The Story Of Four

“Oh mother this is going to be so exiting!” Rapunzel laughed as she ran around the main hall of the palace, long golden hair streaming behind her.
Her mother laughed “Yes it will be, and it will hopefully be very productive as well.” She agreed, “Now, come over here and help me with the flower arrangements.” She called.
Rapunzel ran over obediently, dashing in front of a servant carrying a very large stack of books. “Oh, you there, watch out for Rapunzel’s-!” The queen’s warning was cut off by the servant tripping and spilling her books all over the ground. “Hair.” The queen finished, wincing.
“Oh my gosh!” Rapunzel cried, “I’m so so sorry! I didn’t even see you! Here, let me help.” She rushed over to the other girl and helped her up, bending down, she began to gather a few books.
“Thank you miss.” The servant said nervously and carefully picked her way over Rapunzel’s hair to hurry away.
“Bye!” Rapunzel waved cheerily after her. “I think we should have purple flowers mother, to match the flags!” She added, turning back to the queen.

~*~

“Why do we have to go to CORONA dad? The land of rainbows and sunshine? It’s the most un-Viking friendly place since… since… the desert!” Hiccup complained, following his father around their home.
“You know why we have to go Hiccup, now stop whining, it’s un-manly.” His father growled, packing a few extra left socks. Gobber had insisted.
“We’ve already established I’m not manly.” Hiccup muttered.
Stoic heard and turned to face his son, who took a nervous step back at the sight of the huge man’s annoyed expression. “Hiccup,” He began, “I know that your not a normal Viking, and that’s okay, that’s great actually, you’ve done wonders for the village, but we do have a serotype to keep up, so while we’re in Corona, I need you to be just the slightest bit meaner and tougher and, well, more Viking like. Just while we’re there. If these people get the wrong idea, they might thing that we’re weak and easy to conquer, which is not the case, especially with our dragons, but non of us here want to get into another war, it’s tiring, a waste of time, and an embarrassment to our enemies when we win. So just for a week, I need you to be a good actor, and pretend to be like me and the others, ok?”
Hiccup gaped. “That was quite a speech dad.” He said.
“Hiccup!” Stoick groaned.
“Ok, ok!” The boy held up his hands, “I’ll be a Viking for a week.” He told him.
“Thank you.” Stoick sighed. “Now where is my bear fur?”

~*~

“Mum! Haggus stole my bow an’ he won’t tell me where it is!” Merida screeched, running through the castle, looking for her mother. When she finally found her, she launched into a five minute description of the type of punishment that she thought was appropriate for ‘the wee devils’
“Merida!” Her mother said, trying to get the irate girl’s attention, to no avail, the red head just kept ranting about her brothers. “Merida!” The queen tried again. The princess still didn’t respond. The woman sighed. Standing up, she went to the back of the thrones, retrieved the girls bow and threw it at her. “There’s yer bow ye motor mouth!” She cried, trying not to smile.
“Mum! Where ye get this?” Merida asked, examining her bow.
“The boys brought it to me to have it cleaned up.” The queen said calmly
“Oh.” Merida thought for a second. “Ah should go apologize shouldn’t ah?”
Her mother nodded. “But not yet, first ah need to tell ye, we’re going to Corona for a week, so go and pack.”
Merida froze, “Aw mum! Why ‘re we going to that happy-go-lucky kingdom?” She moaned, “Every one there is so naive! No on takes anything seriously!”
“I agree completely, but your father is required to go if he wants to keep peace with the Vikings and Corona. They both have very power full armies. Nothing compared to us highlanders of course but still, another war would be exhausting and a waste of time and recourses.” The queen sighed. “I truly am sorry, I would like nothing more than to stay here and eat pastries to our heart’s content, but we certainly can’t let your father go alone, he would get us into a worse war than if we had just skipped the trip all together.”
Merida laughed, “Mum yer wicked! What would da say if he heard you talking like that behind his back?”
“He would agree with me. Whole heartedly. And if he didn’t, I’d tell all the clans about the time that he tried to ride a horse backwards into the mud.” Her mother said, an evil glint in her eyes.
“He did what? When?!” Merida asked, laughing harder.
“Another time love, now go and pack, don’t forget to thank yer brothers.” The queen smiled.
“Yes mum!” Merida called as she raced up stairs.

