The Big Four

Chapter 8

"So, how do we get to this Haunted Island? Do we fly?" I can't help but be in a good mood: my parents are safe... And out of my hair.
"Yep." Jack grins at Rapunzel. "Let's go."
I'm lifted off of my feet. I'm not sure whether I want to laugh or whimper - I'm suspended above the earth by nothing.
I look at Hiccup. His face is probably a reflection of my own - excitement tinted with a bit of fear.
Once we're farther off of the deck, we zoom away. All I can see is the ocean zipping by, hundreds of feet below.
I whoop with excitement. This is amazing.

---

I can't help but laugh. Rapunzel has her eyes shut tight, and her knees are folded up to her chest. Merida is laughing and shouting in excitement. Hiccup doesn’t seem fazed.
Frost…
What’s wrong?
I can’t carry you all much farther. I’m powerful, but not that powerful. I’m going to have to drop you one of the other islands.
I suppose that’ll be fine.
“Hey, guys! Listen!” I have to shout to be heard. Rapunzel peeks one eye open, and Merida stops shouting.
“We can’t reach the main island today. Wind is too tired. He’s going to drop us on another island - this island.”
Just as I say the words, we land on a beach.
“What island is this?” Merida is looking around, trying to determine which it might be by our surroundings.
Which is it?
“I don’t know. Wind is gone.”
Hiccup steps forward, his face grave. “This is Siren Island.”

---

“What? Siren Island? That sounds bad.”
Jack looks around, trying to disprove Hiccup. “You’re right. This is Siren Island, and it’s very bad.”
None of us say anything. Sirens… The mythical beasts that will appear to their prey as whatever that person loves. There are sirens all over the world, but this is like their headquarters.
“We definitely need to stay together.”
They all nod. If a siren attacks one, the rest will see it for what it is and defend. A siren can only trick one person at a time.
Then everything comes crashing down.

---

Siren Island. One of the most treacherous islands of all.
We need to get out of here.
The island is already getting into my head, making me second-guess everything I see. I hear a faint singing in the distance.
“Their songs! That’s what makes them so deadly. Of course. One second…”
Rapunzel sings a quick note, then goes higher, higher, higher. Suddenly I can’t hear anything.
A huge bird with the head of a human girl walks onto the beach. I’m relieved to know that I’m not being fooled by it. Then I see who is.
Merida inches forward, a step at a time. The tales were gravely mistaken in thinking that only guys got fooled by these stupid birds.
Jack immediately ices the thing, and Merida cries out, then blinks. She glances back at us. She says something, but I don’t understand her. She motions to the part of the beach where she’d just been standing.
A light of understanding, then fear, crosses her eyes.

---

I just got tricked by a siren, and I don’t even remember what happened.
I clutch my bow more tightly. This is a nightmare. We need to get out. Now.
I can’t hear anything, so I assume that they can’t either. I draw in the sand. “How do we get out?”
Jack just shrugs. My blood boils. We have to get off of this island!
Rapunzel starts walking towards the forest. A siren is standing, hidden, in the trees.
I shoot at it. My arrows hit it directly in the heart. Rapunzel stumbles backwards.
Jack writes in the dust. “Maybe we could sail out?”
Oh, so now he’s worried.
Hiccup traces a finger through the sand. “No. There are sirens in the sea.”
He motions out towards the ocean, but I don’t see anything.
Great. We’re being attacked from every direction.
“Then how do we get out?”
“The way we came in.”
My stomach churns. We have to wait for Wind.

---

We spend the next twenty-four hours fighting sirens. At first, it had been easy. Only a few sirens appeared. But as word spread, more came. We were bombarded on all sides, and it was all we could do to stay alive.
A huge ship appeared over the horizon. It seemed to notice us as it neared.
Finally.
Merida was shooting down a siren that had Hiccup in a trance; Rapunzel was singing, trying to find a note that would make the sirens back off.
I waved to them, and they turned. I motioned toward the boat.
I tapped the water, and it momentarily froze. I ran towards the boat, followed by the other three.
It wasn’t until we were on board that we’d realized our mistake.

