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mamabear-elinor · 2 years

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The Fall of Rome: A Battle of Beasts and Bows [Part One: The Fall of the House of DunBroch] || [Brave Women]

In which the Order comes to Swynlake...[takes place: July 02]

@heart-of-dunbroch

[tw -- violence, gore, major character death]

ELINOR: Elinor had never been to battle. At least, never the type of battle that one usually thought of. The kind that were sung about in ballads. Most of her battles had been silently waged within herself. The battle to stay silent for years and years, as she watched Merida’s spirit crack around the edges as she was crushed beneath the cog of destiny; as she watched her bright, beautiful sons harden and dull under the pressures of their family name. The battle to mourn her unborn children alone. The battle to leave her husband and everything she had known behind.

These were the wars that women fought, but now--she had been called to fight a proper one. Elinor was not afraid. She was angry.

The Order was daring to attack her home? Her daughter? Everything that she had tried to build, on her own, over the last year? Elinor no longer would so easily cower when the fighting came, as it would come this evening--the sky dusky purple, the forest quiet. The castle grounds had a thin mist of fog settling over them, dampening every sound. The air was still.

They knew that there wasn’t enough of them to keep the Order from breaching the walls, so the plan had been to stay close to the castle and split the forces. Elinor, Merida, Dipper, John, and Phillip would be coming up on the flank, trying to split the force in half and draw them into the maze. Belle, San, Henry, and Rose would use the castle’s original intention as a fortress to push an offensive from inside the building.

Hopefully, it would be enough to drive them off. Howl, Hades, and Toulouse--as well as a few other allies were on standby, should things start to sour. Each of them had a magical amulet that they could smash to sound the alarm for back up, if necessary. They glowed soft yellow from each of their wrists.

Elinor shifted in her spot, looking towards Merida as they waited in the hedges. “You don’t think they’d bring the boys with them, do you?” she couldn’t help but ask. She’d already asked it, but now that the violence was imminent she was growing nervous again.

MERIDA: Before a battle was the only time Merida had ever felt calm. It was a feelin’ she could never explain, not to herself or to her mam. But it was the reason she was so wild otherwise, always restless and noisy and lookin’ for somethin’ to do with her hands. But now, she had a sword on her hip and her bow. It had been a long time since she’d held that bow, so worn and loved by Merida’s fingers that its once fine etchings on the wood had faded where she gripped it. Now she held it like an anchor as her heart beat steadily. She looked out the hedges with the eyes of a wolf. She breathed in the woods, her woods, and scented the Order as she would prey. They were comin’. She hadn’t warned Elinor yet– she would when they were truly close, but her mam was already nervous enough.

Truthfully, she was trying to pick out the scents of her brothers among them. But would she recognize Harris, Hubert, and Hamish? Had she forgotten what they smelled like, her own kin? Would the wolf know them? Or had the Order changed them too much?

She breathed. She watched. And at her mother’s voice, she glanced her way, but only for a moment, not wanting to break concentration.

“We can’t rule it out,” she said again. This had been her answer before and her answer now. “If it were me, I’d do it.”

Because of course. What better way to complicate the battle than to bring three young boys into the heart of it– to confuse Merida and Elinor?

“We should be ready for it.”

And then– Merida stood even straighter. “Shite, they’re gettin’ closer– there’s a lot of ‘em. Tryin’ figure out–” she sniffed the air rather crudely, taking in deeper breaths.

ELINOR: Yes, they would try to use her children, wouldn’t they?

Elinor felt her stomach roll with revulsion. How had she let herself get trapped in this situation? How had she left her sons to fend for themselves in an institution that would offer them nothing but grief, pain, and violence?

She should have freed them, somehow. She should have known from early on that the Order was foul, corrupt, and corroded. The veil had been lifted and it felt as if she had been living inside a corpse and only just now realized that the flesh was rotted. It had been too late to get her sons out. Her daughter had learned before she had. Merida had saved herself. Elinor had saved herself, but she hadn’t saved her sons.

The guilt of that would live with her, she was sure, for years to come.

Her face was pale and she was silent, not replying to Merida’s confirmation that the boys would probably be here. There wasn’t anything to say. There was only what they could do. The time for talking had long passed, though Elinor wished only to sit down with her sons. With Fergus. Explain to them--get them to see the truth--

But they wouldn’t. The boys were too young. They had been poisoned against her. She had let it happen. And Fergus--

He wasn’t the man that she had married. He’d been corrupted and corroded the way the Order did to everyone.

She adjusted her stance and then glanced at Merida’s, sniffing and snorting like a bear. “Merida, please,” Elinor hissed, unable to help herself. Her heart was racing and she felt ill--the bear lurking close.

MERIDA: Merida ignored Elinor– as was her superpower.

She was focused on the scents, every battle instinct she’d crafted over the years honed in. There was no time to quarrel with her mam. The forest was full of enemies. Soon, the castle would be full of enemies. And among them–

Though it had been years, she recognized the scent of family. Her father’s scent. Fergus had always smelled like whiskey and pine, calling up memories of family camping trips throughout the forests of Scotland. Her da, who always brought more drink along than he needed– whose laughter billowed louder than thunder, who was a storm all by himself. She’d wanted to be just like him when she was younger, happy to have his red hair and curls, to be DunBroch through and through.

Now, he was comin’ right at them all. And she’d have to face him from the other end of a sword.

“They’ve split their men into two flanks!” Merida hissed. “Da’s with ‘em.” She laced her bow and then crouched down, peering over the hedge.

Movement in the tree line.

At the first head, Merida let an arrow fly. It caught a man right in the shoulder and he fell with a scream.

“THEY’RE HERE!” Merida cried out, then laced another arrow as the men charged.

ELINOR: Fergus.

Elinor felt her stomach drop and she felt suddenly faint. Or like she wanted to put herself in front of Merida’s bow and Fergus’ sword and—convince them to lay down their weapons. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go. She had known this was how the fight would go, but she didn’t want it. She still held onto the hope that when Fergus saw her, he’d be the man she remembered.

The one she had married. Who was a good man. Not a man beaten down by family expectations and failure after failure.

There wasn’t much she could do as the Order poured through the front gates. They hadn’t been expecting an attack, she saw that on their faces as they took in the group standing outside the castle. It was Fergus, tall and broad shouldered, who called the Order. Her sons, three in a row, Hubert and Hamish tall and proud, Harris slightly smaller—stood next to their father, swords in hand.

“Half you lot with me! The other half, to the castle!” He turned to face his family. There was no recognition that she could see in his blue eyes before his face twisted and he started after them.

“Merida, not—not your brothers,” she said breathlessly to her daughter. “We—we should draw them around to the back of the castle…can try to…meet with the others.” As she said it, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to move. The sword in her hand lay like dead weight with the point pressing into the earth.

MERIDA: In battle, there was no time to think. Maybe that’s why she liked it so much. You had to trust yourself instead. You had to believe that you knew what you were doing and that you’d do it right. Merida moved with that confidence and trust as she laced another arrow and sent it flying into the neck of an oncoming Order man, not even sure who it was. But she nailed the target the way she always nailed the target, and her bow was not empty for long. Another arrow kissed the nocking point. She pointed it toward the onslaught, right at her father. When her blue eyes met his own– that was when she hesitated. That was when the thoughts crept in. She had to shoot her father. She couldn’t shoot her father. She was rather certain she could shoot her father more than she could shoot the triplets, who clambered around him, eyes wide in fright– none of them ready for battle, though Hubert was makin’ a show he was. Why the hell had Da even dragged them here?! She could talk of strategy all day long, but seeing the wee lads, their arms skinny as cypress branches holding weapons they did not know how to trust, not the way that Merida trusted her bow– she couldn’t believe Fergus had gone through with strategy over safety. That he’d endanger his three boys, his fookin’ heirs– all so Merida and Elinor might hesitate. It worked. She hesitated. Fergus charged. “Shite,” Merida cursed and she unnocked her bow, grabbing Elinor by the arm. “COME ON!” She bellowed, at the same time that Fergus bellowed his own command to attack. She dragged her mother into a fast pace. They weaved through the hedges, having the advantage of knowing where they were bloody going. “ELINOR! IT’S NOT TOO LATE!” Fergus shouted from behind them. “THEY’LL FORGIVE YE. LEAVE HER BEHIND.” They. The Order. Her, his daughter. “Tch! What a nyaff!” Merida growled. “I should bite him! See how he likes it!” She wouldn’t. Fergus was too honorable to ever live as a werewolf.