~*~

Jack laughed as he was tossed in the air by the wind. He was flying over some pace called Corona.
This was one of his favorite places to bring visit. As long as he didn’t bring a blizzard, everyone came out and played in his snow, even the adults.
The wind whistled, bringing him the sound of music and laughter. “What’s that?” He asked. “A party? With out me? No such thing. Lets go!” Jack flew towards the sounds of joy and landed in an open pavilion.
There were people dancing every where he looked. And everyone looked like they were having fun.
Every one but three teenagers at the head of the room. They were seated in a row on the left of five adults. “They must be their parents.” Jack mused, examining the three younger people.
There was two girls and a boy. The girl’s could have beat him in a ‘weird hair style/color’ contest. One had her golden hair in a thick braid that must have been ridiculously long when it was let down, and the other’s red main seemed to be trying to escape her head.
Or at least, that’s what Jack thought when he saw it.
The boy was normal. Completely normal. Except for the fact that he was missing a leg.
They all looked like they would rather be doing anything else in the world rather then sitting there watching everyone else have fun.
“I wonder why their not dancing.” Jack thought. The three miserable teens were soon forgotten though, when someone started a snowball fight and Jack got caught up in the excitement.
Laughing, he caused the snow to fall a bit harder, not enough to cause any harm, and joined in on the fun.

