HOME | DD

Description
A Rose Would Have to Fall, Too Chapter 1

Snow White and Hiccup (the latter otherwise known as 'Rose-Red') leaned on the railing of their bedroom balcony and sighed, her crimson lips and his light pink mouth bent in a frown. Dark and reddish-brown hair (the second more naturally-messy than the other) shone in the late-afternoon sunlight as they let dark brown/bright green eyes study the frost-covered village and forest below, half-hoping that someone would ride out of the woods to take them far, far away from the castle and their stepmother- not that it would likely ever happen. Neither young royal even knew ANYONE *OUTSIDE the castle*, and they knew that the Queen did her very utmost best to make sure *NO ONE* even *remembered* Snow White and Hiccup/Rose-Red existed.
It was obviously working. After all, today was their eighteenth birthday and not *a SINGLE* person had remembered (or so the Queen wanted them to think). 'Why would anyone remember or *even CARE* that it's our birthday?' Snow thought sadly.
Just then, a colorful little bird flew up and landed on the railing and twittered a greeting. "Oh! Hello, there," Hiccup said cheerfully with a sweet smile.
"Would you like a treat?" Snow asked as kindly. When the bird chirped eagerly in affirmation, Snow went over and picked up a slice of apple from hers' and Hiccup's lunch plate, laughing softly upon seeing that the bird had followed her. "Here you go," she said as she gave the apple slice to the little feathered fellow.
The bird ate greedily, stopping only when a noise of trumpets from below startled him. "Oh- I think the Queen's party is starting," Hiccup observed, soothing the bird with gentle strokes of his long slender fingers flecked with freckles where Snow's shorter and slightly more delicate ones were not.
Enjoying the petting, the bird tilted his blue-and-yellow head and chirped a question at Hiccup and Snow before going back to eating. It was the princess who replied. "No, we're not going to the party- *DEFINITELY* *NOT allowed*. *You* have a better chance of being invited than WE do."
"Which is kind of a funny thought, given how she doesn't particularly like animals," interjected Hiccup with a weak chuckle .
The little bird finished eating, twittered a good-bye, and then flew away.
~"Eat and fly- that's so easy for you..."~ Snow and Hiccup stared after him wistfully.
Then Hiccup suddenly turned to his twin and almost-whispered, "MAYBE we *COULD come down* for *a little while*-,"
"It IS *OUR* *birthday*..." Snow agreed.
~"*MAYBE*, THEY *WON'T mind* *so much*, if we're really quiet..."~
Before either or both of them could lose their nerve(s), Snow smoothed out the patterned yellow skirt of her fancy dress and Hiccup his non-patterned plain brown vest and green tunic and slipped out the door hand-in-hand.
.............................................................................................
Queen Gertrude was having one of her famous parties, but Princess Astrid wasn't enjoying it very much- or at all. All the lords and ladies of the land were helping the Queen play a new game she had devised to help pass another snowy winter afternoon. She was facing off against a wealthy Baron: they each had a team of players standing on a large 'board' of numbered and lettered tiles; all of the people on the 'board' were wearing hats in the shapes of boats with miniature cannons attached to them.
The guests were having the time of their lives- but the Queen and Princess were *BORED*. "F to D9," Queen Gertrude said lazily, twisting one of her coppery curls around a perfectly manicured finger. Astrid just huffed in her own golden-blond head and fought valiantly to *NOT roll* her cerulean-blue eyes, tuning out the pointless, endless drivel owing to the game of human chess with boats until she suddenly heard the Baron whisper to her mother, "I feel it's my duty to tell you... of RUMORS I've been hearing." Then she was *ALL ears*, as was her personal lady's maid/secret girlfriend Heather of the hair and skin respectively dark and pale as Snow White's and cat-shaped eyes as forest/emerald-green as those of Hiccup.
"'Rumors'? What do you mean, 'rumors'?"
"Just idle chatter."
~'OH, *REALLY*, my lord? You *don't say*...!'~
"I DETEST *idle chatter*."
"Don't we ALL! Yet there is little we can do about it."
"*Men without tongues* don't tend to chatter. So THERE'S an option. F to C6! I could keep up our witty repartee all day; alas, I've a kingdom to run. So cut to it: what have you heard?"