ELINOR: They ran. Elinor was fit. She went for walks, even a jog here or there. Before coming to Swynlake she’d been an avid equestrian and hiker. The outdoors had always been a place of refuge for her.

But she’d never run like this. Their feet squelched along the ground, Merida’s hand a vice. Her lungs burned as they twisted through the hedge maze and she was sure that they might burst. She was grateful for the days she’d spent out here, pruning all alone, learning the maze. And she was grateful for the Swynlakers who had come to help clean. It meant they only tripped over half the debris they would have either.

Elinor squeezed her eyes shut against Fergus’ shouting, wishing she could give him a piece of her mind. If this could just be settled by one of their famous rows, wouldn’t that be enough.

“Ach, Merida,” she still managed to tsk despite her panting. “You’re not biting your father.”

They ran a bit more. “Turn here, it’ll lead to the back door of the castle, eh? We can’t face them alone. We’ve gotta find Phil or John.”

Or maybe they could just lose them in the castle’s winding pathways and corridors. Then, they could be someone else’s problem. (Though, Elinor’s heart was aching to see her boys again.)

MERIDA: Merida didn’t want to find Phil and John!

She didn’t want to leave her mess for another person to handle. She also didn’t want to fight her siblings though, so– crivvens, fine, they’d find Phil and John! At least they’d not kill the boys. They could probably knock Hubert’s sword out of his hands and toss ‘em all in one of the castle’s closets, where they’d be grumpy but safe. (Then again, Harris had always been a bit of an escape artist. They’d need to tie ‘em all down for good measure!)

She obeyed Elinor, for once not arguing. There was no time to argue. She cut into the courtyard and then there, the castle door!

She opened it and rushed inside. They made it through the mudroom and into the kitchen and then Merida heard the shouting from deep within.

“Shite, they sent more men around the front! They’re already in here,” said Merida and she turned–

But Fergus burst through the door. They couldn’t go back into the garden.

They’d meet more Order men if they kept goin’ through.

“Up the stairs!” Merida cried, hoping to use the servant stairwell. She needed to get her mam somewhere– safer than this.

ELINOR: They burst into the kitchen—Elinor’s beautiful kitchen that she’d just gotten properly cleaned!—muddy boots skidding on the floor. The urge to yell: take off your boots, oach! rose in here ridiculously. She ignored it.

She did not, however, ignore the urge to yell at the sight of her ex-husband, the boys piling behind his large frame, eyes wide. “Fergus DunBroch! What are—“

But Merida’s hand was an iron grip in hers and she was already gone, fast and nimble. Elinor tripped after her.

There was the clank of swords behind her as her ex-husband and sons gave chase. Elinor managed a quick prayer of thanks that this was Best castle and not Cawdor, which the triplets knew better than the mice in the walls.

Up the stairs they went. Up and up, turning this way and that, the rest of their broken family only steps behind, like hounds chasing deer through the wood. (Merida would probably not like the comparison, but it felt apt. Elinor certainly felt like a deer: delicate, terrified.)

Eventually even the servant’s quarters ended and they were dumped out into a large, circular room. Elinor had never been in it. She had no idea where they were, only that it smelled damp from the slitted windows that had never been fashioned with glass. That would need to be done at some point, she couldn’t help but note for the ever-running to do list in her head—

Just as Fergus and the boys burst into the room as well.

They were trapped. Elinor glanced at Merida, still holding her daughter’s hand tightly. Then, she took a breath and drew herself up to her full height.

“Fergus! Boys!” It had been a long time since she’d used that tone and for a moment, it was all she could say, overcome by the sight of her children and her children overcome by the sight of her. It had been a year since she’d seen them last. They’d grown so tall. Hubert and Harris almost at the height of their father’s shoulder, Hamish just behind. Hubert’s face was covered in an outbreak of pimples, Harris had a small, pink scar only a mother would notice beneath one of his eyes. He must’ve gotten it in training. It gave his always sharp gaze a more wizened appearance.

“You—“ she started, still not sure what she was going to say until the words were out of her mouth “—need to leave.”

“Ma—“ That was Hubert.

“Just give up the wolf, woman. Then this’ll all be over,” Fergus said.

Hubert and Fergus glowered at Merida. Hamish was looking wide-eyed at his father. Harris’ gaze stayed steady on Elinor.

Elinor stepped in front of Merida, not raising her sword. Yet. She didn’t know if she would be able to, against her own children. That was what got her into this mess in the first place, wasn’t it?

“No.”

MERIDA: In her years living in Best Castle, she’d never arrived in this room either. The castle was not something she’d ever wanted to explore. It reminded her too much of the home she’d never return to after all– and in all its brokenness and unfinished pieces, she had heard her mam’s voice, and always walked the other way– straight out the door and into the woods, where Merida had always felt much more at home.

She cursed herself now for her cowardice. Because she’d led them into a dead end and now when she whirled around, the DunBrochs were trapped in one place for the first time in years.

Fergus. Elinor. Merida. Harris. Hubert. Hamish.

Merida’s eyes darted from man to boy. There was a volcanic pressure in her chest that wanted to erupt and turn into something– something like tears, something like shouting, something like begging her Da to look at her (he wasn’t looking at her), something like runnin’ cross the room to gather the wee ones into her arms, smother them with sloppy kisses and noogies for those unruly red curls.

Instead, Merida drew her own sword.

“Elinor,” said Da then, those big, blue eyes soft and watery. He spread his arms on either side, so his sword was no longer pointed forward. “Please. She is not your family. We are your family.”

“Can ye just shut up, already?” Merida barked from behind. “Mam’s not the one trying to kill anyone!”

“Da…” squeaked Hamish. “S-she looks the same…”

“Of course I do! I am the same!”

“It’s a trick,” said Hubert. He was frowning, but he had the most solid stance. “That’s how shifters are.”

“Exactly, boys. She killed your sister.” Fergus’s brow furrowed. He pointed the sword again, now at Merida. “My daughter.”

“If that’s true, I would’ve killed Mam too. I’d’ve already ripped all of ye apart,” said Merida. “But– I’m not–”

And she tossed her sword down. “I won’t! So just– gah, I can’t believe I’m sayin’ it, but can we all just talk it out?”

The tension in the room doubled as the triplets shifted their stance– but otherwise didn’t move. Fergus readjusted the grip on his sword.

“Mam,” murmured Merida, inching closer to her. She had always been better with words.

ELINOR: Merida’s sword clang to the ground, but Elinor just readjusted the grip on hers, mirroring her ex-husband. She wasn’t going to leave them unarmed. Elinor wouldn’t raise a blade against her children, but if it came down to it: she’d run Fergus through.

Or she’d try, at the very least.

“He doesn’t want to talk, Merida,” Elinor said with a scornful glance at Fergus. “If he did--we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

If he had ever wanted to talk--about anything, maybe they wouldn’t be in this mess. But talking about Merida--or not talking about Merida--was just another mistake in the grand scheme of Elinor’s life. Of Elinor’s marriage. Her and Fergus had never talked about anything. They existed in uneasy peace, Fergus behind a wall, Elinor a beautiful vase, set out on the table to be admired.

She had shattered long ago and now all those ugly, horrible parts of herself spilled out. And Fergus had crumbled too, his parts even uglier and more horrible. Because at least Elinor was a good mother. Or she tried to be. She wanted to be.

“I don’t want to talk to a beast in the shape of my daughter,” Fergus snarled. “Isn’t it painful, Elinor? To look at her and think about our baby girl?”

Elinor felt her heart burn. “No, because she’s right here.”

“She’s tricked you! You just--cannae see it, my love. Come, the boys miss you. We miss you.”

“Mam, please, come home.” That was Hubert. He had come here looking the most sure but when he spoke some of that toughness cracked and she saw the little boy beneath, who needed his mother.

“Hugh,” she said. “You don’t have to fight me. Either of us. We aren’t hurting anyone. The Order only takes care of people who are hurting others.”

“She’s right,” Harris said in his characteristic, analytic way.

“Ach! Can’t you see? She’s just trying to protect the beast, who isn’t weak at all. If it didnae suit her to look weak, to look like your sister, she’d be maulin’ you right here on the floor!”