~*~

Merida sighed and slouched farther down in her seat, ignoring her mother’s exasperated gaze. “Why can’t we join in?” She muttered to herself.
“Because,” Hiccup grumbled, “We are an example of peace or something and peace full people do not join in on snowball fights.”
“Tha makes no sense!” The red head groaned, resting her head on her hand.
“No it doesn’t.” He agreed.
“Maybe they’ll let us join the final dance!” The Rapunzel suggested.
“Not me,” The boy sighed, “Vikings don’t dance. It’s demeaning to our nature.”
“Your nature seems ta fit more with drawin and writin in tha funny little book o’ yers rather then fightin and such.” Merida snickered.
The Viking bristled, “Just because I don’t like to archery doesn’t mean I can’t fight!” He protested.
“Can ye?” The red headed princess asked flatly.
“Yes. Just not in the same way you can.” He said defiantly.
She waved him off “Wha ever floats yer boat Viking.” She said, turning her attention back to the fight. Did that snowball just fly out of nowhere?
“The name is Hiccup, highlander.” He said, interrupting her thoughts.
“Tha name is Merida, Hiccup.” She sneered, sitting up straighter. “Could yer mum an da not think of a better name fer ye then Hiccup?” She asked
“I’m Rapunzel!” The blonde interjected, hoping to stop the fight before it really happened. The other two teens just ignored her. She sighed and went back to watching the strange white-haired boy. She’d never seen him around the kingdom. Then again, she never saw any one that much really, not since she moved back into her tower.
“It’s to ward off evil spirits or something I don’t kno- did you see that?” Hiccup’s anger faded into confusion as he looked past Merida at something.
“See what?” Merida asked, spinning to see what he was looking at.
“I would have sworn I just saw a snowball come out of the air.” He muttered.
“I saw one too!” Merida said, getting exited.
“There’s another!” Hiccup pointed to the white-haired boy Rapunzel was watching. “It came from right there! But there’s no person!”
“There is to.” She told him, “The boy with white hair? That’s where your ‘mystery’ snowballs are coming from I think.”
Both of the other teens stared at her. “What?” She asked after the silence between the three had grown un comfortable.
The other two glanced at each other, then back at her. “There’s no a white haired boy down there girly, are ye feelin all right?” Merida asked carefully.
“I’m feelin- feeling! Fine! And there is a boy, he’s on top of that pillar now-“ She stopped. “Wait, how’d he get up there?”
Merida and Hiccup stared at the pillar Rapunzel had pointed to. After a second, they both very clearly saw a snow ball fly out of the air and into the on-going brawl.
They gaped. “What the…?” Hiccup asked, astonished.
Merida shrugged as more snowballs flew from the air, and a white-haired boy shimmered into existence, crouching on the top of the pillar, just like Rapunzel said.
“Odin’s beard…” Hiccup muttered.
“By all the wisps…” Merida gasped “How’d he do tha? Who is he? Is he a spirit?!” She demanded.
“Maybe he’s Jokul Frosti.” Hiccup teased, though he was nervous. The kid just appeared. Out of nowhere.
The white haired teen turned to face the three like he heard what they were talking about. He made eye contact with each of them, pure shock in his eyes.
After a moment of tension, he literally flew over and landed in front of them, examining them each.
“Hello!” Rapunzel greeted after a moment of silence.
The boy looked behind him, like he was trying to find who she was talking to.
“Oi, you with the white ‘air and weird staff.” Merida called. He spun around “Yeah you, what’s yer name then?” She asked
“Even though your probably not talking to me and I’m just getting my hopes up, I’ll answer anyway! I’m Jack Frost.” He said, leaning on his staff.
“Nice to meet you Jack. Why couldn’t we see you earlier?” Hiccup asked.
Jack jumped back. “Wait, you can see me?” He asked hopefully
“No we’re talking to tha other white ‘aird Jack Frost in the room.” Merida said, rolling her eyes, “Of course we can see ye, ye big blighter, now answer tha boy’s question please.”
Jack gaped at her. “You can see me! And hear me! You really can! All three of you! I haven’t been seen in… over a hundred years!” He yelled happily, jumping with excitement.
“What do you mean-“ Rapunzel started,
“Rapunzel dear, who are you talking to?” Her mother asked. All four teens turned to see five very powerful, very worried parents staring at them intently.
“Um, ah, well, we- um, we were talking to, each other? We came up with, um, fake er, names, for each other and ah, Hiccup’s is, um, Jack Frost.” The blonde stumbled over her words, desperately trying to come up with a reason they would be saying a random name like ‘Jack Frost’ for no reason.
“Oh, and what’s your name dear?” Her mother asked, curiously.
“She’s Mother Earth and I’m Artemis.” Merida lied smoothly, adding a smile in for effect. The adults seemed satisfied with this answer and went back to discussing their adult matters.
“Quick, let’s get out of here while their distracted!” Hiccup hissed, standing up and sneaking his way to the back of the pavilion, motioning for the others to follow. Jack jumped after him, landing next to the Viking in one leap thanks to the wind’s help, and Merida pulled a reluctant Rapunzel after them.

