Author's Note:

Hi, it's Charity! I've been considering doing a multichapter fic on Mericcup, so I decided to attempt a Prologue. This is set about a year and a half after the events of Brave and about 4 years after HTTYD (HTTYD2 non-existant). (Merida 17 and a half. Hiccup 19.) In a highly, historically inaccurate fashion, I made up an enemy force with a boring and unrealisitic name. Please forgive me! There will be some mentioning of and appearances from Big Four/Big Eight characters, but the story will mainly focus on Mericcup. I attempted Scottish accents, which can be fixed if you think they're too strong. Please read and review, and let me know if you think I should continue! Constructive criticism welcomed! I plan on rating it as a T for future language and mentions of sex. However, I think the first couple chapters could pass as a K+.

Disclaimer: I do not own Brave or How to Train Your Dragon.

Prologue:

"But, Mum, dae I have tae go?"

"Yes, Merida, ye have tae. Ye wanted yer freedom, this is th responsibilty 'at comes with it."

"I know, but these meetings are sae boring," Merida whined.

"Here, wear this," Elinor said as she lied a lavender fitted dress on the bed, next to a black corset. The dress had gold stitching down the front and a gold belt that hung loosely around the waist. Merida sighed, and started to get dressed.

Elinor handed her a comb. Once Merida hand combed through her curls, Elinor layed a head covering on the bed.

"I'm not wearing 'at."

"Merida, a lady can't have her hair wild and every where all th time."

"I"ll wear it oot of my face, if ye insist, but I"m not wearin 'at blasted thing."

"Merida! Oke, but don't talk like 'at."

Merida huffed. She grabbed the the top layer of her hair and twisted it back it to a low pony tail, securing it with a gold clip.

"How's 'at?" Merida asked her mother.

"It'll dae, I guess," Elinor muttered. "Hurry up, th meeting's aboot tae start."

"Just let me grab th pencil Repunzel sent me, an' my parchement. I plan on takin' notes."

"Really?" Elinor asked, surprised.

"Well, I figured there'll be nothin' betta tae dae, an' it might keep me from fallin' asleep."

Elinor sighed, disappointed. "Come on, let's go."

By time they reached the meeting hall, the council and King Fergus were getting ready to start. Elinor rushed Merida to her seat, next to her father, and scurried out the door. A few strands of Merida's unruley, red hair had fallen down to frame her face. She pushed them behind her ear, as her father, Fergus stood to address the hall. "Welcome tae th council meetin' . My advisees have informed me 'at there are many things we have tae discuss today. Howeva' , before th meetin' , I would like tae introduce ye tae my daughter, Princess Merida." King Fergus held out one large arm toward, where Merida sat. She smiled at the council, with a wave and a nod. If her mother had been there, she would have insisted Merida courtsey, but Elinor was not there. Fergus continued, "From what I understand, this is th first meetin' of many, she will be attending, as part of her education of course. Please, make her feel welcome." Many of the council members looked confused as to why the princess would be attending such meetings, as that would be part of the education of a prince. She should be home learning to sew, and dance, and do other lady like things. In actuality, she should be taking care of her husband or betrothed, at this age, no longer needing a home education. Yet, some of them payed her presence no mind, as they had heard some of the previous year's incident. "Let th meeting begin," the Bear King's voice boomed, as he sat down.

One council member stood and began to address the first matter of the meeting. Merida began to listen, but when she realized it was just budgeting concerns, she became bored, and began to doodle with her pencil. Most every one around here used feather and ink, however, her friend, another free spirited princess from a southern kingdom, had sent her a pencil for her seventeenth birthday. It was filled with charcoal, while the outside, had bears carved in the wood, and a single arrow carved at the top. Merida had been to visit this friend once, when they first met, something about the King & Queen of Corona introducing their princess to surrounding kingdoms, before her wedding. This friend's name was Repunzel, and she had a very interesting story, almost as interesting as Merida's, concluding with the fact that she would be the future heir and ruler of her kingdom, while marrying a wanted criminal. The two had hit it off right away, and became great friends, as well as pen pals, after their meeting. When Repunzel had read that Merida's birthday was coming, and that she would start attending council meetings and such with her father soon, she requested a pencil of her own design be made. Repunzel was quite artistic, and knowing Merida's story, felt bears and something relating to archery would represent Merida well. Merida was surprised and thrilled when her present arrived, and wrote Repunzel the greatest thanks. Merida smiled at the memory, having no idea as to what was being discussed at the moment.