“Stop!” Elinor snapped, feeling an anger as black as the fur of her bear begin to rise in her chest. It made her dizzy and her sword tip dropped into the dirt, her wrist limp against the weight of the metal. She took a deep breath.

“Mam?” Hamish murmured, echoed by Harris, all three of the boys looking at her wearily.

“I’m fine, boys. I just--I wish you would listen to me. No one is going to hurt you here. I love you. Merida loves you.”

MERIDA: Merida had forgotten about the bear.

She often did. Because the bear and Elinor were opposites in Merida’s eyes. Elinor was regal, composed, graceful, and elegant– everything that Merida could never be. The bear, though, was a beast– snarly, ugly, intent on destruction. Only when her Mam’s wrist dropped and she took a deep breath did all those warning signs set off the alarm in Merida’s head. Shite. They couldn’t have the bear makin’ a royal appearance, not today. She wasn’t even sure Fergus knew the bear existed. It certainly wouldn’t help their case.

C’mon, Mam, stay calm, she urged in her own brain. Which meant she needed to stay calm too.

Funny, innit? How Merida, in this moment, found her own center in the middle of a storm.

She took a step forward, though still behind Elinor. She raised her hands in surrender, though it was just a gesture. “Listen to me,” she said, trying to make her voice smooth and calm. She only looked at her brothers. All the years she’d been away flashed in front of her. They’d all gotten so much taller, all looked so different– not just from her own memory, but from each other. She’d always been able to tell them apart, by the way they wore their expressions so differently on their faces. But now they each wore the Order too, and she could see the way it changed them– or wanted to change them.

Hubert, who had adopted Fergus’s confident snarl. Harris, who preferred not to look bothered at all. Hamish– who was worried. He kept lookin’ at Mam the most. It all broke Merida’s heart.

“I– I’m sorry,” Merida blurted. She was still trying to stay calm, but tears peppered her eyes. “I’m sorry, alright, that I got bit. I failed all of ye– I broke our family. I know I did, but I never wanted to. If I could go back, I would, in a second. I’d give up me wolf.” It hurt to say at this point, but in the face of her kin, she yearned for their raucous dinners, the camping trips, even the arguments that didn’t end with swords pointed at each other’s throats.

“But I can’t go back. All I can do is fix it the way I am. So I’m sorry, and I– I swear I’m still me. Give me a chance to prove it to ye. That’s all I want, just a chance.”

“Shut yer maw, beast,” growled Fergus, threatening as thunder.

But Merida could see– in Hamish’s eyes at least– even more hesitation.

“Mam,” said Hamish, as his brow crumpled further. He took another step toward Elinor as he began to lower the sword. “Y-you trust her?”

“Hamish!” Fergus snapped. “Back to your position, boy!”

ELINOR: Elinor’s heart broke for her daughter. It had broken so many times over the past years that she wasn’t even sure where all the pieces were anymore. Scattered about Cawdor Castle. Dropped deep in the lochs of Scotland. With Fergus, with her children--both living and dead.

But the way Merida spoke now…it made Elinor furious. She wanted to claw Fergus’ eyes out of his blasted head. She didn’t need the bear’s anger, she had the anger of a mother. How could Fergus look at their daughter and see a beast? How could he look at her and see anything other than a scared girl, who wanted her family back, who blamed herself for all of this? Elinor wanted to turn to her and cradle her face in her hands, kiss her all over her freckles, the way she used to do when Merida was small. She couldn’t do that. Now was not the time.

Instead, she just reached back and touched Merida’s hand, hoping that the gesture would help. Even just a little bit.

Her eyes snapped toward Hamish as he moved towards her. Sweet Hamish. He was just as brave as his brothers, just in a different way. Elinor smiled at him, tears in her eyes.

“Yes, baby,” she coaxed, ignoring Fergus. “I’ve lived with her all this time. And she’s just like you all remember. Worse, even. She’s more bold and brash than ever, but she loves you all. We both do.”

Hamish glanced at his father, who was glowering. “Don’t take another step.”

It was Harris who moved then, coming up behind his brother and putting a hand on his shoulder. His mouth was set in a pale, straight line; his eyes gave nothing away. They never did. He looked so pale, skinnier than his brothers. Was he eating alright? Was he sick? Elinor wanted to gather all of them into her arms, even Hubert--who was still sneering, a mirror image of his father.

Hamish looked back at Harris uncertainly, not sure if his brother was going to pull him back or urge him on. Elinor suspected that Harris wasn’t quite sure either.

“We--should hear them out,” Harris finally said evenly.

MERIDA: Yes, Merida had broken her family. But maybe she really could fix it.

Her heart stuttered twice as fast as she saw the opportunity rise from her words. The fear had faded from her brothers’ eyes. They were thinking twice– at least with Harris, this made sense. He was always one to think twice; his pranks benefited from that, always twice as clever and annoying as anything straightforward Hubert or silly Hamish could dream up. She needed him to use that brain now, to sway her brothers’ minds if not their hearts. She could take care of that last step. But just fill in the cracks– give them all something solid to stand on!

She saw it happening. And for all the years she’d spent in Swynlake, and the small steps she’d taken to become more of the community again… only now did she see her redemption, here, with her brothers.

Even Hubert was hesitating now, his line of sight darting around frantically. She understood that confusion even better than Hamish’s longing for peace, Harris’s calm pragmatism. She could be the one to turn Hubert now too.

“Hugh,” she addressed him. “C’mon. Just– an hour. An hour and then if ye want to kick me ass, ye can. Though I won’t make it easy on ye.”

Hubert breathed a little harder. He looked at Harris–

Harris nodded.

Hubert started to lower this sword–

“NO!” Fergus roared and what happened next happened in a blur. Her father barrelled forward and he aimed his sword straight for Merida’s heart.

The wolf inside her cried out and wanted to burst from her skin. But the magic drain had created a cavern inside of Merida it could not jump over. Merida’s eyes widened and she did something she never did–

She froze.

ELINOR: There wasn’t a moment of thought.

One moment, Elinor was smiling at her sons, who she hadn’t seen in a whole year, her heart lifting at the possibility of her family, her children, coming back to her--

The next: a large, black bear was roaring loud enough to shake the stones as scraps of fabric drifted down to the ground like petals. On its back haunches, the bear reached almost to the ceiling. The room they were in was small, with its hulking mass everyone scrambled backwards. The sword that had been coming for Merida diverted as the bear’s large paw knocked into the man’s shoulder, sending him sprawling to the side.

There was a shout and Hubert rushed forward. The bear fell down onto its front paws and it roared again, eyes flashing. Hubert stopped in his tracks. Even in the heat of the summer, the bear’s breath blew in a warm, white cloud, fogging Hubert’s sword. The bear’s ears twitched, staring at the boy, but not making any other move. There was a strange, familiar smell in this place. No enemies--

The bear’s hesitation gave Fergus just enough time to scramble to his feet.

“Oi! You demon! You beast! Leave my boy alone!” The man charged again, the sword slashing against the bear’s shoulder.

She turned with a snarl and knocked the man across the face this time with a paw larger than his head. The man, stunned, stumbled backwards towards the low set window that was letting in a dusty grey stream of light. For a moment, it looked as if he was just going to brace himself against the glass but as his hand reached out to steady himself, the brittle, ancient glass gave way. Fergus lost his footing on the slippery, dry hay that littered the floor and before anyone could do anything about it--

He fell from the window, disappearing from sight. All that was left were the dust mites that danced in the air in the place disturbed.

MERIDA: Thunder shook the castle.

Except that it wasn’t thunder– it was a beastly roar that bellowed from the chest of a hulking brown bear. Merida was on the floor. She’d stumbled back when Elinor transformed. Her eyes were blasted wide as she stared up at Elinor, stretched to her full height, all fangs and fur and claws. “Mam!” she cried out, but she could not stop what was coming next. For there was a storm in the castle, and it was Elinor’s fury. Nothing had ever been able to slow her mother down.

And so Merida’s father charged.

Elinor’s mother attacked.

Merida launched herself toward her brothers. She got her hands on Harris and Hamish, who had been next together and still were. She dragged them back, but she could not stop them from seeing Fergus plunge out the window.

“DA!” her brothers all screamed at once.It was too late though. There was only broken glass where he had stood, glinting like diamonds in the sun.