"Well, -there have been rumblings among the Nobility. A few have said... that the kingdom may be *close to* DESTITUTE."
Astrid and Heather flinched for more reasons than one as Queen Gertrude's brown eyes narrowed down to slits for a split second before she hid her fury behind a dazzling smile and held up her hand to stop the Baron from speaking again. "Brighton? A word, please?" she called out sweetly to a servant standing a few feet away.
Brighton, a short, nervous, middle-aged man who just so also happened to be Heather's father (and possessed hair as dark as hers' under his white wig) as well as the Queen's favorite minion, rushed over to the throne. "Your Majesty?" he answered .
"Loose lips sink ships."
"Yes, Your Majesty! Exactly! Which ship would you like sunk?"
"It's *an EXPRESSION*, Brighton. It's also a new Royal Decree. Take it down."
"Ah; marvelous!"
"'*ANY busybodies* caught RUMORING, *gossiping*, or *SPECULATING*'-,"
"How about 'scuttlebutting'?"
"*'Scuttlebutting'*? You ALWAYS *overshoot*."
"Er, uh- 'whispering'?"
"Certainly. '*ANYONE* caught *whispering*, or even THINKING... shall be *put to DEATH*.'. How does that sound?"
~'*BEYOND terrible*!!!'~
"*It's DECISIVE*."
Everyone was so focused on the Queen's new Decree that no one save for Astrid and Heather noticed Snow White and Hiccup slip silently into the room and hide behind a pillar.
"B to F7!" the Baron shouted before turning his attention back to Queen Gertrude. "Let me be frank: it's NO *secret* that the kingdom is in *RUINS*. My lady, as you know, I've been looking for a bride," he continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was on thin ice with the Queen already. "Were we to join our two Houses, I think the gentry would feel assured that the kingdom was stable once again."
"MARRY *you*?" Queen Gertrude looked UTTERLY *DISGUSTED* at the idea, but quickly hid it with a smile.
"It's just an inkling of an idea. You would make a *BEAUTIFUL bride*."
"Oh, Baron, I'm FLATTERED at the notion. But as you know, I'm still in mourning."
'*HA*!!!'
'YEAH, *right*...!'
"It's been YEARS."
"These things *take TIME*."

Suddenly, the Queen's eyes FLASHED with anger as she spotted Snow White and Hiccup watching the party from behind an elegantly carved pillar. Then aforementioned angry eyes flashed to Astrid, who groaned unhappily inwards as she realized that with *THAT signal*, HICCUP was being selected as the target for her wrath; and Astrid, *as ALWAYS*, would be the one to scold and humiliate him. She made her own eyes go cold as she snapped, "*Rose-Red*!! Do you, Snow White, or BOTH think Mother and I are *BLIND*?!" She beckoned him forward to her own throne, then whispered hissingly when he submissively knelt down beside her, "Is there *a FIRE*?"
"I'm sorry, milady?"
"*In ~your's and Snow White's BEDROOM~*. Is *your BEDROOM* *ON ~FIRE~*?? Because I'm SEARCHING for *an EXPLANATION* as to *WHY* you two would be *OUT OF your bedroom* and IN *here*. My *FIRST guess* was *FIRE*," Astrid forced herself to say coldly and sternly with crossed arms.
"W-Well, we thought maybe... we could come to the gala; you know, because today's ...our eighteenth birthday," Hiccup answered meekly, nervously rubbing at the back of his head and neck.
"*IS it* now? *My, oh my*! TIME *sure has* *FLOWN*, hasn't it, Heather?"
Gagging and wanting to be sick herself for having to be *DESPICABLE* towards Snow White and Hiccup, the daughter of Brighton groveled, "If you say so, Your Highness, then it is!"
Astrid vaguely heard 'Mommy dearest' say, "E to F3, please. Thank you." before she forced herself to look Hiccup up and down 'critically' and then speak sharp and cruelly again, quietly, so that no one but herself, Hiccup, Snow White, the Queen, Heather, Brighton, and the pillars could hear. "MAYBE it's time I *ease up* on you and Snow White, Rose-Red. After all, neither of you have *done ANYTHING* to us; you do as we say- you cause NO *problems*.
