Every one knows the story of the young princess who fought for her own hand and her mother who tried to stop her, but no one could have imaged what would have happened after the supposed "Happily Ever After"...
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3 years after the young Princesses miraculous defeat of Mor'du, the kingdom was once again at peace. Her mother had taken a strong dislike from her experience as a bear to witches and so, in traditional and brutal fashion, she ordered an immediate sweep and pillaging or anyone to be convicted of witchcraft. As the Queens guard swept through the ever changing moores of Scotland they came across so many young women being turned over by their families, young, bruised and terrified. As the guards took more and more young women in, they began to notice an uncomfortable pattern. Each girl, as they couldnt have been any older than 16, spoke of a young man they had be betrothed to without any knowledge, and how they had each decided to trust one elderly figure in the woods to take care of the man, to remove him from their lives and stop the beatings, the rape and the fear caused by being his "wife", tho guards noted how the girls would never refer to themselves as the mans wives. After 6 months of these continuous sweeps of the moores and inner kingdoms, some of the guards began to struggle with what they were being asked. One evening, down at the Queen's stables, a young guard happened to be feeding and watering his horse when Merida, the young princess, entered to see to her horse, Angus. Noticing the guards weariness and seemingly stressed demeanor, she took it upon herself to take the guards duty and feed and water his horse as well as her own. The guard was surprised at the Princesses kindness, but knew better than to fight or stop her, she had the stubourness of her father and since that stubourness won her her own hand, the guard took relief in the Princesses kindness and allowed himself to slide to the floor. When asked what had caused the guard so much stress and weariness not normally seen in the guards of the Castle. Feeling a strong emotion of trust the guard told the young Princess what her mother had decreed for his team to carry out. Merida, disgusted in her mother and concerned for the young women seemingly targeted, asked the young guard if he could remember the description of the elderly woman the young women had given. Recalling a small amount of detail the guard remembered hearing, Merida immediately recognized the description to be that of the kind Witch who had helped her break free of her mother's traditional views of marriage. Giving the guard a quick word of dismiss, Merida attempted to her ever burning temper to a close as she attempted to bring decent reason to why Fathers and Mothers were turning over their innocent daughters to be murdered in their cells, or tortured in front of the Queen for their "sins" and "witchcraft". The next morning the Princess rode to the far point of the kingdom, heading to the burial place of Mor'du. Placing her hand on the rock that had crushed the evil Prince, she felt an overwhelming urge to find the Witch and ask of one last favour, a way to silence her mother's cruelty to others once and for all.
Returning later that evening from the woods, the young Princess happened to ride through the main castle grounds to see young women, laying on the ground, hands tied behind their backs and each with different brandings or bruising. Jumping from her horse, Merida ran to one of the girls she recognized to be the Head Guards daughter, one of the few young ladies Merida had the pleasure of becoming friends with over the years. Lifting the girl so her head lay on her lap Merida finally had a chance to inspect the girls wounds. Her eyes were closed in what seemed like a painful grimace and her once beautiful blond locks were stringy and coated in what seemed to be blood. The tight binding of her wrists had left horrible marks where blood had started to crust over from her poor attempt to escape her bounds. Merida carefully moved the young girls hair from her face and, in deep fear and anger, choked back a sob. Her once beautiful face had been slashed and poorly sewn together again, parts of her cheek hadn't even been sewn back into place and small gaps in the pale, bruised and punctured skin showed a row of pearly white teeth, and the most horrific part. As the young girl came round she attempted to repress a moan of pain, taking hold of the Princesses hands holding her cheeks delicately. Opening her mouth a sudden river of blood fled from her mouth, spilling down her chin and on to her once white dress. As her mouth opened further the Princess saw the last thing she wished to see. Her once beautiful friend had had her tongue removed, and all that was left was a small stump, barely visible to Merida as so many clumps of thick blood covered it. With a cry of anger, Merida called for a guard to help her friend, as a crowd began to gather, watching the young Princess kneel on the muddy ground, cradling a seemingly ordinary girl. The guard refused, terrified of the Queen's punishment if he helped one of " The Damned". Laying her friend on the ground with the promise of help, the young Princess took off towards the castle, only one thing on her mind.