The bear swung her head to look at her children, all crying and screaming.

Merida had no reason to believe Elinor wouldn’t come after them next. Especially as Hubert scrambled ‘cross the floor for a sword.

“NO!” she shouted at him. “RUN! RUN, NOW!”

She shoved her brothers toward the door. They stumbled out. And Merida slammed the door behind ‘em, not sure how long that would hold Elinor’s fury.

#swynmerida #brave women #the fall of rome #a battle of beasts and bows #the fall of the house of dunbroch #featuring fergus dunbroch #featuring harris #featuring hubert #featuring hamish #my boys!!#my sons!!

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the-frostiest-of-flakes · 4 months

Text

Test Run

Fandom: rotbtd | Characters: Merida, Rapunzel, Hiccup, Jack Frost

Prompt(s): Merida, Favorite AU

Word count: 1851 | Warnings: None | Read on AO3

Summary: While giving her new gear a test run, Merida nearly dies and winds up meeting several budding heroes. Some more impressive than others.

Author's Note: I wrote this for the third week's prompts of the 2023 Big Four Fest, which were Merida and Favorite AUs. My favorite au is a very specific one by lucidorange on tumblr, and it's based around the larger superhero au. Unfortunately, the creator of the au deleted their tumblr account a while back, so everything I know about the au is thanks to the wayback machine and reblogs of the comic. (You can find part 1 here)

I tried to give the triplets more unique personalities while still staying in line with the au versions. I hope you enjoy!

---

Merida DunBroch, daughter of the wildly successful owner and CEO of DunBroch Technologies, Fergus DunBroch, was doing her homework.

Or, that’s what she was supposed to be doing.

In reality, she was perched on a flat roof thirty stories up, the lights of the city shining like stars below her. It was beautiful, and the wind gently caressing her face only added to the serenity. Unfortunately, it was currently being ruined by multiple voices jabbering in her ear. Tuning back in, she found that they were still going on about features and safety and blah, blah, blah. Pretty much everything she didn’t care about.

“—and if you notice sparks, tell us immediately and drop the—”

“If you’re done yapping,” she interrupted, grip tightening on her bow, “I’m gonna take this gear for a spin now.”

“Be careful,” buzzed one of the three nearly identical voices in her ear. Her amazing sister-senses told her it was Hubert. “This is just a test run — we don’t know if there are any glitches with the suit or bow.”

A second voice — Hamish — piped up, “Not that there will be any, considering we made it.”

“Don’t encourage her,” Harris broke in.

Merida rose, a wolfish grin spreading across her face as she looked to the ground below. So, so far below. “When have I ever needed encouragement?”

Three matching groans reached her ears, but she barely heard them over the rush of wind as she stepped over the edge—

And started free-falling.

All she could hear was the roaring of air in her ears as it whipped strands of hair out of her ponytail and stole the breath from her lungs. Her gut was long gone, left behind on the rooftop. The city lights pulsed brighter, getting ever closer. To most this would be a nightmare. But to her…to her it was exhilarating.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Grasping an arrow from her quiver, she drew her bow, changing the setting to “Zipline” with a flick of her thumb. Ah, the beauty of having genius inventor brothers. Aiming for a nearby building, Merida fired.

And was promptly disappointed.

Yes, the arrow flew true, arching through the air with the precision only a master could give, but it did so without the intended zipline attached. Leaving Merida still falling to her doom.

Okay, so maybe she should have checked that feature before jumping off a building.

A lump of panic rose in her throat. “Uh, guys?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve already broken it,” came Harris’s response.

Oh, she was never going to live this down, was she? “I, uh. Might be about to die.”

There was silence on the other end. All at once, her brothers’ voices came pouring over each other in crackling mayhem.

“It hasn’t even been five minutes—”

“—You are so irresponsible—”

“—More inheritance for me!”

Gritting her teeth, she was about to cut through their chatter when something soft and golden wrapped itself around her waist and promptly yanked her to the side. She was no longer falling, but being swung like a pendulum. Grabbing at the fabric that led away from her waist into the dark of the night, she realized it wasn’t fabric at all. It was thousands of strands of golden hair.

What in the bloody hell…?

A moment later she was dropped — surprisingly gently — onto another roof, much lower than the one she had originally been on. The hair loosened and fell away, disappearing in a flash.

“I don’t know what happened,” said a voice from the shadows, “or what you’re going through, but killing yourself isn’t the answer.”

Merida sprung to her feet, narrowed eyes scanning her surroundings. It seemed to be the roof of an apartment building, with a box-like entrance to a stairwell in one corner. And yet, no sign of whoever had— wait, there! There, in the shadows of the entrance, was a girl, parts of her golden hair somehow still managing to gleam in the dark, giving away her position.

Her hair…

Calling it long would have been an understatement. “Long” gave the impression that the hair went down to her waist, maybe a little ways past. But the mass of yellow didn’t stop there. It went to her feet, and then continued off, spilling over the edge of the building like a waterfall of spun gold.

“Are you okay?” The girl asked again, her voice just as soft as her hair had been.

“‘m fine. And I wasn’t trying to kill myself.“

The girl stepped out of the shadows, confusion making furrows in her brow. They looked out of place, and Merida had the sudden urge to smooth them out. “Then what were you doing?”

“Testing out my gear.” She motioned to herself and the bow that was still in her hand.

The girl’s green eyes lit up with understanding. “Oh! You’re like me then!”

“Like you?”

“Yeah, you know. Superhero, vigilante, whatever you want to call it.” She flashed a grin, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “This is so cool! I’ve been working alone for so long — well, not really alone, I mean I’m technically working alongside the police but that’s nothing like having an actual partner — not that you’re going to be my partner, I didn’t mean to imply—”

“Whoa, slow your horses!” Everything was suddenly falling into place, from the freaky hair to the large purple crown perched on the girl’s head. “You’re Swift, aren’t you? The vigilante people are claiming is running around?”

The girl — Swift — nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”

“I thought you were an urban legend!”

“Nope, I’m real.” The smile on her face grew ever wider. “And so are you! Ohhh, this is so cool!”

Despite herself, Merida could feel one of her eyebrows raising. This was…not how she had expected her first meeting with a vigilante to go. Granted, she had never really thought about it before, but Swift had a strangely innocent demeanor about her. She wasn’t remotely hardened or threatening.

Three loud beeps sounded from Swift’s pocket. She withdrew what looked to be a burner phone and grimaced at whatever was displayed on the screen. “Sorry, I gotta go. There’s a fire downtown and a…dragon?” She squinted at the screen. “I think that’s a typo.”

Merida perked up. A fire and possibly also a dragon? That would be a perfect test run for the gear! Never mind the fact that her original test run had almost ended in her own demise. “Mind if I come with you?”

The look on Swift’s face could only be described as ecstatic. “Of course! But, uh…since you’re having some issues with your equipment, would you like me to carry you? It’ll be faster that way.”

Well, she certainly didn’t want to die or get left behind. “Sure.”

Golden hair came whipping up and around her waist, and a second later she was swinging through the air again. It took all her willpower to suppress a scream. From the way the city was whizzing past below, she had been right to agree to Swift’s offer. She would have been left in the dust long ago otherwise.

Soon the sound of sirens and the sight of orange light licking the night sky reached her senses. As well as…Snow?

A moment later the two of them were safe on the ground outside a burning apartment building, above which was a dark cloud. From the cloud fell a flurry of flakes, killing the fire slowly but surely.

Swift frowned. “That’s…weird. It’s the middle of September.”

Merida’s comm piece crackled to life. “So…are you still there?” Came Hamish’s voice. “I need to know if I won the bet or not.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m here.” At Swift’s quizzical look, she gestured to her ear. “‘m talking to my brothers, sorry.”

“Dang it. Wait, are you with someone?”

“Just another hero I met. Turns out that vigilante, Swift, is real.” Merida followed said hero as she ran towards the entrance. “And now we’re gonna stop a—” she broke off at the sound of shattering glass.

The two girls skidded to a halt as a large black bundle landed in front of them. It was metallic, and as it slowly uncurled itself they realized what it was.

It was a metal dragon.

The craftsmanship was astounding. From the textured metal and leather to the glowing green lights that constituted eyes. There was an air of intelligence in them, making Merida second-guess whether it was really insentient or not.