"*And YET*... there is SOMETHING about you both -but *yourself* *ESPECIALLY*, Rose-Red- that is just SO *INCREDIBLY* ...*irritating*! I *DON'T know* WHAT it *is*: the *slumped shoulders*, the HAIR, or *that VOICE*... Mm! I know what it is- I think *it IS* the hair *AND the voice*! I *HATE them* BOTH."
Astrid *LOATHED* HERSELF as she saw Hiccup wince with each horrid word, his lips trembling with the effort to keep from crying, and she had to do *her UTMOST* to not gasp in pain and sadness alongside Hiccup as she yanked at his messy auburn hair and leaned forward with her other hand grasping his chin. "I DON'T *care* if it's yours and Snow White's *ONE-HUNDREDTH birthday*- *don't EVER* sneak into a party like this *AGAIN*. *Either of you*."
* * *
"F to E6," the Baron called out, oblivious to the 'conversation' that was going on.
"F to D4," the Queen answered before smirking, "Baron, you've been *BEATEN* for *the LAST FIVE MINUTES* and DIDN'T *even* *KNOW it*!"
The Baron's eyes scanned the 'board' frantically, looking for an escape. Queen Gertrude laughed and said, "Come now, Baron! Acknowledging and accepting defeat is an essential part of life."
In response to that, Astrid whispered 'meanly' to Hiccup, "It's IMPORTANT *to KNOW* *when* you've been *BEATEN*. Yes?"
Hiccup nodded as his tearful gaze dropped to the ground. He and Snow should have just given up. WHAT had they *been THINKING*, sneaking down to the party, even if it was their birthday? No one in the ballroom certainly cared.
Neither he, Snow, Astrid, or Heather heard one of the Queen's players shoot his miniature cannon at one of the Baron's players, ending the game with a *BOOM*. As smoke filled the air and the lords and ladies rushed to congratulate Queen Gertrude, Snow and Hiccup slipped away toward the kitchens, the prince wiping tears from his green eyes.

Description
A Rose Would Have to Fall, Too Chapter 1

Snow White and Hiccup (the latter otherwise known as 'Rose-Red') leaned on the railing of their bedroom balcony and sighed, her crimson lips and his light pink mouth bent in a frown. Dark and reddish-brown hair (the second more naturally-messy than the other) shone in the late-afternoon sunlight as they let dark brown/bright green eyes study the frost-covered village and forest below, half-hoping that someone would ride out of the woods to take them far, far away from the castle and their stepmother- not that it would likely ever happen. Neither young royal even knew ANYONE *OUTSIDE the castle*, and they knew that the Queen did her very utmost best to make sure *NO ONE* even *remembered* Snow White and Hiccup/Rose-Red existed.
It was obviously working. After all, today was their eighteenth birthday and not *a SINGLE* person had remembered (or so the Queen wanted them to think). 'Why would anyone remember or *even CARE* that it's our birthday?' Snow thought sadly.
Just then, a colorful little bird flew up and landed on the railing and twittered a greeting. "Oh! Hello, there," Hiccup said cheerfully with a sweet smile.
"Would you like a treat?" Snow asked as kindly. When the bird chirped eagerly in affirmation, Snow went over and picked up a slice of apple from hers' and Hiccup's lunch plate, laughing softly upon seeing that the bird had followed her. "Here you go," she said as she gave the apple slice to the little feathered fellow.
The bird ate greedily, stopping only when a noise of trumpets from below startled him. "Oh- I think the Queen's party is starting," Hiccup observed, soothing the bird with gentle strokes of his long slender fingers flecked with freckles where Snow's shorter and slightly more delicate ones were not.
Enjoying the petting, the bird tilted his blue-and-yellow head and chirped a question at Hiccup and Snow before going back to eating. It was the princess who replied. "No, we're not going to the party- *DEFINITELY* *NOT allowed*. *You* have a better chance of being invited than WE do."
"Which is kind of a funny thought, given how she doesn't particularly like animals," interjected Hiccup with a weak chuckle .
The little bird finished eating, twittered a good-bye, and then flew away.
