Battle Scars (Mericcup Story)

Chapter 10: Aftershock

Hiccup made his way back down the path. He and Fishlegs had brought Merida home, but she was not in the mood to talk. Whenever Hiccup had glanced at her over his shoulder she was still shaking a little, walking right between Fishlegs and him, not venturing off passionately as she had been before. Merida's shoulders were hunched and her face was hidden behind the mess of copper curls. Fishleg's must've noticed it too, because once they had gotten her home he insisted on staying.

"I should be the one to tell them what happened," Hiccup explained. "I'm the chief's son, so-"

"So we can't let them blame you," Fishleg's pointed out. He had always been the largest of the group, but whenever he wanted to make a point it was like he could appear twice as tall and foreboding as before. "We're not discussing this Hiccup. Go home, you look like you could use some sleep." That much was true. Hiccup couldn't remember the last time he'd had more than a few hours of rest.

After a few more minutes of back and forth Hiccup retreated home. Walking up the large staircase he slipped into his room, happy to not have woken Stoick. Prodding his way through the room Hiccup quickly found that he was not alone. Across the room a pair of green eyes flashed in the moonlight. "Toothless," Hiccup sighed, a little surprised. The Nightfury must've come through the window. "I was wondering when you'd get back." He said, almost laughing at his reptilian friend.

Toothless huffed in response, clearly irked. "C'mon Bud." Hiccup retorted, kicking the dragon lightly. Hiccup let out a disgruntled laugh, then perked his head up and took an audible sniff. The dragon closed the space between them and sniffed the air once more. "What is it?" Hiccup asked. Then it occurred to him. "Oh, I bet it's Merida." He concluded. Toothless tipped his head, a curiosity lighting his eyes. "She's a princess Toothless. From Scotland, which is I guess really far away. I bet it would take at least a day of straight flying to get there." Hiccup sighed and plopped down on his bed across the room.

"What does she smell like?" Hiccup asked, then realized what a strange question it was out loud he found himself blushing slightly against the night. "I bet she smell like Scotland...whatever that means." He leaned further back on the bed, shutting his eyes and trying to sleep. As his mind wondered in the darkness though, his thoughts seemed to way more heavily on the subject of Scotland, and what that must be like. "Summer," He concluded, the word hanging faintly in the air.

Summer being a strange concept. It could rarely be considered real-summer on Berk. A bitterness always clung to the air, or at least an icy chill. Hiccup opened one eye, peering at the Nightfury in the distance who -although uninterested- looked back at Hiccup through the darkness . Hiccup closed his own eyes once more, intent on this time falling asleep.

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After the incident with Barf and Belch Hiccup had expected Merida would disappear. Maybe return to where her family was staying and lock herself away. From what he'd heard of her last encounter with the Terrible Terror he was almost sure of it. His father's words echoed in his mind throughout the night. "She was scared to death of the weakest dragon on Berk' he could remember Stoick's tone, how much he stressed his own fear. Hiccup's father was not one to scare easily.

Afraid of meeting his father's rath first thing in the morning Hiccup went to the window. He jumped from the second story, landing in the snow below, which luckily broke his fall and whistled for Toothless. The Nightfury swung down from the roof, landing almost silently on the icy ground. "C'mon bud," Hiccup sighed, tightening Toothless's saddle and jumping onto the back of the dragon. Taking off he first thought of going to see Merida and to make sure she was alright, but instead lead Toothless to the academy. "Better make sure every things alright there first, right?" His voice gave him away. Toothless rolled his reflective green eyes.

Gliding down through the gate Hiccup first saw Hookfang -Snotlout's dragon- then the rider himself. "Hey Hiccup," His cousin called out. "Heared you struck out pretty bad last night with your new girlfriend." Snotlout wore an unusually snarky expression along with his usual exasperating demeanor. "First Astrid, now the Scottish girl? Let me know if you ever need some advice from a real love expert."

"Sure thing Snotlout," Hiccup sighed, rolling his eyes. He wasn't as interested in dealing with his cousin's air of over-confidence today. "Did you hear anything helpful on the way here. Because my personal life really doesn't seem like the biggest issue here." Hiccup had thought about saying his love life, but was afraid of distracting Snotlout even more.

"Well, yeah," Snotlout retorted, stuttered slightly and rubbing his some-what beard in thought. "Yeah. Now that you mention it, the Queen was really upset this morning." Hiccup looked up from the fish he was pulling out for Toothless. "She was pretty much dragging her husband through town earlier."

"Oh, Gods." Hiccup almost yelled, running a nervous hand through his hair. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Don't look at me," Snotlout said, almost defensively. "I was to busy keep Hookfang here away from the new cart of fish." He snickered, although Hookfang wasn't impressed. The dragon sent it's long tail into the back of Snotlout's helmet, landing with a loud Thwack, that sent his rider to the ground.

"Should I go talk to them?" Hiccup asked, although it was more to himself. He'd already seen Queen Elinor upset once, was he willing to face her again with an actual cause for alarm?

"If I were you," Snotlout said, surprisingly loosing his tone of superiority for a moment. "I'd focus more on fixing what's broken instead of just taping it back together like what Gober does. Since those always end up falling apart."

Hiccup turned to Snotlout, a little surprised. "Wow Snotlout, thanks. That was actually insightful."

"Yeah, don't get used to it. I think Hookfang rattled my helmet around a little to much." Snotlout sighed, shaking his head fiercely back and forth.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Hiccup said, laughing a little as his cousin wondered back towards the supplies area. Hiccup waited until Toothless was done with his fish then the two were off again and headed towards the DunBroch clan's homestead.