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The Legend of the Wisp Chapter 14

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The next morning found Jack hanging from the rigging, watching the sun rise. He breathed in deeply, revelling in the smell of the sea and the cool air against his face. He didn't think he would ever be tired of it.

He stretched his aching muscles, still sore from numerous hours of swabbing the deck. Merida's revenge for his previous misdemeanours had been to a) give him the early morning shift and b) get him to clean the entire deck since Toothless had interrupted previous attempts at cleaning it earlier that day.

He knew he'd had it coming but he couldn't help but wish that she'd picked some other form of punishment. Being a night owl, he hated the morning shift. He could never fall asleep early, so he'd only napped for a couple of hours before Hiccup came back to wake him. Trying to wash and then dry the deck without the warming rays of the sun to help had been particularly evil – though he couldn't help but feel a twinge of satisfaction as the dark wood of the ship seemed to gleam in the early morning light.

He had made certain that Merida would have nothing to complain about in terms of the ships presentation once she woke. The fact that he may have also used the temporary slippery floor as an impromptu skating rink earlier was something that would remain between him and Toothless. The dragon in question was currently curled up in the crows nest, eyeing some passing seagulls hungrily.

"I certainly wouldn't say no to some roast seagull for breakfast if you're fancying it." Jack said, climbing up to lean over and scratch his head. Toothless hummed in satisfaction before stretching out his wings and nudging Jack with one of them playfully.

Dodging out of the way with a grin, Jack let himself fall backwards, performing a perfectly executed backflip before grabbing a rope to slow his fall and swinging down to land on the deck in a crouch. He straightened up with satisfaction, feeling the rush of adrenaline fade. Merida would yell at him when he pulled stunts like that – something about breaking his neck or leg he imagined – but simple things like that felt like second nature to him now. One thing he was proud of was his excellent acrobatic skills and he was never one to turn away from a risky stunt in the aim of improving them.

Stretching, he meandered back up the steps to the helm, feeling bored. Another reason he hated the early shift was because literally everyone but him and Toothless was sleeping, and as great as the dragon was at keeping watch and fending off any danger, he wasn't exactly the best conversationalist. Yes, Toothless was as fiercely intelligent as any human, but only Hiccup ever seemed to have what one would call a true dialogue with him. They seemed to understand each other instinctively and if Jack didn't know any better he could have sworn that Hiccup could speak dragon.

"Urgh, I can't believe Merida's made me stay alone out here; nothing exciting ever happens on the early shift." Jack moaned to himself, slumping on the wheel and staring out over the empty ship. "At least people should be getting up soon though." He mused, watching as the sky slowly turned from dark purple to a lighter blue.

His mind wandered back to early hours of that morning when Hiccup had woken up him up.

"Pssst. Jack. Get up."

"Errrrrrrghhh….."

"Don't look at me like that, you brought this on yourself. Now hop to it, Merida's orders."

"If I was more awake I'd make some clever comment about "hopping" and "people with one leg" but I'm too tired so just imagine I've insulted you in some way." Jack grumbled.

"Will do" Hiccup replied cheerfully.

As Jack sat up and began pulling on some clothes Hiccup updated him on the ship's status, their position and any sightings during the night.

"Any sign of him yet? Do you think he's likely to catch up with us?" Jack said, strapping his staff to his back and turning to look at Hiccup. He hadn't had a chance to ask him about it yet – about what they were going to do now that offering up the Golden Rope was no longer an option.

A dark look crossed Hiccup's faced. "No, no sign of him – yet. Merida and I discussed it briefly yesterday but we haven't thought of anything we can offer to get him instead."

"I still think we should just disappear – go find an island somewhere and wait it out in paradise."

"You know Merida won't do that, not with her family at risk. You heard him – if she tries to run he has immediate access to the Royal Family. As a Prince of a neighbouring clan they won't realize he intends them harm until it's too late. In an ideal world we'd just take him out, but I've considered all the possible outcomes and our small ship doesn't stand a chance against his entire fleet."

Hiccup sighed wearily, running his fingers through his hair before continuing: "Trust me, there's nothing more I want to do than convince Merida to hide somewhere but I understand why she won't. The thing is; I know Mordu won't stop hunting us until he has either The Golden Rope – or her."

