"...It's a TV," he said, confused. "You know, a television? People act, the camera catches it all on tape, and we get a show. No sorcery is involved, unless you consider electricity and pixels magic."
Television? Camera? Tape? Electricity? Pixels? Yes, she did indeed consider all those strange words, whatever they meant, to be sorcery! She had never heard of anything like this, and her mother had made sure her schooling was quite intensive. Even if Merida seldom listened, she would have remembered the mention of something so interesting and mystical as the television.
"AAGH!!"
The yell from the boy after the thing called a television falls to the floor startles her and she instantly springs into a defensive position. Without her bow, she feels quite vulnerable and defenseless, so she looks around the room for something to use as a weapon. She eyes a strange stick illuminating a glow, almost like a torch, but the light does not dance as if caused by fire. She grabs the lamp from the coffee table and pulls hard, able to yank the cord from its tether and holds the lamp out in front of her. The glow has now disappeared from it, but she can still use it to strike the angry boy if he comes closer to her.
"Shut up!"
The ferocity and finality of this shout causes Merida to pause for a moment. She can feel the frustration coming from the other boy, but then, why shouldn't she be frustrated as well? She had been thrown from Angus' back, only to land in a strange place like this with a not-so-friendly stranger. She holds the lamp out in front of her again, ready to make a move should the boy attack her.
"I'm not a witch or a warlock or anything like that."
He claims not to be a witch, but isn't that what most witches claim? That's certainly what the old woman from the glen had said before Merida caught her in the act of using magic. How can he believe this boy, especially when he is surrounded by so many strange things she has never seen before?
"If anything, I should be asking you if you're one, since you suddenly appeared in my living room out of nowhere!"
The yell and effort has thrown him into a coughing fit again and she backs away, not wanting to catch what he has. Who knows how sick he is? His words sting her for some reason, and she throws the lamp to the floor, shattering the bulb and causing the lamp shade to roll away, before bolting for the door. She feels the need to get away from this angry boy. She reaches the door and turns the knob, throws the door open, and runs out into the backyard.