Brave Reborn (OUAT/Peter Pan Fanfic)

Chapter 3

Today's was the day. I was going to see the idiot who I'm going to be wed.

My mother had to fit me into the most uncomfortable dress in the entire kingdom. It was a light blue satin material with gold detailing at the end. There were gold trimmings on the neckline, sleeves, skirt, and belt. The dress wrapped tight around my waist, crushing my lungs, and hung free around my legs.

For accessories, I wore my tiara along with a necklace that my mother gave me.

When she was done, she awed in amazement, "You look absolutely beautiful."

"I—I can't breathe!" I whimpered.

"Give us a twirl."

I groaned, I tried to spin around.

"I can't move! It's too tight!"

"It's perfect." said mother.

Mother looked at me in compassion. It looked like she wanted to tell me something.

"Merida," She said.

"Mom?" I asked.

"Just...remember to smile." She turns and walks off.

•••

A crowd formed as the clan gathered to present the boy.

"So, here we are! The Dingwall clan! Uh...gathering...uh...for..." My dad slowly begins.

Mother, exasperated by Dad's slowness gets up and finishes his sentence. "The presentation of the suitor!"

He quickly follows on from his wife.

The crowd cheered.

Lord Dingwall began when the crowd died down, "I present my only son, who was besieged by ten thousand Romans and he took out their whole armor single-handedly, with one arm. With one arm, he was steering the ship, and with the other he held his mighty sword and struck down a whole attacking fleet!"

I got a good looked at him. He was a tall fellow, lean as a greyhound. His eyes were deep-set and frozen blue. His nose was straight, cheeks well hollowed. The blonde young men looked around my age, maybe one or two years older.

After the presentation, my parents made me walked with him to get to know him better. We were in the garden of the castle. A heavy silence settled over us, thicker then the uneasy tension in the atmosphere.  Our unsettled eyes glanced unceremoniously around and tried to avoid catching other glances that passed by.

"So," I started.

"So," he added.

"I really didn't get a chance to catch your name. You mind?"

"Not at all, Felix." He took out his hand and I shook it.

"Merida," I added.

There was an awkward silence.

"Look," he begins, "You seemed really nice, and I heard all about you, but—"

"You're not interested," I interrupted, then continued, "Trust me, I don't want this more than you do."

"Thank god," He replied with relief, then asked, "Have any ideas how we get out of this?"

"No."

"So we're in a real mess, aren't we?"

"Yep."

"There has to be someth—" Felix was interrupted by a servant, telling him that he needed to get ready for our engagement party tonight.

I sighed and looked up. I saw a lovely dark red apple. The fruit was sadly on the highest branch, which was about ten feet high. Tall enough that the average human can not reach. This was probably the skinniest tree in the garden, meaning that I can not just climb on. That would risk it to break. I really did not feel like waiting for the servants to grab a ladder to pick it. Then I had an idea. I took a few steps back and started running. I jumped into the air and grabbed to apple. 

I was about to bite the apple when Tonight is a full moon. Hundreds of people while are looking. Oh, crap.

There is one thing that I might not mention. At every full moon, I turn to a fearsome creature. A beast that my father so desires to kill. I become a great, black bear. The kind that my father lost his leg to. It started when I was thirteen. I never knew how I received it. I first realized after I notice myself waking up to a few messes that I accidentally made or in the forest. I soon started to control this creature so I could never hurt anyone. I wanted to tell my dad but then thought about how he, the Bear King, would react. Would he accept me? Would he reject me? I decided to keep my mouth shut. Usually, I would sneak out after everyone is asleep.

But now, how could I hold it in? I can only contain it for about one or two hours after the moon had rose. What happened if I let it loose at the party? Would I lose control? Would I black out? I never killed a man before, but that might change tonight.