The reason for its previous ball-like state became evident as well. Clutched between its paws — talons? — was a child. Covered in ash and smoke, Merida could barely make out where the kid’s dark skin ended and the gray smudges began.

“That’s the last of them!” Called a voice from above. A moment later a brown-haired teenage boy dressed in black and green landed a little ways away, not noticing the two heroines.

All at once, the fire went out. Instead of flickering flames, the building was now covered in layers of frost and ice.

Merida gawked at the now blue-tinted structure. Just how many super-powered people are running around in this city?!

Swift was helping the dragon move the poor girl to a safe spot for when the paramedics would arrive, acting as if this kind of thing happened every day. And hey, maybe it did. Before Merida could decide what to do to help, another boy landed next to the first, this one seeming to float down with effortless ease. His blue eyes were locked on her as he pulled down his hood, revealing a shock of white hair.

He grinned. “Hey, look at that! We’ve got an audience.”

The Brunet turned, finally noticing her. He flinched, shooting a glare at his companion. “Jack! You said we wouldn’t be noticed!”

“Actually, I said we wouldn’t get in the papers. Big difference.” He was in front of her in a flash, lifting off of the ground like a leaf on a breeze. “That’s some outfit you got there. Who are you?”

Merida pursed her lips. She certainly wasn’t giving this weirdo her name. If she was going to be a vigilante like Swift, she’d need an alias. “Atlas,” she finally answered. “And what are you two supposed to be? Dragon Boy and Frosty the Snowman?”

The brunet made a noise akin to a broken squeaky toy. Jack only smiled wider. “Close. The name’s Frost. And you can call my sidekick whatever you like.”

“I am not your sidekick!”

Merida sighed internally. These two yahoos were obviously just playing around — although the metal dragon was pretty impressive.

“Well, aren’t you Miss Popular,” Harris’s voice rang in her ear. “Just how many people have you met tonight?”

She had forgotten her comm was on during that whole exchange. Great. She turned away from Frost and his sidekick/partner/friend and whispered through clenched teeth, “Shush. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. I promise.”

“You better. We’re already making popcorn.”

#frosted words #rotbtd #bigfourfest2023 #superhero au #modern au #merida dunbroch #rapunzel #hiccup haddock #jack frost #fanfiction #ao3 link

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thepixarau · 6 months

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So I keep talking about that Pixar Super Smash bros idea and I’m going to continue because I think it would be cool

So the character roster would be: Woody, Buzz, Sulley, Mike, Jessie, Flik, Mr. Incredible, WALL-E, Dory, Ember, Ian, Atta, Joy, Barley, Wade, Merida, Elastigirl, Imelda, EVE, McQueen, Joe, Syndrome, Remy, Mater, Bo Peep, Dash, Violet, Jack-Jack, Sadness, Bing-Bong, Hopper, Doc Hudson, Linguini, 22, Luca, Alberto, Giulia, Meilin, Latso, Arlo, Spot, Anger, Disgust, Fear, Harris Hubert & Hamish, Marlin, Nemo, Crush, Randal, Carl, Dug, Héctor, Miguel, Ernesto, Evelyn/Screenslaver, Ming Lee, and probably even more! Or maybe some of these would just be spirit fighters/bosses

Arena ideas: Andy’s Bedroom, Sunnyside daycare, Monsters Inc. factory, 4*Town concert arena, Ant Island, Radiator Springs, Gusteau’s restaurant/city of Paris, Portorosso, DunBroch castle, Element City, East Australian Current, Carl’s house (as it floats around buildings and clouds and eventually ends in Paradise Falls), Riley’s mind (switches between Honesty Island, Goofball Island, etc), Land of the Dead, Monsters University campus, The Great Before, a Cars’ themed racing arena, Clawtooth Mountain, Bug City, the Axiom, Pizza Planet, P Sherman’s dentist office, and many more!

Special items: the Pixar ball that you can throw at opponents, a plate of ratatouille (and other dishes from the movie) that can heal damage, an Incredibles mask that temporarily gives you one of the families’ powers, a Zurg arm-cannon that shoots tennis balls, and of course the Assist Trophy that calls another character to aid you in battle! I imagine characters from this item would be like Pepita, Rex, Kevin, Sox, Massimo, AUTO, Gale, the circus bugs, Jackson Storm, Fergus, Bruce, etc. Basically characters that had some importance in the movies’ but that I don’t think would be in the official playable roster

#why am I rambling about a game that’ll never exist? cuz I have nothing better to do that’s why lol #super smash bros #pixar #lady luxo rambles

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jomarchswritingjacket · 1 year

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someone reminded me that camila and eda are married and i felt bad for forgetting that so here now they’re a whole-ass family

and yes this is more nuclear family than found family because the latter has too many options to list don’t @ me i’m trying my best

#tumblr polls #shrek #puss in boots the last wish #the owl house #httyd #brave pixar #bob’s burgers #luca #encanto #the incredibles

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sosoawayrpg · 8 months

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Mwm?

Príncipe Phillip, Rei Tritão, Burro, North, Valete, Lebre de março, Buzz Lightyear, Xerife Woody, Pugsley Addams, Tio Chico Addams, Victor Frankenstein, Príncipe Naveen Andrews, Derek(as 12 princesas bailarinas), Lobo Mau, Jack Skellington, Zero, Facilier, Perrito, Simba, Leão, Homem de Lata, Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet, Rei Fergus, Hamish, Hubert e Harris de Dunbroch, Jonathan Harker, Hector, Príncipe Aladdin, Gênio, Rei Jafar, Homem Biscoito, Pinóquio, Geppetto, Michael Darling, Príncipe Kit... praticamente todo mundo?!

#ask respondida.#mwchars

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itsmeridadunbroch · 1 year

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Task Eleven → Intro & Connections

merida dunbroch

Character Information*

The Basics*

FULL NAME: merida dunbroch

NICKNAME: mer, red

GENDER: female

PRONOUNS: she/her

AGE: twenty-nine

OCCUPATION: manager at the redwood hollows parks and recs department

FACECLAIM: riley keough

ORIENTATION: straight

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single

PETS: a horse called angus and a dog named mordu

The Personality*

+ Adventurous, Determined, Independent

- Rebellious, Stubborn, No-Nonsense

after arriving in redwood hollow, merida found a role in the parks and recs department. she’s spent her time restoring the town’s parks and other areas that needed a new lease of life and it brought her more happiness than home ever could. merida is adventurous and determined to be her own person which can lead to her being stubborn at times in the face of authority and can have her rebellious streak rear its head. like a true scotswoman she doesn’t take any crap from anyone.

merida is a child of the wild, she always has been. she thrives outdoors and has always been someone that bends the rules. fun is a big part of her personality and if she’s not having it then buckle up. freedom is another. merida really exercises her freedom and hates being put into a box or being bossed around and told what to do.

Additional Notes*

has a strained relationship with her mother, she hasn’t spoken to her in years

strong scottish accent present in her voice – may be hard for people to understand at times, especially when she’s angry.

has triplet younger brothers – harris, hubert & hamish

doesn’t speak bear

Wanted Connections*

friends

ex’s

neighbours

work colleagues

lover/crush

besties

hiking buddies

buds from scotland

people she met while travelling

rich people - her family are rich af and merida has likely met them at past events

Wanted Plots / Plot Ideas*

merida and ____ are friends. neither of them have had much luck with relationships so they decide to platonically begin to hookup. it’s fun to explore and get experience with each other without all the expectations and pressure. however, they both start to develop feelings over time, and both assume it’s unrequited.

here one day, gone the next - a previous international relationship where merida was travelling and lived for some time she met _____. the relationship was all consuming and full of sparks, but eventually merida had to go back to scotland a few months later. ______ wanted to try long distance but merida had called things off and was gone the next day. now she’s settled in redwood hollow and look who else is in town, it’s only _____. ((a plot about differences, a whirlwind past relationship, angst of leaving, unresolved feelings and being forced to revisit, relive and resolve said past relationship))

we’re the Old Married Couple™ but lmao no we would never date each other. right? right?????!!!?

before sunrise - strangers meet, they have a connection, but it has an expiration date

“i found your box of letters underneath my bed last night and because i’m a nosy motherfucker i decided to read them and it turns out they were all addressed to me and the last one was dated the day you moved out and i’m not quite sure why i thought this would be a good idea but here i am, standing on your doorstep, wondering why the fuck we’re not together anymore”

an arranged marriage between the dunbrochs & ______ family. but like merida’s clearly being stubborn and rebellious and fucking up because she’s upset with her parents still trying to control her life and it’s just two polar opposites but it could be super cute sometimes when she gets super drunk and he picks her up and hold her hair back when he throws up and stays up to give her a glass of water and make sure she sleeps well even though he has a huge meeting in the morning that he should be resting for, and she makes him lil packed lunches for work and has him dancing in the living room to de-stress and holds court at his works parties winning over his boss to give him that promotion but also the angst and the fights and the ‘i didnt ask for this’ and making each other jealous and sexual tension.