~"Eat and fly- that's so easy for you..."~ Snow and Hiccup stared after him wistfully.
Then Hiccup suddenly turned to his twin and almost-whispered, "MAYBE we *COULD come down* for *a little while*-,"
"It IS *OUR* *birthday*..." Snow agreed.
~"*MAYBE*, THEY *WON'T mind* *so much*, if we're really quiet..."~
Before either or both of them could lose their nerve(s), Snow smoothed out the patterned yellow skirt of her fancy dress and Hiccup his non-patterned plain brown vest and green tunic and slipped out the door hand-in-hand.
.............................................................................................
Queen Gertrude was having one of her famous parties, but Princess Astrid wasn't enjoying it very much- or at all. All the lords and ladies of the land were helping the Queen play a new game she had devised to help pass another snowy winter afternoon. She was facing off against a wealthy Baron: they each had a team of players standing on a large 'board' of numbered and lettered tiles; all of the people on the 'board' were wearing hats in the shapes of boats with miniature cannons attached to them.
The guests were having the time of their lives- but the Queen and Princess were *BORED*. "F to D9," Queen Gertrude said lazily, twisting one of her coppery curls around a perfectly manicured finger. Astrid just huffed in her own golden-blond head and fought valiantly to *NOT roll* her cerulean-blue eyes, tuning out the pointless, endless drivel owing to the game of human chess with boats until she suddenly heard the Baron whisper to her mother, "I feel it's my duty to tell you... of RUMORS I've been hearing." Then she was *ALL ears*, as was her personal lady's maid/secret girlfriend Heather of the hair and skin respectively dark and pale as Snow White's and cat-shaped eyes as forest/emerald-green as those of Hiccup.
"'Rumors'? What do you mean, 'rumors'?"
"Just idle chatter."
~'OH, *REALLY*, my lord? You *don't say*...!'~
"I DETEST *idle chatter*."
"Don't we ALL! Yet there is little we can do about it."
"*Men without tongues* don't tend to chatter. So THERE'S an option. F to C6! I could keep up our witty repartee all day; alas, I've a kingdom to run. So cut to it: what have you heard?"
"Well, -there have been rumblings among the Nobility. A few have said... that the kingdom may be *close to* DESTITUTE."
Astrid and Heather flinched for more reasons than one as Queen Gertrude's brown eyes narrowed down to slits for a split second before she hid her fury behind a dazzling smile and held up her hand to stop the Baron from speaking again. "Brighton? A word, please?" she called out sweetly to a servant standing a few feet away.
Brighton, a short, nervous, middle-aged man who just so also happened to be Heather's father (and possessed hair as dark as hers' under his white wig) as well as the Queen's favorite minion, rushed over to the throne. "Your Majesty?" he answered .
"Loose lips sink ships."
"Yes, Your Majesty! Exactly! Which ship would you like sunk?"
"It's *an EXPRESSION*, Brighton. It's also a new Royal Decree. Take it down."
"Ah; marvelous!"
"'*ANY busybodies* caught RUMORING, *gossiping*, or *SPECULATING*'-,"
"How about 'scuttlebutting'?"
"*'Scuttlebutting'*? You ALWAYS *overshoot*."
"Er, uh- 'whispering'?"
"Certainly. '*ANYONE* caught *whispering*, or even THINKING... shall be *put to DEATH*.'. How does that sound?"
~'*BEYOND terrible*!!!'~
"*It's DECISIVE*."
Everyone was so focused on the Queen's new Decree that no one save for Astrid and Heather noticed Snow White and Hiccup slip silently into the room and hide behind a pillar.
"B to F7!" the Baron shouted before turning his attention back to Queen Gertrude. "Let me be frank: it's NO *secret* that the kingdom is in *RUINS*. My lady, as you know, I've been looking for a bride," he continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was on thin ice with the Queen already. "Were we to join our two Houses, I think the gentry would feel assured that the kingdom was stable once again."
"MARRY *you*?" Queen Gertrude looked UTTERLY *DISGUSTED* at the idea, but quickly hid it with a smile.
"It's just an inkling of an idea. You would make a *BEAUTIFUL bride*."