"...Now on tae a rather large matter, we have received a proposal fer a treaty and possible ally," one council member continued. "Oh," King Fergus asked, interested, "who from?" The council member nervously answered, "...well, Sir, From th Vikings of Bur-" He was interrupted. "VIKINGS?! TH HIGHLANDERS WILL HAVE NAE SUCH ALLY! I can't believe ye would consider such a thing! Vikings are savages, nae good for anything, but attacking, pillidging, raping..." Merida was tugged back into reality, by the sound of her father's booming voice. "But sir! Just hear this oot! The proposal is from th Vikings of Burk. We have not had a Vikikng attack here in over a decade, and we have not had one from Burk in over half a century!" "I doo not care, " Fergus replied, "It would not only associate us with th natives of Burk, but all of them. Nae Vikings!" "Yer Majesty," another council member chimed in, sounding oddly confident, in contrast to the previous speaker,"Dae ye remember th attacks of th Vias, on some of our smaller, surrounding villages, not too long ago? Where nearly half th men were killed, and a third of th buildings destroyed?" "Why, yes? But what does 'at have tae dae with anything?" The meeker council member clarified, " 'At is why th Vikings of Burk have sent a proposal for a treaty. Althoo, they have not been attacked yet, they have been threatened by th Vias. They fear they can not protect their island by themselves, and they dae have an advantage 'at could help us in defending our land." "Highlanders dae not use the advantages as such savages would! Besides, if they can not protect themselves, how could they help us?" Once again, Fergus disagreed.

The confident member, piped in again, "Dae ye remember when a speaker at th festival not too long ago, mentioned th people 'at had been working on taming and training dragons? And was interested in contacting them fer future festivals?" If Merida wasn't already interested in the discussion at hand, she definitely was now. She was fascinated with dragons. Although, there weren't really any inhabiting the Highlands, she had learned of them in her studies. She found them amazing, and had dreamed of seeing one in person one day. Meanwhile, King Fergus was bewildered at how such an arrogant young boy at the table, had kept changing the topic at hand. "Now, I'm sure dragons have nothing tae dae with a treaty between Vikings." Mr. Meek corrected, "...Well, actually, Sir, ye see th Vikings of Burk are th ones 'at have tamed an' trained th dragons." Mr. Arrogant opened his mouth again, " 'At's th advantage th Vikings are offering us with this treaty! These animals could make excellent weapons of war!" "An' how's 'at," Fergus asked aggravated. "Men riding animals 'at fly an' breathe fire? How's 'at not an advantage?!" Meirda finally spoke, surprising all the men at the table. "Ye mean tae tell me, if we sign this treaty we can ride dragons?" The men chuckled at her. "If ye had been listening, ye would know 'at's not th just of this treaty. Now why don't ye go back tae napping an' doodling, Princess, an' let th men handle th real work. Better yet, why don't ye go back to learning how tae sew with Mummy," Mr. Arrogant insulted, as he scoffed at Merida's question, and presence for that matter. " 'AT'S IT!" King Fergus roared, "I'VE HAD JUST ABOOT ENOUGH OF YE AN' 'AT ATTITUDE OF YERS! I CERTAINLY WILL NOT HAVE YE INSULTING MY DAUGHTER LIKE 'AT!" Mr. Arrogant replied with a grimace, that turned into a smirk, "Sorry, Yer Majesties." Merida snarled at him, then put her head down.

Mr. Meek spoke, trying to calm the crowd, "...Well, Yer Majesty, here's a list of th accomplishments of th previous leader of th tribe, Balder the Great, th current leader of th tribe, Stoick the Vast, an' th future leader an' heir tae th tribe, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, as well, as th proposal for th treaty. Ye can read over 'at later, an' let us know what ye decide." An older council memeber stood, "Yes, Cailean, 'at sounds wonderful. Now, let's move on tae th next matter." "Huh," Merida thought, "Mr. Meek has a name." She figured Mr. Arrogant must have one too, not that she wanted to know it. The council began discussing general upkeep of the kingdom and appearances and such, and Merida couldn't help, but to zone out again. She refused to doze off though, just to spite Mr. Arrogant.