Taken Connections*

tbh all merida’s taken connections have now left the rp so she’s wide open for her to get on the map

Other*

One character from the open tag you would like to see taken / added to the Most Wanted page - from the most wanted page - the lost boys & from the open tag to be added to the most wanted page - sebastian clarke

One Character you want to see a bio for in relation to this specific character - more brave characters #scotlandrepresentation

#happiestplacetask #happiestplacetask11

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yandere-daze · 2 years

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This whole time I thought your profile photo was Hamish, Hubert, or Harris of DunBroch. (Princess Merida's brothers)

Smh

I literally had to google who that was and

HELLO?? 😭💀 I have to admit that I do not see it in the slightest but omg I can't get over this

#anon ask

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frie-ice · 2 years

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Merida DunBroch in my Big Four/ROTBTD AU of Pokemon. She's a princess who loves riding and racing agents the wind and taking part in Triple battles, so when she heard about the Triple Battle torment, she runs off so she could take part and to be a normal-real trainer! Her Triple Team are three bear pokemon. (This was my first drawing of her, and that is why it isn't very good. Her wild hair isn't easy to draw.)

Pokemon:

*Teddiursa - to - Ursaring: Teddiursa reminds Merida of her little brother Hubert as the ringleader and he's a part of her triple team. On the way to the torment, he evolves into Ursaring.

*Cubchoo - to - Beartic: Cubchoo reminds Merida of her little brother Hamish with his skills of finding small places and he's a part of her triple team. On the way to the torment, he evolves into Beartic.

*Pancham - to - Pangoro: Pancham reminds Merida of her little brother Harris as he knows where and when to strike and he's a part of her triple team. On the way to the torment, he evolves into Pangoro.

*Ponyta - to - Rapidash: Back home Ponyta takes her trainer across the lands of their home as they race against the wind. Ponyta helps Merida run away from home and she evolves into Rapidash when the two of them took part in a race.

*Braviary: Braviary always looks out for his trainer from above and tells her which way the wind is blowing when she's racing against it. When Merida believed that she wasn't going to take part in the torment Braviary reminded her that she can't let her crown hold her down and keep her away from her dreams.

*Zorua - to - Zoroark: When Merida sneaks out Zorua takes the form of her trainer until she gets back, and she helps Merida escape from the castle so she can follow her dreams; Merida leaves Braviary behind so he could help Zorua join Merida on their journey. On their journey Zorua evolves into Zoroark.

#merida dunbroch #brave #pixar brave #pokemon au #rotbtd au #rotbtd #the big four #rise of the brave tangled dragons #brave pixar

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hannahhook7744 · 1 year

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Auardon kids aesthetics part 5;

Here are part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.

Elle of Atlantica aesthetic. Mostly canon compliant (she is a deleted character so there was BARELY any info. I had to take creative liberty again).

Prince Ralphie of Maldonia aesthetic. Mostly canon compliant.

Max La Bouff aesthetic. Mostly canon compliant.

Eliza Fae aesthetic. Mostly canon compliant.

Princess Hana aesthetic. Mostly canon compliant.

Princess Lina aesthetic. Mostly canon compliant.

Prince Rami aesthetic. Mostly canon compliant.

Prince Hamish, Hubert, and Harris of DunBroch aesthetic. Mostly canon compliant.

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yensidhq · 2 years

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NAME :// MERIDA DUNBROCH ORIGIN :// BRAVE AGE :// TWENTY-SIX PRONOUNS :// SHE/HER JOB :// STABLE HAND FC:// SOPHIE SKELTON

☾ ✦ ⋆＊✩ ║▌║█║▌│║▌║▌█ AESTHETIC :

Arrows tucked away in a quiver, striking against the dusk sky. Sitting alone in a field of flowers, petals breaking beneath your touch. Bridging the gap, no matter how fast your heart is beating. Riding horseback, the wind in your face, your troubles left far behind. The strength hiding beneath your fragile skin.

☾ ✦ ⋆＊✩ ║▌║█║▌│║▌║▌█ BIOGRAPHY:

Written by applicant

☾ ✦ ⋆＊✩ ║▌║█║▌│║▌║▌█ CONTACTS:

Hamish, Hubert, and Harris Dunborch: her little brothers.

☾ ✦ ⋆＊✩ ║▌║█║▌│║▌║▌█ THOUGHTS:

Merida has worked with animals for as long as she has been breathing, but not usually quite like this. Her new job is much different than the horses and chickens back home, but she'll take what she can get; this work reminds her of the hard work and ready rewards of a life she's left behind, and that is enough for now.

MERIDA IS ___________________ OPEN

#brave #merida dunbroch #cartoon rp #cartoon network rp #animated rp #skeleton rp #new rp #bio rp #open #open female #twenties

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heavenboy09 · 2 years

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10 Years Ago Today, A New Adventure Of Disney Magic Begins ✨

In a Far Away Land with Lushes Green Forests , Lakes of Majestic Blues and Fields upon Fields of Serene Beauty.

So Intriguing and Wonderous that it will Capture your Heart ❤

This Land Is SCOTLAND 🏴󐁧󐁢󐁳󐁣󐁴󐁿

Here in The Land Of Scottish Citizens

Lies many Kingdoms

And one of those Majestic Kingdoms

Is the Kingdom of DunBroch 🏰

This Kingdom is home to the King Fergus 🤴 and Queen Elinor.

With their 4 children, Their Little Sons, Prince Hamish, Prince Hubert, and Prince Harris 🤴

And Their Lovely and Teenage Daughter

Princess 👸 Merida 👩🏻‍🦰

Our Story Begins with A Redhead Princess 👩🏻‍🦰Trying to Be Someone Her Mother doesn't want her to be.

But in order for her to actually be heard and Live the Life she wants to have and not to have it be chosen for her.

A Magical Force deep in the Forests will lead her to her Destiny.

This Princess 👩🏻‍🦰 will make a Self Discovery of how she can do all that ger Heart contents

As she goes on a Adventure of a Lifetime to find her Fate ✨ in the World she lives in.

From Walt Disney Pictures Presents

A Pixar Animation Studios Film

OUR FATES LIVE WITHIN US

YOU ONLY HAVE TO BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO SEE IT

DISNEY'S

BRAVE 👩🏻‍🦰🏴󐁧󐁢󐁳󐁣󐁴󐁿🐻🏹

HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY

#disney brave #princess merida #pixar #Scotland #Spotify

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mamabear-elinor · 2 years

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After the War -> [Brave Women]

In which Elinor, Merida, Harris, and Hamish deal with the aftermath of the battle at Best Castle...[takes place: July 02]

@heart-of-dunbroch

[tw -- discussion of death/murder(?)]

MERIDA: The battle was over.

It didn’t feel that way though, did it? Not for hours later. Not even when she wiped the blood from her split lip and let her curls down, or stepped into the shower to wash off the dirt and grime. As the water washed over her, she closed her eyes and saw the room she and her family had stood in, moments before the glass had shattered. The story wasn’t supposed to end that way– though Merida couldn’t imagine any other ending. And so she replayed it to keep the battle alive. Merida was always more focused and more herself when she had something to fight.

But there were other things to do. Hubert had disappeared– fleeing, she assumed, with the few knights who escaped into the wood, to regroup and form some plan. But Harris and Hamish had stayed behind. Even after watching the glass shatter– they were here.

She’d taken them to a guest room, recently spruced up by their mam. Gave ‘em towels and showed them the shower and how to get the hot water (the system was so old, it took a lot of fiddling.) And as they cleaned themselves, she’d gone back up to that room where she’d looked Elinor in, bringing with her a massive blanket. She’d opened it and found Elinor sleeping, all curled up like a child. Merida put the blanket over her and sat with her until she woke up.

