Leaving The Highlands

As I walked up to the first archery butt, longbow in hand, the atmosphere was tense. The highlanders didn't seem to know if they should cheer for the outlander to upstage the woman who had shown them up or their own, even if she was a woman.

The silence didn't bother me. Merida had made some excellent shots, she did have the Combatant tag after all, but she'd never seen real combat for all her training. For that matter, she was only a tier two waifu, not considered very powerful at all. With Martial Training I'd already surpassed her skill just with my practice against Prince Henry and his men. Working with Ruby had only widened that gap.

Odds were I could easily match the fiery redhead's shots, even with fate taking a hand on her side, but why gamble when I had the tools at hand to make this a sure thing? Plus a little showmanship, of course.

Standing where Merida and her first opponent had made their shots, I looked back at the waiting nobles, theirs and mine. "Let's make this a bit more sporting." And I walked ten more paces further from the target than they had been.

"Ach, now he's taking the piss." I heard one of the clan chiefs mutter to King Fergus, it was so quiet. I gave him a salute before turning to my target and drawing the first of Hilde's black and red arrows to the full. Slow breath in, and hold...

Release.

The silence was shattered as my arrow split Merida's by the roar of the assembled clansmen. One down, two to go. Outsider or no, I could hear sections of the crowd cheering me on now. Also, some hooting derision still though. I waved to both groups as I made my way to the second target, again ten paces further than Merida had taken her shot.

Slow breath in, hold. And fire. Somehow, the crowd managed to get even louder as Merida's second arrow was split.

More of the crowd was cheering me on now as I walked to the third spot. So, of course, I turned away and walked another ten paces, bringing me near where Merida stood by her parents. "Now yer just showing off." She said with a smile on her face. The King gave me a thumbs up, so I gave him a salute and Merida a wink before turning back again to sight in on the last butt. The clansmen grew quiet again in anticipation.

Breathe in. Picture the target and let the enchanted arrow know where I wanted it to go. And release.

The applause as my third shot pierced the arrow that had split its predecessor was deafening. I walked over to Merida and held out my hand with a bow. Laughing, she placed hers in mine. "Best two out of three?" She joked, but I could tell she had accepted this new twist in her fate.

King Fergus clapped a shoulder on each of us. "I think not. That has to be some of the best archery I have ever seen. And I mean the both of you!" Elinor harumphed behind him, but he ignored it. "And now we feast in celebration!"

.

The highlanders really knew how to throw a feast. Lots of good food and drink with big roaring fires. I was officially introduced to the heads of the MacGuffin, Macintosh, and Dingwall clans. I managed not to laugh. Queen Elinor seemed to enjoy herself talking with Hilde and Elsa. I was also introduced to Fergus's three sons, briefly, before they ran off to cause more trouble.

Merida stayed by my side, accepting that we were now betrothed. I regaled both her and her father with stories of my journeys. Some even true. And of course I gave her a silver bracelet, with a bright emerald inset, as an engagement present. No one noticed the clasp melt away.

"So now what, lad?" The King asked at a lull in the celebration. "If one of the other lads had won, they'd be taking Merida with to wed at their castle in the morn. I take it your place is quite a ways away though."

I nodded at his words. "I do wish to take her with me, of course. I have business south west of here that needs dealt with soon, or I'd be inclined to wed here. Though I'd never hear the end of it from my father."

Fergus laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. "I understand lad, and I trust you to take care of my daughter. You've made the trip up here once, make sure to not be strangers."

"I cannae believe she rides that beast." Merida said as she watched Cass feed Ruby some cooked ribs from the feast. The werewolf almost seemed to enjoy the looks she was getting from wary clansmen as she stayed by Cassandra's side. She was almost certainly enjoying having Cass feed her by hand.

"Cassandra has quite a bond with her wolf, but she's a special beast for sure. I bet you could convince Cass to let you offer Ruby something. Don't worry, she won't bite unless there's real need."

The King and I watched the redhead walk over to talk to the woman with glowing white hair, that no one thought was at all odd. Strange how Normalcy blocked that but not Ruby, of course glowing hair and a big ass wolf were definitely different scales of things to worry about. "Speaking of beasts, that horse of yours has the rest of them spooked something fierce. They're all crowding the far side of the stable from her."

And apparently Normalcy didn't stop horses from smelling dragon... "Truly one of a kind, I tell you."

.

Early the next morning, we made our way outside to a much smaller crowd. Apparently, the other three clans had headed out as soon as the feast was over. Probably for the best, as I imagine Castle Dun Broch didn't have that many guest rooms. Having checked my Company device the night before, I was shocked to see that Merida had less than seventy hours to go for capture. I thought for sure she'd be stubborn enough to take the full week, but apparently she was embracing the changes to her fate. Well, she was getting what she wanted in a way, and out from under her mother's insistence on a 'proper' woman's place.

She had her own steed, a magnificent black shire horse named Angus, that according to her profile, was a familiar. Funny how she got a big ass war horse and Rapunzel was stuck with a little chameleon. Still, a combat-trained archer with her own horse was a nice prize. Maybe I'd switch her over to werewolf too.

The glare I got from Mal as I saddled her told me she was none too pleased about spending the night in the stables. I'd have to make it up to her later. Ruby had stayed with Cass in her guest room, and I'm sure spent the night in her bed. No one was brave enough to tell her to keep the great wolf outside.

We met up with the walkers and headed back into the woods. "So are ye gonna be walking all the way back then?" Merida asked the Queen.

Hilde laughed her usual full throated villain glee. "Oh no dear. We have magical transportation just as soon as we get clear of the settlement."

Merida's eyes went wide at that. "Oh I cannae wait to see that."

Mal snorted and I had to agree, it would definitely be interesting to see Merida's reaction her turning dragon. I was just glad this hadn't turned into a fight. Sure this whole world might just be turned off after we left, but that was no reason to leave a wake of destruction.

For all I knew these were the private worlds of those running the Gauntlet. Might even be part of the test.