"He won't take her Hiccup." Jack's eyes flashed coldly. "We won't let him. The sort of sick bastard who holds someone's family to ransom for either treasure or a hand in marriage is someone who can easily be convinced to take something else as long as it's shiny. We'll just get some other bauble for him."

"I wish it were that easy Jack" Hiccup replied sadly, but he smiled gratefully at his friend's attempt to cheer him up. "Anyway, I think Merida will probably want to talk about it later on today so I'm going to head to bed or else I'll be yawning all through that meeting. Oh and I nearly forgot – the Captain asked me to tell you to make sure the deck is "so clean she can see her face in it" before she wakes up."

"WHAT?!"

Jack was jolted out of his reminiscing by a shadow passing over his head, followed by a thump that announced Toothless' return. It looked like he had abandoned the seagulls in favour of his favourite fish, as a couple of still-live ones wriggled free of his mouth and began flopping on the deck.

Jack watched the dragon munch away on his breakfast with disinterest for a moment before an idea struck him. "You know Toothless, it's about time for our fair Captain to be up anyway. What do you say we go bring her breakfast in bed?" He grinned wickedly.

A few minutes and one wriggly fish later, Jack was sneaking quietly into Merida's office, unable to keep the look of glee from his face at his impending prank.

Toothless stuck his head in the door with an enquiring chirp before Jack quickly hushed him and waved for him to stay back. The dragon blew air through his nose in disapproval and backed away from the door. He doubted this was going to end well – the white haired pirate never learned!

Living up to his name as the "Ghost of the Seven Seas." Jack moved silently as a whisper towards the two giant screens hiding Merida's bedroom from view. Knowing she always slept in a shift and leggings he wasn't worried about finding her indecent, and the expression on her face when she woke up to find a live fish in her bed would be priceless. Best of all, if he managed it before she woke up he could deny all knowledge and blame it on Toothless. He did not register that some might find it interesting he would prefer to be the focus of a dragon's wrath rather than his Captain's – not that this stopped him from playing tricks on her anyway.

He slid one of the green screens to one side, meaning to sneak past it, deposit the fish amongst her bed covers and sneak out again before anyone knew he was there. This plan was halted however as, upon moving the screen, Rapunzel was revealed directly behind it sleeping soundly on a chez lounge. He froze.

"Crap! How did I forget she was in here?!" he thought to himself.

He hesitated for a moment, eyes flitting between the two sleeping women. He could still manage to sneak in and out without either of them knowing, or he could turn back now. He studied Rapunzel closely. Merida was practically dead to the world when she slept but he had no idea how easily woken or not the blonde might be. She certainly looked sound asleep.

Her chest moved gently up and down, soft breaths fluttering against one long strand of hair that fell against her cheek. She looked so peaceful and he was suddenly struck by just how beautiful she was. Perhaps it was the mass of gold hair framing her face like a halo, or the way her lips fell into a gentle pout now she wasn't scolding him or rambling nervously, or maybe even the way her long lashes lay softly on her cheeks as she slept; whatever it was, Jack was finding it difficult to look away.

His foot moved hesitantly forward, eyes still fixed on Rapunzel's sleeping form, when suddenly it caught on one of the numerous pieces of her hair trailing across the floor.

All previous notions of being silent went out of the window as he promptly tumbled straight over the chez lounge and onto the floor, wincing at the shriek that came from Rapunzel as he accidentally pulled her with him.

As his tumbling body stopped moving and settled on the floor he realised that he had screwed his eyes closed, so he opened them only to find two wide green ones staring right back at him. Rapunzel was lying on top of him; hands against his chest and legs straddled either side of his waist. Her hair fell in a golden curtain over them and her blankets lay in a pile on the floor. Unable to prevent himself from glancing down he saw that her night dress had risen dangerously high up her thighs, revealing a lot of leg. He gulped and immediately fixed his eyes on Rapunzel's face, trying not to blush. Wait – why was he blushing?!

Rapunzel meanwhile was still recovering from the shock of her rather rude awakening. After being woken by something falling on top of her she had been grabbed by said "thing" and pulled to the floor. Catching her breath she was stunned to find out that she was resting on top of a rather flustered, white haired pirate. His normally pale complexion was looking unusually pink and his hair a ruffled mess. She had the oddest compulsion to run her fingers through it.

His eyes flicked to meet hers and she was amused to read the embarrassment in them as opposed to his normal cock-sure attitude. The longer she looked into them however, the more she could have sworn they were turning a darker shade of blue and there was heat in his gaze that seemed incongruous with their icy colour.

