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Merida laughed as the little blue flame vanished just before she could catch it, spinning around and around to see where it had come back up. Only, she couldn’t see it anywhere. She frowned and kept heading in what she was pretty sure was the right direction. It wasn’t behind any of the trees, but she wasn’t gonna let some little dancing light beat her at hide and seek! If it wasn’t behind the trees, maybe it was behind those vines? She hid behind the curtains back home sometimes, and those vines hung thick as.
Merida frowned at the vines, squinting to look for any hint of light behind them as she crept closer. The wind shifted a few, and she pulled them aside with a loud HA of triumph. There was no dancing blue light behind the curtain of vines, but instead a cave that lead all the way through the cliff! She gasped in awe, and walked into the cool shade, her little feet padding softly over bare dirt until she came out into the grass on the other side. And what an other side it was! Pale stone walls towered over her on all sides, a waterfall splashing down one part of them into a stream that the flowery, grassy ground sloped down towards. But most interesting by far was the round, pointy-topped tower that stood alone near the middle of the open area.
A ladder laid in the grass under the window, and Merida grabbed the top rung and pushed it up over her head. One rung at a time, she stood the ladder up and up, until it leaned up against the pale stone wall. under the window. The rungs were a little far apart, but she climbed them anyways. This was so much more exciting than that little dancing flame! Maybe she’d find the Gruagach here! Her exploration was cut short, however, by the realisation that the ladder only went about halfway up the tower. She scowled up at the window, and banged one little fist on the wall. “No fair!” she shouted, and her eyes widened as a squeak drifted down from the open window.
“Miss Gruagach?” she called up hopefully, but the face that appeared in the window wasn’t the grotesque one Mum had described to her in stories. It was a girl, with big green eyes and golden hair. She was the prettiest girl Merida had ever seen.
They stared at each other for a few moments, eyes wide and mouths hanging open, then the girl opened her mouth and- “Were those even words?” Merida asked, frowning briefly in confusion.
“Were bist du?” she said again. Or, was she asking? It sounded kinda like a question. Merida stared blankly up at her for another few seconds before the blonde’s pretty face scrunched up in thought. “Rapunzel.” she said slowly, pointing at herself. “Du?” she pointed at Merida.
“Oh! Merida.” she sounded out her name carefully.
“Merida.” Rapunzel repeated, and then smiled wide and chattered something in that strange language of hers before dropping out of sight. Merida only had a moment to pout about it though, before what looked like a whole lot of hair dropped down. Another burst of excited gibberish came from up above, and Merida looked up to see Rapunzel waving and gesturing.
“You want me to climb this?” Merida asked, pointing at the yellow stuff that hung next to the ladder. Rapunzel nodded, and Merida considered it. Well, why not? She reached out and grabbed a handful, then leaned over to wrap her other hand in the stuff as well. It sure felt like hair, but that was ridiculous. Who had this much hair? Still, she pulled herself up with a grunt, hand over hand, toes catching on the stones of the tower until she came up to the windowsill.
A warm hand, soft and slightly bigger than her own, grabbed her by the wrist then and Merida let Rapunzel pull her up and through the window. It was like falling into another world, one where every wall was a place to paint and the ceiling rose high and pointed overhead. When her gaze fell back on Rapunzel the girl beamed and waved, chirping something which was probably a greeting. Gods but she was pretty, with her hair like gold and, well, everything else too. The hair was the most noticeable thing though, brighter than any other hair Merida’d ever seen and so long it dragged on the floor behind her. Merida wondered if Mum would let her grow hers out that long, maybe her would be that pretty too if it was as long...
“Uh, hi?” Merida waved back, making Rapunzel giggle, which was good? Yeah, good.
Rapunzel darted off to a chest sat up against one wall, and came running back a moment later with two dark-haired fabric dolls. She held one out, asking another question Merida didn’t understand the words of, but the intent was clear. “Sure, we can play.” she smiled, taking the offered doll.
It seemed no time at all before someone else started yelling Rapunzel’s name, and Merida’s new friend rolled her eyes and huffed as she got up and went to the window. She called down to whoever was outside, and Merida pered up at the sound of a word she almost recognised. Rapunzel’s Mum was home? She looked around, and her heart leapt as she saw how far the shadows had moved. Mum was going to be so mad!
A woman with dark hair like one of the abandoned dolls climbed up over the window sill and scooped Rapunzel up in a tight hug, murmuring quickly in Rapunzel’s language before pulling back to scold. Even if the words were unfamiliar, the tone was unmistakable. Merida sniffled, heart sinking at the realization she’d not seen Mum since this morning, and hadn’t had lunch either, and the woman’s dark eyes fell on her. For a second she looked furious, then her expression gentled as Rapunzel said something. Merida caught her own name, but nothing else.
Rapunzel’s Mum set her down and knelt, holding out a thin hand. “Where did you come from?” she asked, her words thickly accented but familiar nonetheless.
“I- I wanna go home.” Merida hiccupped, tears welling up in her eyes.
“I’ll bring you.” Rapunzel’s Mum promised, moving closer to take one of Merida’s hands. “Can you tell me where you live?”
“DunBroch.” she answered, wiping her nose on her sleeve as it started to run.
“DunBroch?” Rapunzel’s Mum’s eyes widened. “You’re far from home, little one.”
Merida’s shoulders slumped, her breath hitching.
“I’ll bring you home in the morning.” Rapunzel’s Mum said, and straightened up as she turned to Rapunzel to gently ask a question in that strange language. Rapunzel nodded, running off to grab a little padded stool as her mum turned back to Merida. “For now, why don’t you go wash up? You may be lost, but there’s no reason to be dirty.” she crouched to tap Merida on the nose, which Merida wrinkled up.
“Do I hafta?” she asked petulantly.
“If you want dinner, yes.”
She nodded quickly, and when Rapunzel’s Mum pointed the way to a washroom she trudged up the stairs dutifully. Lost. She hated to admit it, but she’d gotten lost. Mum was going to be so mad tomorrow.