"Oh, Baron, I'm FLATTERED at the notion. But as you know, I'm still in mourning."
'*HA*!!!'
'YEAH, *right*...!'
"It's been YEARS."
"These things *take TIME*."

Suddenly, the Queen's eyes FLASHED with anger as she spotted Snow White and Hiccup watching the party from behind an elegantly carved pillar. Then aforementioned angry eyes flashed to Astrid, who groaned unhappily inwards as she realized that with *THAT signal*, HICCUP was being selected as the target for her wrath; and Astrid, *as ALWAYS*, would be the one to scold and humiliate him. She made her own eyes go cold as she snapped, "*Rose-Red*!! Do you, Snow White, or BOTH think Mother and I are *BLIND*?!" She beckoned him forward to her own throne, then whispered hissingly when he submissively knelt down beside her, "Is there *a FIRE*?"
"I'm sorry, milady?"
"*In ~your's and Snow White's BEDROOM~*. Is *your BEDROOM* *ON ~FIRE~*?? Because I'm SEARCHING for *an EXPLANATION* as to *WHY* you two would be *OUT OF your bedroom* and IN *here*. My *FIRST guess* was *FIRE*," Astrid forced herself to say coldly and sternly with crossed arms.
"W-Well, we thought maybe... we could come to the gala; you know, because today's ...our eighteenth birthday," Hiccup answered meekly, nervously rubbing at the back of his head and neck.
"*IS it* now? *My, oh my*! TIME *sure has* *FLOWN*, hasn't it, Heather?"
Gagging and wanting to be sick herself for having to be *DESPICABLE* towards Snow White and Hiccup, the daughter of Brighton groveled, "If you say so, Your Highness, then it is!"
Astrid vaguely heard 'Mommy dearest' say, "E to F3, please. Thank you." before she forced herself to look Hiccup up and down 'critically' and then speak sharp and cruelly again, quietly, so that no one but herself, Hiccup, Snow White, the Queen, Heather, Brighton, and the pillars could hear. "MAYBE it's time I *ease up* on you and Snow White, Rose-Red. After all, neither of you have *done ANYTHING* to us; you do as we say- you cause NO *problems*.
"*And YET*... there is SOMETHING about you both -but *yourself* *ESPECIALLY*, Rose-Red- that is just SO *INCREDIBLY* ...*irritating*! I *DON'T know* WHAT it *is*: the *slumped shoulders*, the HAIR, or *that VOICE*... Mm! I know what it is- I think *it IS* the hair *AND the voice*! I *HATE them* BOTH."
Astrid *LOATHED* HERSELF as she saw Hiccup wince with each horrid word, his lips trembling with the effort to keep from crying, and she had to do *her UTMOST* to not gasp in pain and sadness alongside Hiccup as she yanked at his messy auburn hair and leaned forward with her other hand grasping his chin. "I DON'T *care* if it's yours and Snow White's *ONE-HUNDREDTH birthday*- *don't EVER* sneak into a party like this *AGAIN*. *Either of you*."
* * *
"F to E6," the Baron called out, oblivious to the 'conversation' that was going on.
"F to D4," the Queen answered before smirking, "Baron, you've been *BEATEN* for *the LAST FIVE MINUTES* and DIDN'T *even* *KNOW it*!"
The Baron's eyes scanned the 'board' frantically, looking for an escape. Queen Gertrude laughed and said, "Come now, Baron! Acknowledging and accepting defeat is an essential part of life."
In response to that, Astrid whispered 'meanly' to Hiccup, "It's IMPORTANT *to KNOW* *when* you've been *BEATEN*. Yes?"
Hiccup nodded as his tearful gaze dropped to the ground. He and Snow should have just given up. WHAT had they *been THINKING*, sneaking down to the party, even if it was their birthday? No one in the ballroom certainly cared.
Neither he, Snow, Astrid, or Heather heard one of the Queen's players shoot his miniature cannon at one of the Baron's players, ending the game with a *BOOM*. As smoke filled the air and the lords and ladies rushed to congratulate Queen Gertrude, Snow and Hiccup slipped away toward the kitchens, the prince wiping tears from his green eyes.