Upon entering the main hall she was met with the disapproving stare of her Mothers, eyeing up the blood stain clear on her cheeks and dress. "What is the meaning of this mother? Innocent girls in place of a hag?! Innocent girls who wanted nothing more than anormal life?! INNOCENT girls!!" Echoed the Princesses voice. Raising slowly from her chair, her mother carefully stalked towards her daughter, making sure to keep her distance, since Merida seemed to be ready to pounce. "These young women you claim to be innocent are nothing but dirty, whore witches! They want nothing more for the world to burnand to take us with them! They are little she-devils that take the form of those we are believed to TRUST!!" The Queens voice echoed around the grand hall, each word piercing Merida's heart. Each step felt like a step closer to a ticking time bomb. When she was within arms reach, the Queen became increasingly aware of the pendant around her daughter's neck, a symbol she was unfamiliar with. Drawing back slightly, Merida took this chance to take a step closer, striking her mother's wrist in an iron grip and she grasped the pendant around her neck. "What is the meaning of this?!" The Queen attempted to pull her hand away from her daughter, afraid if her grip tightened anymore she may snap her wrist entirely. "Unhand me girl!" Raising her eyes from her mother's trapped wrist she made eye contact with her mother, showing how her once crystal clear blue eyes glowed a deep red, shocking her mother to the core. "What have you done?!" Frantically pulling away from her daughter in an attempt to free herself, a loud crack was heard around the grand hall followed by a cry as the Queen dropped to her knees, her hand hanging limply in her daughter's grip. "You shall suffer as you have made the innocent suffer! Your blood shall run like a river like those you have wrongly accused! You shall feel their pain! You shall know their suffering!!" The Queen could feel a burning sensation in her cheek and watched, wide eyed and afraid, as drops of blood began to fall, as skin began to flake, then peel then fall, in chunks, the small flame igniting a massive bonfire in her body. Her body felt like it was being torched, A strangled scream ripped through her barely parting jaws as a flood of blood rose from her throat and fell like a waterfall to the ground, her once beautiful, emerald dress became stained with her own blood. Letting go of her mother's wrist, Merida took a step back, admiring how her once beautiful mother became nothing more than a shred of herself. She watched as her mother's hair began to fall out, falling in the cracks of the flood, creating black shadows on the floor, surrounding her completely. In a gargle of blood, Merida was able to make out her mother's voice, begging for help and forgiveness. Smiling, Merida kneeled down in front of her mother and lifted her deformed face off of the ground to look in her eyes. "Burn, just like they did." With that she smashed her mother's face into the floor, watching as the last bit of life left her mother's eyes. Placing her palm on her mother's forehead, Merida closed her eyes, held her pendant and cleared her thoughts, Hearing a gasp she looked down, only to see her mother's eyes open, life returning to her. "What have you done?!" Merida simply smiled. "You shall never rest, you shall only know to suffer and when you wish for Death to take you, he shall simply return you. You have many lives to undergo. Enjoy your suffering mother." Letting go of her mother as blood began to run down her face, like tears on a doll, and stood slowly. Pressing her hand flat on her arm. Merida could feel a slim burning on her forearm, sliding around her body, giving her a rush as it fled from her fingertips, hitting the ground by her mother in a fiery fog. Drawing back as her sight began to fail, the Queen could only feel a presence, dark and cruel, drawing itself up. Taking his place by Merida stood Mor'du, tall, dark and covered in scars. As the Queen lay withering on the ground, Mor'du and Merida left the hall, leaving the Queen to suffer at the hand of hell.
So where does this legend leave us my dear readers? The mysterious Moores and HIghlands of Scotland have been explored by many, seen by many but do you know the stories? It's said if you find yourself lost in the fog near a fallen kingdom you can hear the screeches and cries of the Queen, said to be buried alive to die each day for each life she took. Sometimes a report of two figures can be found, a small siluet with a cloak, a bow clear in her hand and a huge figure, all ways on her left, shaped sometimes like a bear and sometimes a man. They say if you get too close they vanish into the fog, leaving no trace, but once they vanish, never turn around, they'll always be behind you....