Suddenly she felt something wriggling against her leg and she let out at "Eeep!" before sitting up sharply. Jack gave a slight gasp of pain and winced as she sat back heavily a bit too close to his nether regions for comfort. Looking down she saw that the slimy wriggling thing by her leg was a fish and she watched in astonishment as Jack made a deft grab for it and held it up by the tail sheepishly.

"What in seven hells is going on here?!"

The sudden yell drew their attention to the four poster bed where a recently awoken Merida was sitting upright, hair a tangled mess and a flabbergasted look on her face which was slowly turning to one of thunder.

Jack gulped before holding out the fish towards her.

"Breakfast?" he offered.

"I'm sure it really was an accident Merida, Jack doesn't seem the type to try and take advantage-"

"You don't know him like I do Punz and he should have known better than to sneak into a lady's room." Merida said firmly, buckling her boots viciously as she dressed. "He should have remembered that you were staying in here, and I won't have any of my crew acting inappropriately, even my best friends."

She stood and retrieved her bow from its hook, twanging it experimentally before placing it on her back." True, he might not have been in here with the intention to throw himself at you" she admitted reluctantly "but he was certainly not in here for entirely innocent reasons either. You saw that fish – I'll bet you 10 doubloons that was going to end up in either my boots or my bed. Gah!" she mimed strangling the air. "I could throttle him some times!"

Rapunzel giggled slightly at Merida's miming, touched that she would get so worked up on her behalf. In truth she hadn't really minded the wake up call once she had gotten over the shock. She hadn't been hurt and the surprise and embarrassment on Jack's face had been worth it, though she did feel a touch sorry for him after the ear bashing Merida had given him before banishing him to the kitchens for the entire morning.

She finished lacing up her trousers and looked down at the outfit she had put together with Merida's help. She had chosen to wear a white shirt similar to the one she had borrowed from Jack – she found the long flowing sleeves and loose fit comfortable and easy to move in. The v-shaped neck was loosely criss-crossed by some dark blue laces and revealed a hint of cleavage which Rapunzel felt strangely liberated by after a lifetime of being completely covered from the neck down.

Her trousers were borrowed from Merida and dyed completely black – a much harsher colour than she was used to, having spent her life in mainly pastels. Her blonde hair seemed even more golden as it hung against it. They hugged her hips comfortably and showed off her shapely legs. A thick brown belt slung loosely around her waist highlighting her curves.

Twisting as she looked at herself in Merida's full length mirror she finally put her finger on the word she was trying to find to describe herself: she looked sexy! She didn't think she'd ever felt sexy in her life and she decided it was a feeling she rather enjoyed.

"Sorry I don't have any boots that fit, but yer feet are smaller than mine." Merida said apologetically. "We can try stuffing them with cloth if you like?"

"It's ok" Rapunzel replied, wiggling her toes. "I quite like having my feet bare anyway; I can feel things better with them."

Merida shrugged and turned to throw the boots back in her wardrobe, though Rapunzel could have sworn she heard her muttering something about being "as crazy as Jack."

Turning back to her blonde companion Merida gave her the once-over. "You look just like a pirate! There's just one thing missing though..." She walked over to Rapunzel's bed and picked up the scrap of purple material she had previously been using as a make shift belt. Gesturing Rapunzel towards her, she then leaned over and tied it around her head as a bandana before stepping back to look at the complete look in satisfaction. "Now it's perfect."

Reaching up to touch the bandana lightly Rapunzel looked at herself once more in the mirror. She was becoming someone she barely recognised – and she loved it.

Later that day, Jack sighed in relief as he finished de-scaling the final fish from that morning's catch. He had been stuck down in the kitchens all morning as his punishment for the intended prank – not to mention his ears were still ringing for "attacking a lady in her sleep" no matter how much he protested that it had been a complete accident.

Nodding goodbye to their cook Attila, Jack made his way back on deck, eager to get back into the fresh air. As he trudged up the stairs, the strangest sound drifted down to him: were people….singing?

Blinking as he emerged into the sunlight he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The deck was covered in rope that seemed to glow as the sunlight bounced off the deck. The crew – who though pleasant enough once you go to know them, were otherwise a rather gruff and motley lot – were gathered around in a group, singing sea shanties and laughing as one of the men struck up some music on an accordion.