---

“Mother? What are you doing here?” She’s standing beside me as we walk through the interior of the ship.
“Did you think we were going to stay home?”
“I’d certainly hoped so.”
“That’s no way to treat your mother!”
“Where are we going, anyway? Only four can go to the Haunted Island, and there are far more than four on this ship.”
“Home, of course. Did you honestly think that I was going to allow you, a princess, to go adventuring?”
“Mother!”
“You’re coming home.” Our walk comes to an abrupt end. She opens the door to my room and shoves me inside. “And I’ll be taking that. Princesses don’t use weapons.”
“Mother, wait!”
She yanks the bow from my shoulder and locks the door.
My strength gone, I slump to the floor. I’d kept the bow since the dragon fight. I hadn’t been sure whether it had truly healed me or if it was just touching it that did the magic.
Now I know.
I curl into a ball, fighting the sudden explosion of pain hitting my head.

---

Merida’s father isn’t very happy.
Merida was just shuffled downstairs by her mother, leaving Rapunzel, Jack and I on deck.
“My name is Fergus. You may all call me sir.”
Rapunzel is the only one that nods.
Fergus glares at me before continuing. “As you can tell, you’re now on my ship. I wasn’t very happy about riding air back home while my daughter was dragged along on an expedition with you misfits.”
“His name is Wind,” Jack corrects.
“We didn’t drag her along,” I point out.
“And we’re not misfits,” Rapunzel protests.
Fergus snarls. “I don’t care, yes ye did, and yes ye are.”
Merida’s mother emerges onto the deck. Where is Merida?
The queen strolls over to her husband. He takes her arm. “This is my wife, Elinor.”
Elinor dips her head. She hands over Merida’s bow to Fergus.
Merida doesn’t have her bow.

---

I fiddle with a strand of hair. The conversation is tense.
“Where’s Merida?”
Elinor looks at Hiccup. “Merida is in her room. And you shall address her formally, as you are only acquaintances.”
Hiccup opens his mouth to object, but then thinks better of it.
I decide to take a hold in this conversation. “Thank you for saving us from Siren Island. We really need to get going, though, so…”
Elinor nods. “Then be on your way.”
“But Merida…”
“Is coming with us. She is a princess. She doesn’t join in adventures and the like.”
I have a feeling that Merida would object to that statement very adamantly, but I don’t say anything.
Hiccup does, though. “She needs her bow.”
I have no idea where that came from. I shoot him a confused look, and he explains. “She had a run-in with her Haunted. Her bow is the cure.”
“Nonsense! Weapons cure naught.”
“But it’s true!”
“Enough.” Fergus steps forward. “We’ll be hospitable and give you a place to stay for a few days, but then you must be on your way. There’ll be no interaction with our daughter whatsoever.”
None of us say anything, but that doesn’t seem to matter. The royal couple strolls away, signaling that the conversation is over.

---

I drum my fingers on the table. It’s been two days. I haven’t seen Merida once, and we have to be gone by tomorrow.
Jack, Rapunzel and I are sitting around a short, splintered table in a spare room that has sort of temporarily become our council room.
“We have to leave by tomorrow. I can call Wind and have us out of here anytime, but… Merida.” Jack looks more relaxed, leaning back in his chair with a thoughtful expression on his face.
Rapunzel nods. She’s twirling a strand of brown hair around her fingers over and over again. “We need to get her out of here. But how? She’s locked up-- even guarded.”
I sigh. It seems impossible to reach Merida. Her parents must have noticed her sudden weakness, and yet they still refuse to return her bow.
That is my main concern. Without her bow, she’s still plagued by the effects of coming face-to-face with her Haunted. It’s totally possible that she could die.
We had to save her.
How?
“I seriously don’t see any way to help her without directly rebelling against this ship’s captain’s direct orders -- and that would mean battle.”
“Which we really don’t want,” Rapunzel murmurs.
“We have to leave her. She has to find her own way off of this ship.”
“What?”
“You heard me. She’ll find a way. She’s resourceful.”
“She’s dying,” I growl.
“We’ll get her her bow, somehow. From there, it’s her responsibility.”
“I’m staying, then.”
Jack raises an eyebrow. Rapunzel stops moving.
“You two go ahead and leave. I’ll get her her bow, help her get out of here, and meet you on the Haunted Island.”

---

I freeze. Is he really considering this?
I can tell just from one glance that he’s not just considering. He’s made up his mind.
Jack hesitates, then nods. “Alright then. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow. You stay. But they’ll notice that you haven’t gone with us. What’s your plan?”
Hiccup leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “As long as they think that I’ve gone with you, then I can just stay hidden, find a way to get her bow, and get out. But they have to think that I’ve left.” He turns towards me. “Do you have a song for that?”
“A song for illusion? I most certainly do.”
He smiles for a split second. Quiet descends.
It’s settled.