The Light Fury Rider

Truth Revealed

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Another month had passed since Hicca had settled down in the Dunbroch kingdom.  For Hicca, she was very happy to be here. She easily got along with all of the locales and helped repair anything which they were glad of. 

At the moment, Hicca was finishing up repairing a sword for one of the castle guards. John, the blacksmith, was observing, impressed with her work.

"I'm still impressed that you're able to work in a smithy." John commented.

"Well, I had a very good teacher. He taught me everything I needed to know." Hicca said.

"You know, your style reminds me of an old friend of mine." John said.

"Really? Who is he?" Hicca asked.

"Gunther. But he changed it to Gobber when he went to Berk." John replied.

Hicca stiffened when she heard the name of her former home.

"B-Berk?" Hicca stuttered.

"Yeah. From what I remember, Stoick the Vast is the Viking Chief there." John stated.

"O-Oh. So he went with a Viking chief?" Hicca questioned.

 "Yeah, somehow those two became friends. Gunther wanted to see more outside of Dunbroch. Even though I didn't want him to go, but he wanted to. So I let him." John answered, "The only way you would know Gunther's technique if he had taught you," He paused, "You're his apprentice, aren't you?"

Hicca's eyes widened at John's words, "How did you know?" She asked.

"I could easily see Gunther's style of crafting." John replied.

"Has Gobber ever tried to contact you after he left Dunbroch?" Hicca questioned.

"Unfortunately, I haven't heard from him ever since he left." John replied.

"My dad probably didn't want to make contact after the war with Dunbroch." Hicca guessed.

"I also think so." John agreed. Then he blinked in confusion, "Dad? Who's your dad?"

"Chief Stoick." Hicca responded.

"You're Chief Stoick's daughter?" John asked, surprised.

"Unfortunately." Hicca admitted.

"'Unfortunately'? What do you mean by that?" John questioned.

"Let's just say my dad was disappointed in getting a fish bone daughter instead the perfect Viking son. Because of being a runt, I was bullied all my life." Hicca answered.

"Why would they do that? Surely since you're the chief daughter they would respect you." John said.

"My former tribe didn't like different. Not to mention that my dad hardly paid any attention to me. He was too busy training the Viking Prodigy instead of spending any time with me." Hicca stated.

"Must have been hard for you." John said.

"More than you can imagine, John." Hicca sighed,  "So I guess that you hate my dad then huh?"

John shrugged, "I guess so."

"You're not the only one." Hicca said.

"Quick question, why is the chief's daughter here in Dunbroch?" John asked.

"Let's just say that I really didn't fit in over there. So I decided to leave and I ended up here." Hicca replied. 

"I see. What about your mom?"

"She died when I was a baby."

"Sorry lass."

"It's okay. To me, Gobber was like a father to me."

John smiled softly, "I bet he was." 

"Even though he sometimes didn't give great advice, he still listened to me." Hicca commented.

John chuckled, "I can easily imagine."

Hicca gave a closed eye smile.

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Hicca's work at the smithy was done. John let her leave for the day. She was glad that John didn't hate her because of her father. He respected her because she was a great apprentice to his childhood friend.

As Hicca came out of the smithy, she noticed Meridus was riding Angus and he was coming towards her. He soon stopped next to her.

"Hey Hicca." Meridus greeted.

"Hey Meridus." Hicca greeted back.

Meridus rubbed the back of his head, "Hicca, I need to talk you." 

Hicca blinked, "Sure. About what?"

"Alone." Meridus replied.

Hicca nodded, "Okay." 

He held his hand out to her and she placed her hand into his. He pulled her onto the front of his saddle and made sure that she was comfortable. Then they took off into the forest.

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They soon arrived near a clearing in the forest. Meridus dismounted first and then he helped Hicca get down. The two began to walk to the clearing in silence. The only thing they could hear were the sounds of their feet walking through the grass and the creatures of the forests.

"Hicca, there's something I gotta tell you." Meridus spoke up.

"What is it?" Hicca questioned.

Meridus stopped in his steps and Hicca stopped as well. They stood in front of each other.

"I haven't really been honest with you." Meridus answered.

"About what?" Hicca asked.

"Who I really am." Meridus replied.

Hicca blinked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I'm Prince Meridus, son of King Fergus and Queen Elinor." Meridus declared.

Hicca's eyes widened in shock. It suddenly made sense to her. The reason why he leaves early and hadn't seen him around the town and always heads towards the castle. Not to mention he looked cleaner than the rest of the residents of the town.

"Please tell me you're joking." Hicca pleaded.

"No I'm not." Meridus confirmed.

"But why didn't you tell me at first?" Hicca asked.

"At first I didn't really trust you. But after I got to know you, I knew I could trust you. However I had a bit of a hard time of trying to tell you." Meridus replied.

"I can see your point. But I really would have appreciated it if you had told me that you're the prince." Hicca said.

"I guess I was afraid that you would treat me differently. Most people would." Meridus responded.

"I'm not going to do that. I'll treat you the way I'm treating you now." Hicca assured him.

"Thank you, Hicca." Meridus smiled softly at Hicca who returned the gesture.

Unexpectedly, Meridus cupped her cheek with his left hand. Hicca's breathe hitched at the touch of Meridus's rough hands. Without thinking, he leaned down as she leaned up with both of their eyes closed. Then Meridus's lips against Hicca's. At that moment, it felt time had truly stopped as Hicca accepted Meridus's kiss.