~*~

“We’re going to be in so much trouble if we don’t get back to the party soon!” Rapunzel moaned as the others dragged her farther into the forest.
“Quit yer worrying or you’ll jinx us all!” Merida sighed as she pulled the blonde princess along. “We weren’t doing anything anyway, all’s they’ll miss is something pretty ta look at!”
Jack paused, “Your not talking about your self are you?” He asked teasingly.
She growled and moved to grab him but he just laughed and flew into a tree. “’At’s right ye bloody bird! Fly away!” She yelled.
“Shhh, Merida, wait until we’re clear of the castle grounds before you go shouting like that!” Hiccup warned. “Rapunzel’s right, if we get caught, we’ll be in big trouble.”
“Exactly!” The blonde cried, “So why don’t we head back now and forget we ever left?” She suggested.
“Because, if we go back now, we’ll get in trouble and gent sent to our rooms and such, and we’ll never find out why we couldn’t see Jack for half the night, but if we go back tomorrow, they’ll be so worried, they’ll just be glad that we’re safe and they might forget we disobeyed their indirect orders to stay put, and we’ll figure out why we couldn’t see Jack.” Hiccup explained.
“Direct for me.” Merida added.
“Which brings us back to the question, why couldn’t we see you?” Hiccup continued, looking up at Jack.
He shrugged, “No one can can. You can only see us if you believe in us, and no one believes in me.”
“Us?” Rapunzel asked
“Yeah, me, Santa clause, the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, the man in the moon, the sandman, mother earth, the leprechaun, all those stories.” Jack shrugged, floating down from the tree and walking along side the other three.
“Santa! You know Santa!” Rapunzel squealed.
Merida and Hiccup glanced at each other. “I knew one of those.” Merida declared finally.
Hiccup shook his head, “I didn’t recognize any of them.” He said.
“Oh,” Jack faltered, “Well, that’s okay, they have enough believers anyway.”
“Wha- oh never mind.” Merida sighed. “So where exactly ‘re we going?” She asked, looking around the darkening forest.
“Well you guys wanted to get away so away we’re going.” Rapunzel said from the head of the group. “Well, actually, away we are, really.” She added, pointing in front of them.
The forest stopped abruptly, reveling a small meadow with a river running through it, heading over the edge of a cliff and into a lake.
Hiccup whistled. Rapunzel laughed, “You like it? It’s my secret place. Well, I think it is anyway, no one’s ever here when I come.” She faltered, pondering the thought.
“Yeah it’s great! The perfect place for a snowball fight!” Jack yelled, suddenly gathering up some of the snow on the ground and throwing it at Merida’s face. She shrieked and grabbed some of her own, chucking it at him. Jack dodged and the ball hit Hiccup instead.
“Oh that was not smart highlander!” He laughed, brushing snow out of his hair. “It snows nine months a year in Berk, I have way more experience then you!” He made a snow ball and threw it at her.
She ducked and the ball flew over her head, hitting the tree behind her instead. “Ha! Wha was tha’ about experience Viking? Ye missed by a mile!” She laughed.
Hiccup smirked, “Did I? Did I really?” He asked. As soon as he finished, all the snow in the tree Merida was standing under fell, burying her. “No, I didn’t.” He concluded, gathering another snow ball.
Merida gasped as she dug her way out of the pile, glaring at the young viking. “Forget snow.” She growled and launched her self at Hiccup, sending him sprawling.
“Hey!” He yelled as they tumbled in the snow.
Jack and Rapunzel laughed as they wrestled. Eventually, Merida got Hiccup in a head lock.
Jack flew over “Come on man! That was embarrassing!” He laughed.
“I don’t like wrestling.” Hiccup growled, “Get off of me!” He shouted, thrashing around.
Merida let him go and stood up, brushing off her skirt. “Wha’ kind of a viking are ye? Ya can’t hold a sword, or a bow, or any other weapon, but ye say you can fight. So either yer lying to make yer self look good, or yer lying because yer embarrassed. Which is it?” She asked, helping him up.
He jerked his hand back, “I’m not lying, I can fight.” He muttered, swiping snow out his hair.
“No ya can’t! I’ve seen ye try! It’s borderline pitiful.” She said. He glared at her, not saying any thing.
“Merida, maybe you should be nicer?” Rapunzel suggested nervously.
The red head rolled her eyes, “Sure, whatever. So, when are we gong back?”
“First light.” Rapunzel declared, tugging at her hair, “Would you guy’s mind if I let my hair down? It’s really heavy in a braid.”
Jack examined her, “I’d believe it blondie, how long is it?” He asked, leaning on his staff.
“70 feet.” she replied simply, sitting crossed legged on the ground.
There was a moment of silence.
Rapunzel looked around, “What?”
“You have 70 feet of hair?” Hiccup repeated
“How?” Merida asked incredulously.
Rapunzel shrugged, “I’ve never cut it.” She said, “Also it’s-” She froze in her un-braiding.
“It’s what?” Jack asked curiously.
“It’s... um... a... family thing, the fast growing hair, I got it from my dad’s side.” She stuttered, vigorously going back to her hair.
The other three teens looked at each other. “It’s what?” Jack repeated.
Rapunzel glanced at them nervously, “I’m not supposed to tell.” she muttered.
Hiccup walked over and sat down next to her. “I’ll make you a deal, I’ll tell everyone my secret if you tell them yours.” he said, smiling.
She stared at him carefully. “You first.” She said finally.
He shrugged. “Fair enough, Berk isn’t at war with the dragons any more.” He leaned back on his elbows with a smirk.
Rapunzel and Merida gaped at him, “What? You’ve been at war for 300 years! Why the sudden change of heart?” Merida demanded.
“A secret, singular. It’s your turn now princess.” He said, nodding to Rapunzel, “Why is your hair so long.”
She glanced around nervously. “It’s magic.” She said finally.
Their expressions varied between un-moved, Jack, hesitant, Merida, and ever the skeptic, Hiccup.
“That’s it? Magic? What’s the big deal?” Jack laughed.
“Prove it.” Hiccup challenged.
Rapunzel rolled her eyes, “Fine,” she grumbled, she took a deep breath and began to sing...

