor his dragon. “Hiccup! Toothless!” She let out a soft shriek as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I missed you.”
Merida giggled before turning around and wrapping her arms around Hiccup’s neck. “And I missed you, you silly fish.”
“Ugh, what is it with that nickname?”
“What? You mean you prefer . . .” she gave a small hiccup.
He groaned and rolled his eyes. “Fair point. But please come up with something else.”
Merida chuckled. “Fine, how does husband sound?”
“A bit better.” He cupped her chin and pulled her into a kiss. Which was then rudely interrupted by Toothless licking them. “Ah! Thank you, you useless reptile.” Toothless laughed. “You know that doesn’t wash out! What were you thinking anyway? You totally ruined the moment!”
Merida guffawed. “A useless reptile and a silly fish, you two really are meant to be together.”
“Ha ha, very funny. Come here.” Hiccup pulled her back and they kissed.
Hiccup drops Merida off in the woods outside of Dunbroch. They say a short goodbye, and she watches him as he and Toothless flies away, towards Berk. Once they have disappeared from view, she takes a deep breath, and goes home.
She barely takes a step inside the gates before her mother his hugging her, and they’re crying in each other’s arms. Her brothers come soon after, she hates how much they’ve grown while she’s been gone. Last to join the hug is her father, he’s sobbing even more than Elinor.
She ends up getting quite the lecture, but that is expected, and it’s softened by the fact that her brothers haven’t let go of her since she returned. In the evening she goes to visit Angus in the stable. It feels good to be home.
When Hiccup lands on Berk he’s immediately tackled by Snotlout, who apparently missed him even more than Astrid let on. It’s a little unnerving, but appreciated. The rest of the riders come next, all hugging him with excitement he’s rarely seen them have. They all start telling stories and joking, and it’s almost as if he never left at all.
That is, until Stoick shows up.
Hiccup fears the worst, and starts apologizing as soon as he sees his father. But he is caught of guard when Stoick’s eyes well up, and he’s pulled into one of the fiercest hugs he’s ever gotten. All his worries are washed away when Stoick tells him that he would had done the same thing for Hiccup’s mother.
At the end of the day, practically all of Berk is huddled inside the great hall listening to Hiccup as he tells them about his adventures out in the world. He can’t stop smiling.
Two weeks later a meeting is held between all the clan leaders and Viking chiefs, discussing peace. It’s the first time Merida and Hiccup see each other since he dropped them off, and as soon as he lands with Toothless she is by his side. Together they advocate for peace, giving arguments for how it’s achievable and being living proof that it’s possible.
In the end, everyone agrees. But on the condition that the Princess and Chief-to-be continue to be the example, and get married. Hiccup and Merida are both happy to say yes.
Two ceremonies are held; one in Dunbroch and one on Berk. They are as officially married as they can get. A lot of time is spent debating which of their weddings was better. Merida keeps saying it was the one on Berk, only because she got a dragon of her own as a wedding gift from her new husband.
It’s only shortly after they’re married that they discover the trappers, and Drago. It’s a difficult ordeal, but at least they’ve got each other. Merida follows Hiccup when he leaves to find Drago. She stays by his side when he finds his mother, and when he loses his father. She watches with pride as he’s officially made Chief.
They figure out how to lead Berk together. It’s not easy, but they’ve got a lot of help. Valka is always there to support them, and Astrid and the rest of the riders are a big help too. Even Eret becomes a valued part of their council once he’s gotten used to the Berk way of living. It’s good to have them all, especially when they take trips to Dunbroch. They can always be sure that Berk is in good hands.
Merida finds a good friend in Astrid at this time. Once everything has calmed down, and they are working closely together in overseeing Berk. She has to admit that the first time they met she wasn’t convinced she would ever like this girl, but as soon as they got a chance to spend time together, they were best friends within a matter of hours. Hiccup is ecstatic at first, but then they start snarking off at him together, and he realizes his mistake. Still, seeing his wife and best friend getting along always manages to make him smile.
As good as things are though, there are still threats on the horizon. They spend a lot of time rescuing dragons from trappers, and Berk ends up being widely overpopulated. But it takes Gobber actually pointing it out for them to find a solution. And the one they find should have been obvious from the start.
Dragons start being moved to Dunbroch. Fergus could not be happier, neither could the triplets. More and more Scots adopt dragons, especially the warriors, and once they found out about Grimmel and the other warlords, they don’t stand a chance.
Time passes. Elinor and Fergus decide to retire early, they say it’s time for new ideas and traditions to take the throne. Merida and Hiccup are crowned Queen and King, and take their new positions with grace. They’re suddenly in charge of a much larger area than before, but they’re never in over their heads. With Hamish, Hubert and Harris and the young lords in Scotland, and the council led by Astrid on Berk, there’s always someone competent around to handle things even when they’re not there.
It’s a good thing too, Merida decides as she watches Hiccup cooing at their newborn baby. They’re going to need a lot of help, now more than ever.
A long distance relationship correspondence. Many people use owls, some may use pigeons... but we use dragons.
Week 1, Day 2 & 3: The way you say "I love you" - In a letter & From far away
They were out hunting for trolls in the trailed forests of the DunBroch grounds when thunder rolled above them. The princess took fright and ran away from the sound. Not a moment later the boy found her huddling under a giant oak, eyes up looking through the canopy of the tree. That's when droplets of rain began to fall on their cheeks.
It wasn't supposed to rain until later on when they were to head back towards the castle. But he still came prepared, of course (his mother made sure he went prepared, of course). The boy opened his umbrella and went to sit next to the princess.
The princess' eyes were now curiously observing the round yellow eyes of the strange umbrella. She decided it looked like a dragon. And when it settled over her, stopping the rain, she also decided it was like a dragon's wing protecting her.
She turned to the boy and smiled at him. He smiled back. Troll-hunting can wait. Right now she'll have this adventure with a boy and his friend dragon.
[x]
Week 1, Day 4: The way you say "I love you" - As we huddle together, the storm raging outside