When the meeting was finally over, she left with a page of doodles, and her pencil, following her father to meet Elinor and the boys for supper. Once they reached the dining hall, they sat in their places, King Fergus at the head of the table, with Queen Elinor on one side, and the Triplet Princes, Hubbert, Harris, and Hammish, on the other; Princess Merida sighing and sitting beside her mother. "Sae, how was th meeting," Elinor inquired. "Awful," replied Fergus. "Mostly, boring," chimed Merida. "Mostly?" The Queen asked. "Did something interest ye?" "Oh, just Da arguing, mentions of a treaty, an' ... dragons." Merida smiled at the last part. "Arguing? Treaty? Dragons? What on earth are ye talking aboot?" "Oh, just council stuff, Elinor, don't worry. There was this outrageous preposal, an' 'at young pup, Bhaltair couldn't keep his mouth shut again, even talking tae Merida." "Was 'at th obnoxious guy?" Fergus nodded. "Oh, is this a possible suitor fer Merida?" "NOO!" Merida and Fergus yelled in unison. Elinor chuckled. "Very well, then." It was quiet for a bit, as the family became busy with eating the dinner Maudie had prepared. "Da, I was thinkin' , could I read over those papers, Mr. Mee- I mean Cailean, gave ye." The King and Queen looked at her in confusion. "I dae see why not." He handed them to her.

She had finished her plate and pushed it forward. She first read over the accomplishments of Balder the Great. It listed many killings, which although this did not surprise Merida, it did disturb her a bit. However, these killings were of peoples she had never heard of before, and ones that seemed to be very threatening, at least that's what she had gathered from the text. She then read over the list of accomplishments of Stoick the Vast. It listed the exploration of several uninhabited lands, and surprisingly enough the killing of many dragons. It continued with a list of things having to do with the protection and preservation of Burk. Finally, she made her way to the list of accomplishments, she found most interesting, the accomplishments of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. It was a shorter list than the other two, but seemed to be less Viking like. He had been the one to study, tame, and train the dragons, refusing to kill them like his ancestors and peers. He had killed the cause of the dragon attacks, Red Death, losing a leg in the process, and finally united his people with the dragons. Merida almost found him as fascinating as the dragons themselves. She made her way to the treaty. She read of the horrid actions of the Vias, and of their current threats not only to the Vikings of Burk, but to her people as well. It appauled her. She read of what the Vikings had to offer, and their requests. Although the treaty seemed to lack anything to really finalize it or its authority, it seemed to be a very good idea for both peoples.

"Da, I think ye should read these. This treaty seems like a really good idea."

"I don't think sae, Merida. Just doesn't feel right with our history."

"Please, Da, just read them over." Fergus grabbed the papers and began reading.

"...Huh, I think ye might be right, Merida. Maybe I was bein' rather rash."

"Aboot what," inquired Elinor.

Fergus sighed. "A treaty with th Vikings of Burk."

"Vikings! Have ye gone mad? They're savages! Only good for pilidging-"

"Not necesarrily, Mum! We haven't had a Viking attack in over a decade, and we haven't had an attack from Burk in over half a century! Not to mention the accomplishments of their future cheif are amazing."

"Ye actually listened in 'at meetin'!" Fergus aloofly beamed with surpise and pride in his voice. "Maybe, a little," Merida said with a smile.

"Fergus, ye can't actually be considerin' this! Regardless of how these Vikings are, associating ourselves with one tribe, means associating ourselves with them a-"

"I considered 'at, Elinor, but this island being sae distant, doesn't seem tae have any remaining association with other Viking tribes. Just read this, an' tell me what ye' think."

"Whit is this?"

"It's a list of the accomplishments of their previous cheif, current cheif, and future cheif, as well as th preposal fer th treaty."

"Well, of course they look good on paper, they probably wrote all this, an' left oot th awful-" "Now, Elinor, ye know who does all th research fer any of our political matters, an' ye know he writes objectively."

"Jackson Fruvian wrote this?"

"Of course."

Elinor sighed. "Hand it oover."

"...Well, I agree 'at th preposal sounds favorable, but I'm still leery aboot all this. An' I'm sure th only reason Merida is interested is th dragons."

"Hell, I'm just prood Merida listened at all, I expected her tae doodle an' nap th whole time! Just think if she hadn't of been there today, I might of passed this opportunity up," Fergus commented.

"I guess yer right. I should just be proud she's atteneding council meetings at all, an' not rebelliously riding her horse through th woods, shooting her bow an' arrow, an' letting her hair flow wildly throo th wind."