“...the golden princess’s song mama? Please? And the story! Please!”
“All right, all right,
“Flower gleam and glow,
Let your power shine,
Make the clock reverse,
Bring back what once was mine,
What once was mine...”
“As she sung, her hair started to glow, and the snow around her melted.
“She finished and looked up to see the astonished faces of three soon to be closer than friends, by sharing her secret, the princess had formed a bond between the four, even if she didn’t know it. With her simple song, she had started a story that would last for ages in the myths of three different cultures, the story of four friends, one a spirit who never aged, cursed to watch his family age and fade away in front of him as he stayed eternally young.
“He knew this, and they knew this, but they all refused to acknowledge that anything would change between them. Ever. Even during the summer, they left the explanations of why they sometimes wore winter clothes into the forest and came back dripping wet to the imagination of their parents and maids.
“‘Let them guess’ The Fiery Princess had said, ‘I want to see what they come up with’ And the four had laughed.
“They spent the winter days out side, playing in the snow created by their friend, and the nights curled not to close to a fire with extra blankets so they could be warm and still talk to their friend the spirit.
“Autumn was spent chasing the things that were blown by a mischievously convenient wind and teasing their Viking friend about how this was his month because of often he tripped and fell.
“Spring saw them out side learning cartwheels in the snow that always stayed a month or two longer than any where else. Then on one special night they would each make a lantern and let them fly together into the sky, watching in peace and comfortable friendly silence until the impish spirit would drop a piece of ice down one of the other’s backs and  there would be chaos.
“Summer saw only three of the friends together for most of the time and though the day’s until their foursome could be completed again were long and tedious, they were by no means unbearable. Shooting lessons and dragon rides were common past times. Fishing, tree climbing, swimming were also favorites. Rainy days were easy as well, The Golden Princess had spent the first 14 years of her life locked away inside, she knew plenty of things to do.
“The four were like one, if they were apart for to long they became sad and dreary, their parents took notice and gladly let them visit each other often, though the spirit obviously needed no permission.
“Reality caught up to them eventually, after years and years of companionship and trust, it caught them up and bore them apart from each other, despite how hard they clung to each other and the times of snow ball fights and friendship, they were torn apart by war.
“It was a delicate peace to begin with, one wrong word at the wrong time had resulted in a bloody meeting, and the responsibility of a village thrust onto a boy too young and innocent  for such a task.
“Then the biggest secret, the one the four had shared between each other since the Viking boy had taught them to ride, was shown to the world; dragons and vikings were one and could not be beaten in battle. The highlanders, The Fiery Princess who refused to leave her father’s side in battle, her people were slain. All but the princess who was swept up by The Rider, the original rider, the first one, and carried far away to live with The Golden Princess.
“She was furious of course, and demanded that he take her back. The Golden Princess came out to greet her friends only to find them battle weary and enraged with each other, she called the Spirit with hopes he could help them, only to find that neither of her friends could see him any longer. The loss of so much had blinded them to his laughter and fun.
“The legend says that The Golden Princess was so over come with grief that she retreated to her childhood home. The tower in which she was raised by an evil which who told her all sorts of lies all her life until she met a man who brought her into the light and showed her that the world was not a dark as the witch claimed it to be.
