Free Web NovelChapter 87: Girl Talk
The morning sun was bright and warm as it rose over the vast ocean. The magical ship cut smoothly through the waves, its enchanted hull barely making a sound. Most of the gang gathered in one of the ship’s spacious common rooms after discovering their unexpected passenger.
Merida sat awkwardly in the middle of the common room, surrounded by the others. Hiccup had his arms crossed, Astrid looked mildly amused, and Snotlout was openly staring.
"So..." Lucian started. "You stowed away."
Merida lifted her chin, her Scottish accent strong and unapologetic. "Aye. I couldn’t just stay behind after everything. I’ve spent my whole life stuck in that castle, being told what to do, who to marry, how to act. After what happened with my mum and brothers... after you helped us... I wanted to do something for myself. I want to see the world and maybe... help out a little."
Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Does your family even know you’re here?"
Merida grinned sheepishly. "They will when they read the letter I left on my bed. They’ll be fine... Probably."
Snotlout groaned dramatically. "Great. Another princess. As if we didn’t have enough drama already."
Lucian just smiled quietly and shook his head.
______
A full day had passed since that conversation. The sun had risen and set, and the group had settled into their temporary quarters within the fortress. It was late afternoon when Ruffnut burst into the room where Astrid, Ariel, and Merida were sitting, her eyes sparkling with excitement and a determined grin plastered across her face.
"Alright! Up, up, up! Everyone, follow me right now!" she declared, grabbing each of them by the wrist and tugging them toward another room down the hall.
They were ushered into a cozy chamber with soft cushions and benches arranged in a circle. As soon as Ruffnut closed the door and spun around to face them.
"GIRL TALK!!" Ruffnut shouted at the top of her lungs, throwing both arms dramatically into the air. "Right now! No boys allowed!"
The three girls stared at her.
"...What?" Merida asked flatly.
Astrid blinked, looking around with a confused, slightly amused expression. "Uh... Ruffnut? Are we five years old again?"
"Come on!" Ruffnut insisted, grabbing their arms and pulling them toward a circle of cushions she had arranged on the floor. "We’re all stuck on this giant boat together for who knows how long. We barely know each other! Except Astrid I know her since we were babies but... let’s actually talk. Like real girls!"
Ariel simply giggled, sitting down on one of the cushions, looking interested. "I think I know exactly what this is. It sounds fun."
At first, it was painfully awkward. Astrid sat with her arms crossed, Ariel looked shy and unsure, and Merida fidgeted with the hem of her dress. They looked at one another, waiting for someone to start, until Ruffnut huffed loudly and plopped down right in the middle of the group. freewebnovёl.ƈom
"I’ll go first!" she declared enthusiastically. "I’m Ruffnut Thorston. I love explosions, dragons, and messing with my brother Tuffnut which is my twin brother who is the most annoying creature to ever walk the earth. My whole life, everyone always said ’Ruffnut and Tuffnut’ like we were one person! Nobody ever looked at me as just me. I had to fight twice as hard just to prove I wasn’t just half of a set! I wanted to be seen as strong, as smart, as my own person... and honestly? I still do. Everyone back home thinks I should act more like a ’proper Viking girl’ you know, get married, have kids, cook, all that boring stuff. But I’d rather blow things up and ride dragons. Life’s too short to be boring!"
Her wild energy was contagious. Slowly, the others started opening up.
Merida went next, her voice growing softer and more vulnerable. "Alright then... I suppose it’s my turn,"
"Ye all know bits and pieces, I reckon. Ye know about the spell, about my mother... about how she turned into a bear." She paused, swallowing hard as the memory weighed on her. "But ye dinnae know just how much it was my fault. I was so stubborn, so desperate to change my fate, to run away from the duty I was born to... I went to a witch and asked for magic to change my mother’s mind. I thought it would fix things. I thought I was right." she said, her voice quieter now, the accent thick with emotion.
She looked up at them, her eyes glistening. "Instead, I nearly lost her forever. I nearly destroyed my whole family. Even after she turned back... I carry it with me every day. The fear that one wrong move, one bad choice, and I could lose everything I love. I carry the burden of knowing how close I came to ruining everything... and I spend every day tryin’ to make up for it. If Lucian hadn’t been there... I don’t think I’d still have a family. I felt so guilty. I still do."
Astrid listened quietly, then let out a long sigh.
"I know what it’s like... to carry expectations you didn’t ask for," she began, her tone sharp, almost defensive. "In Berk, everyone knows my family. We are warriors, strong, supposed to be the best, the bravest, the toughest ones there are. Since I was a little girl, my father told me: ’Astrid, you must be perfect. You must be stronger than the boys, faster than the boys, smarter than anyone else.’"
She let out a dry, bitter laugh. "I couldn’t just be Astrid. I had to be Hofferson’s daughter. I had to be the example. I had to lead, I had to fight, I had to never show weakness or fear. Everyone looks at me and sees the warrior, the leader, the one who has it all together... but sometimes I just want to be... just me. Someone who can make mistakes, someone who doesn’t have to carry the weight of the whole village on her shoulders just because of my family."
When Astrid finished, the room felt lighter, as if a heavy door had been opened. All eyes turned to Ariel, who had been quiet, her hands folded in her lap. She looked at each of them, Ruffnut’s encouraging smile, Merida’s gentle empathy, Astrid’s understanding gaze and took a deep breath. She decided then and there to trust them completely.
"You all have shared your burdens... so it is only fair I share mine," Ariel said softly, her voice clear and melodic. She stood up slowly, her expression shifting from gentle to something regal, ancient, and powerful. "You know me as Ariel, the girl who travels with Lucian. But that is not all I am."
The room went quiet.
She looked directly at them. "I am not just a girl from another village... I am the youngest princess of the Kingdom of Atlantica, the realm beneath the waves. My father is King Triton, ruler of all the oceans and seas. I was born with a tail, to breathe underwater, and the power to speak to sea creatures. I had everything... but I was curious about the world above. I wanted to see the land, to walk where humans walked."
Her expression turned sad. "I made a deal with a witch. I traded half of my voice for legs and knowledge. But the witch tricked me. She wanted my father’s power, his trident, the source of all ocean magic. To save me, my father sacrificed himself. He exchanged his own freedom and his power to break the curse on me. He gave the trident to the witch just to give me back my life and my legs. But thanks to Lucian... we got it back. My father used the full power of the trident to give me to turn my tail to legs whenever I want permanently."
Then, before they could ask, Ariel lifted the hem of her dress. She closed her eyes, concentrating, and in a shimmer of glowing blue light, her legs fused and transformed. Scales appeared, bright and iridescent, spreading down until her feet vanished, replaced by the long, powerful, shimmering tail of a mermaid, swaying gently in the air.
Ruffnut gasped loudly, clapping her hands over her mouth. "WHOA! That is... that is the coolest thing I have ever seen! Way better than dragons!"
Merida’s eyes went wide, leaning in to look closely. "Bless me... so it’s true. Ye really are a princess of the sea."
Ruffnut’s jaw dropped. "That is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!"
Astrid shook her head in amazement "You’re full of surprises."
From that point on, the conversation flowed easily. They laughed about their wildly different upbringings, Ruffnut’s chaotic family, Astrid’s strict Viking expectations, Merida’s rebellious spirit, and Ariel’s underwater royal life. They teased each other, shared embarrassing stories, and slowly started to feel like real friends.
Ruffnut grinned widely. "See? Girl talk is the best."
____
Two and a half days later, land finally appeared on the horizon.
"Port of Easthaven ahead!" Hiccup called from the front of the ship.
The group gathered on deck, watching the bustling port town grow closer.