When she did, it all felt like too much to explain. The words were rocks in her mouth, especially when Elinor asked if it was over– and Merida couldn’t answer one way or the other.

But she’d told her the worst of it, in the most gentle way that Merida could (though more for herself than Elinor, if she were honest.)

Da attacked me. You turned into a bear, she said to her mother. And then he fell.

Elinor could fill in the blanks.

Now it was another hour later and the leftovers of the DunBroch family gathered downstairs. Elinor had made tea rather frantically. Merida scrounged around for leftovers for the boys to eat, and came up with some warmed-up beef stew.

She set down the bowls in front of them and collapsed in her own chair. “Dig in then,” she said, because she wasn’t sure what else she should say.

Hamish picked up his spoon and scooped up some vegetables, then let it plop back into the bowl. He sniffled, face all red from crying.

Harris sniffed it and made a face.

“Oi,” said Merida. “It’s edible, ye oafs. Don’t be like that.”

“I hate rutabaga,” mumbled Hamish.

ELINOR: Elinor hadn’t said anything since Merida had informed her of what had transpired in that cursed tower of the castle.

She hadn’t cried. There had been nothing but cold. All she had done was tell Merida thank you and given her instructions to find the boys rooms and something to wear. Put them together, she’d said, her voice just as it always was when she was doling out instructions, but Elinor felt as if she was very far away from it. Instructions were easy. Elinor could do them in her sleep. Fergus used to joke that she did sometimes, waking him up to tell him that the windows needed to be fixed or there was a piece of fence needing mending in the pastures.

Fergus.

Elinor felt as weak and shaky as she always did when coming down from a transformation, but there was something different about it this time. No matter what, it felt like she couldn’t get warm. She went to her room and turned the shower onto the hottest setting and stood under the stream as her skin went red and angry, but she hardly felt it. Her hands ran through her short hair and she thought about how much Fergus had loved her hair, how he had never wanted her to cut it. How it had been all the way down her back for most of her adult life. Now, it felt too short. There was nothing to grasp.

If she cried in the shower, she didn’t realize it. And when she stepped out, she was still shivering. She dressed in a knit green sweater and a pair of jeans. It wouldn’t do for the boys to see her in a pair of pajamas. They would find that odd and Elinor did not want to make the changes between them all any more glaring.

In the kitchen, alone, Elinor set about making a tea. Merida appeared, silently, and the boys trailing her as they always did like little ducklings. No one said anything. Merida set out bowls for stew. Elinor didn’t know if she could eat it. It was a stew she had made a hundred times. One that she always had on hand. It was a family recipe. A stew for colds. For broken hearts. It could mend anything, her grandmother used to say.

Nothing, Elinor thought, could mend this.

Elinor made the tea. Merida’s black. Harris’ with a dollop of honey and milk. Hamish with a spoonful of sugar. She set the mugs down in front of all of them.

Merida broke the silence first. She said nothing really, but Elinor felt the moment rend through the air anyway, like a clap of thunder. Primly, she sat in her own chair, across from her children.

“Ach, just eat,” she told them both and took a firm bite of her own soup, even if it tasted like ash in her mouth.

Both boys did as they were told. Elinor wondered if this was from years of conditioning, having not forgotten their mother’s command; or if it was because they were afraid of her. Both options made her want to scream.

Elinor knew that she was not a perfect mother by any stretch, but she tried. She wanted to try now, but she had no idea where to start.

“Boys--” Elinor started, then stopped again, glancing at Merida. She didn’t know why. This was not Merida’s responsibility.

“Do you want us to eat or to talk?” Harris grumbled in that sharp way of his.

Elinor cut a look at him. “I just--I wanted--” she fumbled again “--to say I am sorry.” Her own eyes filled with tears for a moment, but Elinor had many years of practice at putting her tears somewhere else. Saving them for later. Or for never at all.

MERIDA: Merida could count on one hand the times that Elinor had apologized. Her mam had the infuriating flaw of always thinking she was right. (Merida had this flaw too; what DunBroch didn’t?) And so there was the time that Merida became a werewolf and Elinor had apologized before sending her running into the hills of the Sneck, away from her warring father.

And then there was this. Now.

Merida sat there, not touching her own stew, as her mother tried to put together the apology. But it was harder than anything, wasn’t it? More fragile than glass, more particular than a piece of embroidery. Elinor was a woman who made things, whether that was a supper or a weapon within the forge. But she faltered here. Apologies were made of more mysterious things than words, weren’t they?

She felt compelled to say she was sorry too. But she had already. She had a million times. Merida had started to suspect that a sorry said by her meant nothin’ more than a ‘good day’ or a ‘good bye.’ And so she sat there, grim-faced. She watched her brothers.

They were quiet too, either waiting for Elinor to say more or…

It was Harris who spoke up after a few long, tense seconds.

“Are you sorry Da’s dead or are you sorry you killed him?” he said grimly.

Merida frowned at once. “Ach, Harry. Don’t be like that.”

“Like what?” said Harris. “It’s a good question.”

“She can be sorry for both.” Merida tried to defend Elinor. Her eyes darted to her mam. “She didn’t– it’s a curse, it’s not like me. She can’t control it. It isn’t her fault. He would have killed me–”

“I know,” said Harris. He was trying to be tough, but the tears had returned. He sniffled. “I know that.”

“I didn’t know the curse part,” mumbled Hamish. His lip wobbled. When he looked up at their mam, it wasn’t with any of the uncertainty that Harris carried, like Harris was trying to figure out if he wanted to stay or go, if they were the enemy or not– if he had made the wrong or right decision.

Gentle Hamish, instead, was simply scared. “Is it like Mor’du?” he asked. “W-will you turn into a bear one day and never come back?”

ELINOR: Elinor flinched at Harris’ words. Despite the squareness of her shoulders and the straightness of the spine, she felt fragile as glass.

Dead. You killed him.

The women of the Order were no stranger to death. They cleaned the wounds of the dead as the living, before sending them off to their coffins. She had done it for a few DunBroch men, a few Briar ones too. Her hands had touched death before, felt it’s cold but never had it been inside of her. She felt those words now: you killed him, pressed like ice against her heart. She wondered if it would spread. If she would always be cold. Fergus had never talked to her about the burden of killing, even when Elinor used to wash his shoulders in the shower and pretend the tears he cried were just water.

And now—she wished she could ask, for who else was she supposed to? How was one to move forward? Especially when she couldn’t remember it. The last thing she did was Fergus looking at her, his sharp, blue eyes betrayed. And how she had loved him and hated him all at once.

Harris had those same blue eyes. Deep and cold as the lochs.

Hamish’s were softer, a Briar blue like skies. They were wide and wet now as he mentioned the curse.

Again, Elinor did not know what to say. The truth was that yes. She could disappear into the bear and never return. They didn’t know. Howl had warned of it. Elinor felt it, every time she came back: the ache in her bones to return to the bear and never think about all of these complex, human emotions again. She did not remember much of the bear, but she did know that it was simple. It wanted simple things. Oh, how Elinor wished she did as well.

“Donnae fash about that.” Elinor tried to smile but it was thin and thready as her nervous heart.

“Donnae treat us like bairns, Ma,” Harris said again, harsh despite the tears in his eyes. “Tell us straight.”

When Elinor looked at her boys all she saw was the wee bairns that had been laid on her breast. But now she looked at them and they were taller and leaner, some of their baby fat having dropped away, though it still clung stubbornly to their cheeks. Harris especially looked much older as he struggled to hold back his tears.

“It doesn’t matter right now. It—it isn’t going to hurt you,” Elinor fret. “There will be plenty of time to discuss all that. We—we must get you settled first.”

“Ma—“ Hamish protested softly.

“Eat your stew!” Elinor commanded, taking a bite of her own. She did not say it harshly, but with all the force she could muster. Her voice was still thin and frail. “You mustn’t go to bed on an empty stomach.”

MERIDA: Merida’s eyes darted from her mam to her brothers, following the back and forth. This was strange. It was strange because it was not strange at all, but exactly the same as it might’ve been if she was back in Cawdor and all those old stone walls were listening in. Though Merida had been gone years and years– though age had given Hamish and Harris height and dots of acne on their faces– they were still the same. This was her mam. These were her rowdy, too-smart brothers. If Merida let herself, she’d get weepy, as she realized how grateful she was to be sat here at the table again, listenin’ to Elinor nag them both.