“In her prison made sanctuary, she refused any visitor but the spirit, who visited often.
“Over time peace returned, and old friendships were remembered, despite the tests. The Viking and The Fiery Princess agreed that neither had started the awful war, only inherited it from their parents, all long since killed.
“Years after she had closed her self off from the world, The Viking and The Fiery Princess coaxed The Golden Princess back into the world, convincing her that they were no longer at war with each other. They still did not see The Spirit who watched them with a comforting hand on the golden princess’s shoulder.
“To The Viking’s and The Highlander’s shock, The Golden Princess had cut her magical golden hair short, which had caused it to turn a dark brown.
“When she saw her friend’s shock The Golden Princess tried to flee back to her tower for fear they would not accept her with out her golden hair.
“‘Those years in the tower have filled your head with dust! It was not your hair that was golden but you, and that has not changed!’ The Viking had said.
“And then the three were at once inseparable again.
“Still only one could see The Spirit though. No matter how hard she tried, The Golden Princess could not seem to convince her friends that The Spirit was real and standing just to the left, or right, or in the rafters, or where ever he was at the moment. They denied her so often that finally The Spirit lost his patience and froze The Viking’s feet to the ground in anger.
“To The Viking’s surprise and confusion, he found him self instantly frozen to the floor at seemingly random. Inside.
“The Golden Princess laughed and complemented the spirit on his handiwork. To her surprise and confusion, The Viking began to laugh. Harder than any one had heard him laugh in years until tears were streaming from his eyes and he was crying.
“Crying for joy or relief or guilt he never said, but at that moment all of his child hood memories came back to him at once and he could see the spirit, standing a few feet away, the last piece to the quartet that had been broken so long ago.
“The last hiccup in the reunion was The Fiery Princess. While she believed in magic, it was a certain kind of magic that she believed in, and no one could change her ideas.
“The Spirit had a very simple idea. ‘lLet me dangle her out of a window, when she looks up and sees nothing there, she’ll know I’m real!’
“The other two had a very simple answer: ‘No.’
“They decided to have The Spirit throw a snowball at her and see what happened.
“It took six tries, but she finally figured out that neither The Viking nor The Golden Princess were throwing the snow balls at the back or head, which left her with the question, who was?
“And when she turned to see her child friend The Spirit for the first time in so many years, she was so relived, her legs gave out. She was much to proud to faint of course, the stubborn streak ran in her family, and this was closer than she’d like to admit, so she jumped up immediately, brushing snow from her skirts and scolding The Spirit for not doing something sooner.
“And that dear, is the story of the four unlikely friends.”
“And they stayed friend forever right mama?”
“Of course, friendship that strong can’t be broken, it can be buried, or poisoned, but never broken.”
“I want a friend like that mama.”
“You’ll find one sweet heart, but it’s time for bed now. Why is you’re window open? It’s nearly winter!”
“I wanted the spirit to be able to hear you tell his story.”
“Well it’s over now so, I’m going to close it all right?”
“All right”
Neither of them ever knew that just out side, sitting on a tree branch, invisible to all but the moon, The Spirit sat, and listened, and remembered, his eyes filling with tears, remembering the only three who had ever seen him. Their deaths long ago, their burial sites forgotten to all but him.
He had thought their story’s had been forgotten as well. Yet, even though they were considered fiction now, they were still being told, after all these years.