The boys giggled at their mother's comment on their older sister, while Merida stared blankly.

"I'll tell th council in th morning, tae arrange a meeting with th Vikings of Burk, fer now lets get some sleep."

Previously on Burk:

"Jack, my boy, it's good to see ya'!" Stoick boomed.

The brunette boy stepped forward, his chocolate eyes gleaming, "I brought the information you asked for, on Fergus the Bear King. Since you insisted, I didn't fool with any information on the previous generations, but I did gather information on Fergus' immediate family, Queen Elinor, the Triplet Princes, Hubbert, Hammish, and Harris, and the Princess Merida. I also got the information you wanted on the Vias and their attacks on the Highland villages."

"That why your the best! Stick around while I read over this, and if I see what I expect to, you can join the meeting to write a treaty preposal."

"Sounds good!"

"Hiccup's outside with Toothless, if ya' want to talk to him for a bit."

Jack found his way outside, and behind the cheif's hut. "Hiccup! Long time, no see!"

"Jack! What are you doing here?"

"Just working on my part time job, bringing your father some information he asked for. He wants me to stick around, just in case I have to write something for the council."

"That's great! You can hang out with me and Toothless for a while," Hiccup said, petting his dragon. "So how's your job going?"

"Good for now. It keeps me entertained until winter is in session somewhere else, again. You know that's when I have my most fun." Jack's brown eyes, flickered blue for a moment, at the mention of his passion.

Hiccup in fact did know. The Vikings were of the few that knew of the informant's true identity, although they rarily saw him in his true form. "Well, I heard you were having fun not too long ago in that kingdom up north. What's it called, Arendelle?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You haven't heard? They had a winter in the middle of summer. It's all over now, but I heard it was crazy. I figured you had to have something to do with it."

"No idea what that's about, but I'm glad you let me know. That might just be my next adventure, after I take care of everything for your dad and the Bear King."

"You're crazy," Hiccup said with a smile.

"That's why you love me," Jack replied.

"You're probably right there," Hiccup said witht a chuckle.

"JACK! We need ya'!"

"Well, see ya' later, Bud! Have fun in Arendelle!" Hiccup yelled with a wink.

"Have fun in the Highlands, Dragon Trainor!" Jack finished, laughing as he sprinted to the council hall. Hiccup gave a confused look, not having any idea what Jack was referring to, then shrugeed it off.

Later on Burk:

"Hiccup! Be packing your things! Next week, we take off for a peace meeting in the Highlands. Jack just dropped off a letter from the Scotts," Stoick informed.

"So that's what he was talking about last time. What is this all about?"

"Well, you heard about the threats from the Vias?"

"Yes."

"They attacked the Highlands, and the council agrees that an alliance between our people's could be beneficial."

"I guess so, it's just a surpise, that's all. We haven't formed an alliance in, gods know how long. "

"I know, boy, but it's for the best."

Hiccup went to preparing what Toothless would need for the trip. He was interrupted by Astrid and Snotlout. "I heard you're going on a trip, Loser!" Snotlout yelled. Astrid elbowed him in the stomach. "Ahh, he knows I'm just kidding, don't ya' , Hic."

Hiccup sighed, "Yes."

"Well, Astrid and I have some news. We planned on telling everyone last week, but we wanted you to know, and when we heard, you would be out of town-" Astrid interrupted, "We felt you should know first. Snotlout preposed!"

Hiccup coughed, his head popping up. "R-really?! Th-that's crazy, I mean it's great, but it's crazy." Astrid and Hiccup had broken up three months ago, and shortly after, Snotlout had became her rebound. It was shocking, hurtful, and disturbing at first, but after a couple weeks, Hiccup realized they were happy, and he was being selfish. He had gotten used to them being together by this point, but was still surprised that either of them were ready to get married.

"Snotlout said he just couldn't wait any longer; he had to make me his! Are you alright with all of this?" Astrid asked Hiccup, a hopeful look on her face.

Hiccup was silent for a moment, smiling at her. "...Of course, I am. I'm happy for you two! I just wish I could be there for your engagement party."

Snotlout grinned, "Hey! Well, at least you'll be at the wedding."

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world. I don't mean to be rude, I love both of you guys, but I have to get back to packing for Toothless. I'll see you all later!" He said with a smile.

A/N: That's it for now, folks. Thanks so much for reading! Please review, and let me know if you think I should continue! :)