But she’d weep for other reasons, if she let herself get started. After all, the table was not complete. There were only four DunBrochs here. Four sets of spoons clatterin’ against bowls. Four glasses on the table. Merida was used to an empty table, for many years it was just herself, but now it felt emptier than it had then when she looked to where her da would have sat, when she heard the places where bold and brash Hubert would have chimed in.

He would have probably said something right now about how he wouldn’t finish his stew until Elinor told ‘em the truth. He was always the first to step out of line and not care about the consequences. That’s what set him apart from Harris, who stepped out of line plenty, but got away with it more.

He should be here now.

Maybe it was out of missing, then, for her last brother, the brother most like herself and like Da, that Merida spoke up. “Mam’s dealin’ with the curse,” she said. “It’s not gone as far as Mor’du and it never will. It’s triggered by anger and– ye know Mam–she’s got it handled.”

“How’d it even happen?” said Hamish glumly.

Merida shrugged. “Dunnae.”

“Probably the Order,” said Harris. He scoffed. “Bunch of hypocritical gits.”

Merida blinked, sitting up straighter at that. Even Hamish glanced at his brother in surprise.

“Well they are, we all know it. Everyone goes along and never says shite, but innit that the reason you left anyway?” said Harris as his sharp eyes landed on Merida.

“Well… sort of,” said Merida. “I think the whole murderin’ innocent people thing was more the reason–”

“Same thing,” said Harris. “Everyone says one thing, and does another. We say we don’t mess with magic, but we get fairy gifts and enchanted weapons and curse people who disagree with us. I thought maybe it was just cuz the king but– he died and it didn’t change. Mam’s curse just proves it.”

Merida sucked her teeth. “Yeesh. You always were too smart for yer own good.”

ELINOR: Merida came to her defense. Elinor blinked, thrown off by this, not sure if she had heard correctly. She was quite used to being the bad guy. It was usually Hubert and Merida on one side. Harris, well, it depended on the argument, and Hamish did not like to take sides, for he did not like arguments. And Fergus—well, he had never been any help when it had come to discipline. He had found Merida’s disregard for ladylike tradition to be funny, until it was too big of a problem and then, he had blamed Elinor for not having controlled her better.

Her and her daughter never agreed. Elinor could not remember a single time that Merida had ever thought that Elinor had something handled.

The funniest part—in the most ironic way possible—was that Elinor did not believe she did. After all, she had just lost control and killed her ex-husband. Part of her didn’t understand why Merida would take her side at all. She wanted to protest. To tell Merida to hate her, because wouldn’t that be easier? Better for all of them?

But she simply stayed silent. That was something else Elinor had learned over the years. How to be silent. For all her ability to corral her children, she also had learned that sometimes, she was simply speaking to several brick walls. It had been useless, so she had just tucked her anger somewhere under her ribcage and stayed silent.

She stayed silent as her son so succinctly summed up what had taken her entire life to realize. The guilt burrowed itself deeper, like a worm inside of her heart. How long had Harris thought this? How long had he been alone? What would have happened if they had not gone to war and torn the Order out by its teeth?

“Yes, it was probably the Order,” Elinor said after a long moment.

Harris’ eyes turned back towards her and behind that sharp expression, he could see that he was still wary.

“I wish—” Elinor paused again, her words twisted on her tongue. “I wish I would’ve taken you with me, when I left.”

“We wouldnae come,” Harris said simply and dipped his head to take a bite of his soup.

“I woulda,” Hamish mumbled but followed suit.

“I dinnae want you to get hurt or—I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to find Merida or that she’d want to see me or…what she was like but—” Elinor reached across the table to touch Harris’ hand, then Hamish’s. “We’re together now.”

“Not Hubert,” Harris reminded them all harshly.

“No.” Elinor’s face crumpled.

“He’s a git,” Harris continued.

“I-I am sure he is just…confused. Hurt.”

“Or he’s a git,” Harris repeated, more angrily.

“Harris.”

Harris shrugged and went back to slurping at his stew.

“Donnae slurp.”

Harris slurped louder.

MERIDA: Merida snorted at Harris. Typical Harris. Couldn’t he be amiable for at least a moment, for Mam’s sake?

But Merida knew the answer to that, because she was the same. She saw parts of herself in all of her brothers. Hubert, she shared the most with. They were both reactive, bold, mouthy and take-charge. He only ever listened to Harris the same way that Merida really only listened to Belle these days– both Merida and Hubert hard-won, but once you did win ‘em, you had ‘em for life. And so she understood why Hubert hadn’t stayed. He had taken the first opportunity, in the madness of battle, to split and run back to the people who he trusted. The people who had raised him. The people he owed his loyalty to. And after watchin’ his Da get murdered by a bear? ‘Course he didn’t want to stay!

If they were going to win him back, it would be Harris who convinced him.

And Harris– Merida was stubborn like Harris. She could be moody and grumpy, though she got over her moods faster than he ever did. Harris treated his moods like an ol favourite bone he carried around to chew on.

And as for Hamish– honestly, Merida struggled to see what she shared with him. She wasn’t a people pleaser. She didn’t cry easily. She wasn’t as fond of music.

But she did love her family. And Hamish did love them all, more than music, more than he’d ever loved the Order.

So yeah, this conversation was goin’ about as well as any. Since when had the DunBrochs ever had a conversation that wasn’t a mess?

“Anyway,” Merida declared (doing her normal take-charge thing; she was the eldest anyway!) “The only thing we can do now is move forward. We’ll eh– we’ll sort out rooms and all that. Get yourselves settled in.”

“Wait,” said Hamish. His spoon clattered into his bowl. “I thought…aren’t we all goin’ back to Cawdor?”

Merida scoffed at that. “Wha? No, we can’t. The Order would come and stab us in our sleep!”

“Well, I thought since we won the battle–”

“Won’s a bit of an exaggeration,” Merida said.

“But,” Hamish said, huffing. “But if Da’s not– then why couldn’t we–”

“It’s just too unstable right now, Hamish,” mumbled Harris next to his brother.

Hamish pouted. “I guess.”

“It’s alright, you’ll like Swynlake,” Merida tried to comfort him. She glanced at Elinor. “Right, Mam? It’s a wee town, but not so bad.”

ELINOR: “No, it isn’t bad,” Elinor allowed, smiling small and grateful at Merida before looking at her sons.

“It’ll be an adventure,” she encouraged them. “And, maybe, one day, we can return home. Just not…just not now. Things are dangerous and I don’t want anything to happen to either of you.”

Just the thought made her feel ill. She was already starting to fret over Hubert. The Order wouldn’t hurt him, of course, but he was a sensitive boy. He was going to be angry about what happened and anger could allow him to be twisted. Elinor just wanted him here too, so that all her children could sleep under the same roof again for the first time in years.

“Now, finish dinner. We will find you your rooms. Would you like to be separate or together?”

Hamish and Harris glanced at each other with expressions that Elinor could only just read.

“Together,” they said.

Elinor smiled. At least, some things had not changed about her sons. They were so much taller. They looked like young men. It was as if in the last year they had lost all of their baby fat. (This was not true, but it certainly felt that way now.)

“Very well. I will look into what it will take to get you enrolled at school.”

“Like--school school?” Harris asked, looking sharply at his mother.

“Yes, proper school.”

Most Order boys were homeschooled until university. They moved around too much as squires to have a proper education in a public or private school. Elinor had been in charge of their lessons until they’d gone off to squire. Then, their squiring families had taken over their education.

Hamish looked like he was going to be ill, but Harris had sat up somewhat.

“Do we have tae?” Hamish whined. “Cannae you just do it?”

“No,” Elinor said, “I--have to work.”

Hamish made another face.

“Come now, finish your dinners. And then it is off to bed with ye. All of ye.” She glanced at Merida too, her expression firm, though her eyes were still tired and watery. She just--needed to know that all her children were alone and safe in their beds tonight. Tomorrow…well, she didn’t know what she needed, but it didn’t matter. She knew what her children needed and she would do that. She would always do that.

#swynmerida #brave women #the dunbrochs #featuring harris #featuring hamish #after the war #the fall of rome #if there is one thing lauryl and i are gonna do #it's create family dynamics that fuck me up!!

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