As Jack drew closer he noted that one voice was higher and sweeter than the deep voices of the crew and as the men moved to let him past, Rapunzel was revealed to be right in the centre of the group singing and laughing along with them. He realised that the "ropes" he had seen before were actually her hair, and they didn't "appear" to be glowing in the sunlight – they were actually glowing.

He gaped open mouthed as he watched her radiant hair shimmer, as if trying to compete with the sunlight. She was dressed in a loose shirt and black trousers, her bare feet sticking out the bottom of them, and the addition of a purple bandana in her hair gave her a distinctly "piratey" look he noted in approval.

Suddenly she stood, and he found himself being pulled backwards as the men moved to make room for her. Only now did he notice Merida standing next to her, clapping joyfully in time with the music. Grabbing her hands, Rapunzel pulled the Captain into the centre with her, swinging them both around joyfully. Jack wasn't sure he'd seen Merida look that carefree in a long time. He suddenly noticed Hiccup watching the women from across the circle, and catching each other's eye they both grinned.

"Hiccup! Jack! Join in!" Rapunzel called out cheerfully, her hair fading as she stopped singing to focus on dancing. The two men's faces showed identical expressions of horror.

"Errr I'm not so good at – "

"Not for me thanks I'm – "

Before they could complete their protests, members of the crew shoved them into the circle towards the girls, and closed ranks around them to stop them from escaping.

Jack found Merida's hand yanking him towards her, a beaming grin over her face. "Come on Frosty, you're always telling me to have more fun! This should be right up your street!"

"So does this mean I'm forgiven for earlier?" he replied, giving in with a reluctant chuckle.

"I guess that depends on if you tread on my toes or not!" she grinned back at him, her eyes sparkling. "Come on, keep up!" As the two of them whirled into a wild dance full of twirls and shrieking laughter, Hiccup and Rapunzel were spinning in each other's arms at a slightly more gentle pace. Rapunzel was attentive of his wooden leg, knowing that even though he was fighting fit, he was perhaps not as graceful as he might have been on two legs.

Aware that she was being carefully considerate, Hiccup smiled down at her and squeezed her small hands gently in his. She really did seem a sweet girl, and it was nice to see her laughing so happily after the stress of the previous day. Acting spontaneously, he gripped her small waist firmly before lifting her up in the air and swinging her around. She laughed in delighted surprise, beaming back up at him when she landed back on her feet.

It was nice not to be treated like fragile china – to actually spin and dance with someone else as if nothing mattered in the world. Suddenly she spotted his eyes flicking over her shoulder and turning slightly she saw Merida giggling away at Jack (who was wincing because she'd accidentally stepped on his bare foot).

Her eyes twinkling with a secret plan, Rapunzel suddenly twisted until she was standing behind Hiccup and gave him a push towards the red-head. "Switch partners!" she called out cheekily, grabbing Jack's arm and pulling him away so that Merida and Hiccup had no choice but to pair up.

Flushed from her exertions, Merida looked up with a smile and reached for Hiccup's hand who accepted it with a slight blush. He held her gently at first, as if afraid to touch her too much, but soon he found himself practically hanging on for dear life as she spun them both round in circles, laughing freely as they became more and more dizzy. Hiccup found himself chuckling with her and he could not look away from the way her hair whipped around her face and her blue eyes sparkled like the ocean. His favourite part of her was definitely her smile though. He didn't see it often enough – it was beautiful. She was beautiful. By the gods he loved her.

He felt his heart stutter as the forbidden words crossed his mind and found himself suddenly standing still. Thrown by the sudden cease of movement, Merida rebounded slightly off his chest and lifted her face to look up at him curiously.

She was slightly startled by the intense look on his face. His expression looked half dumbstruck, half in awe and she couldn't understand why he was staring at her so intently. His eyes seemed slightly out of focus though as if he wasn't quite in the present moment. With an unsure smile she waved her hand in front of his face.

"Errr...hello? Earth to Hiccup? Everything ok?"

Shaking his head slightly as if coming out of a daze his eyes re-focused and he nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes everything's fine Captain. I er...I just need to go...somewhere. I remembered something I need to do for ...um...Toothless." His voice faded as he stuttered out his vague excuses and he gave her an oddly formal parting bow before pushing his way past the crew and vanishing.

Merida gazed after him, feeling her heart sink a little in disappointment and a slight twinge of hurt though she wasn't sure why.

"May I have this honour Captain?" one of the crew asked her, holding out his hand. He was known to be a bit of a softy and had a giant heart to go along with his rather unfortunate giant nose. The crew had creatively nicknamed him "Big Nose."

Turning to accept his hand gratefully, she gave him a smile and continued the dance as the crew began to join in and swing around with arms linked.

"I've never seen the crew so ...energetic." Jack said in slight wonder as he twirled Rapunzel around by the hand. "Except when fighting of course, but that's different. What on earth did you do to them?"

"I didn't do anything, I was only speaking to them." She smiled back at him. "You'd be surprised at what people have hidden inside them sometimes; some people just need the chance to show it!"

He was a bit taken aback at her words which held deeper wisdom than at first glance, though why he was surprised he wasn't sure – he should be used to her saying and doing the unexpected by now.

"Still, was it entirely wise to show them – you know" he nodded at her hair. "Your 'magic trick'?"

"They wouldn't betray me Jack – you know them better than I and surely you know that! Besides, Merida seemed fine with it!"

"Yeah but still…." He trusted the men, he really did; but something about her being so blasé with her potentially dangerous secret made him feel nervous.

Sighing, she replied "If it makes you feel better all they know is that it 'glows', not about the – rest. I mentioned that I had magic hair which glows when I sing and they didn't let me get any further before they demanded a song." She smiled fondly.

Suddenly, her smile turned into a wince and her hand was almost pulled from his as she was tugged back by her hair. He moved forward to support her, stopping her from falling backwards on the floor – he was struck by how light she actually was.

Looking around, Jack noticed that in their jubilation the men had forgotten to pay attention to her golden strands lying over the deck and were accidentally treading on it and puling on her scalp. Quick as a flash, he scooped her up in his arms and gently deposited her upon an upside down barrel.

After letting out a slight "Huh?!" of surprise at being pick up bridal style, Rapunzel's startled expression quickly faded as she realised what Jack was doing. He was rushing from place to place, nipping between the men's legs in order to gather up her hair and bring it over to the barrel – out of the way from harm. She felt oddly touched and giggled at him as he waddled back to her with an enormous pile of hair in his arms.

Plonking it gently next to her, he grinned back up at her. "There we go, that's better."

"Thank you Jack" she replied shyly. "You don't have to stay here if you like – Merida looks like she might need rescuing from Vladamir in a moment."

Jack looked over at the giant of a man who was currently swinging Merida around a bit too enthusiastically by the arm. He chuckled. "Nah, Merida's a big girl and can look after herself; I'm fine here."

They remained where they were for a moment, quietly watching the dancing crew and nodding along in time to the music before Jack looked back at her. Her bare feet were swinging sadly over the side of the barrel as she looked wistfully at the dancers.

He looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "Hang on a sec."

Taking her gently by the hand he helped her jump down from the barrel, before turning it back the right way so the open top was accessible. As she watched in astonishment he began lifting her hair and pouring it into the empty barrel, until eventually the majority of it was safely tucked away allowing her to dance around it unobstructed.

"Ta da!" he gave her an over-exaggerated bow before offering her his hand. "Mi'lady?"

She stared at him for a moment before she rushed over and hugged him tightly round the middle, planting a kiss firmly on his cheek. He barely had time to recover from the shock before she pulled him into an energetic dance, and he had to chuckle at her enthusiasm.

Beaming as Jack twirled her around the barrel, Rapunzel sighed in content as the sound of music and laughter filled her ears. She didn't think she'd ever been happier.

Author Notes: This  chapter and the next one were actually written in one go before I realised how long it was and figured it would be easier to read if I split it in two. So apologies if the chapters appear a little disjointed because of that!

Also, before anyone points it out I do realise that Rapunzel’s hair is only supposed to glow when she sings a particular song but I can’t think of a logical reason why they would know the “Flower gleam and Glow” song in this AU.

(To be honest it’s a bit of a massive plot hole in the original Tangled story but you could get away with saying perhaps it was because Gothel was a witch and she made up a magic spell to activate it? I dunno. *shrugs*)

So anyway, in this AU, her hair works its magic whenever she sings anything. 

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cookieloveroverhere's avatar
ooooh my.... GOD this is so good! the story is soooo goooood 
 one  question =
HOW DO YOU DO THIS!!! because this is just beautifuly writen! 
and sorry for my bad English at times :p