The parenthesis is rough meter conversion.
...
Six Months Later~
I don't know how much time has passed, since that day, my eyes have never opened once again. I still hear my parents talk to me all the time, but I can't do anything. Merely lay there. But, according to what my parents say, I should wake up soon.
I could have never been so ecstatic. The cold is the only thing I can somewhat communicate with for ages. It isn't really sentient, the only thing I've ever felt is comfort from it.
I slowly felt the coldness recede from my body, my eyes shot open. My mom rushed to my side and hugged me.
"Your okay, your okay now," in a warm voice Mother repeated the words. It was like a charm how easily I calmed down.
The entire day I was smothered like a pillow. We seem to still be in the village, all of the captains seem to have left. The mercenary group seems to have settled down, at least temporarily.
It was winter now, there was snow but mostly rain. Sigh~ Nothing to do. My parents seem to be making preparations for my training, it seems to be taking a long time. Mother was still smothering me even while constantly working.
With nothing to do, I started running over my thoughts. Looking at my skin, I noticed how white it was. It was kind of like a ghost, which brings me to my second thing. My whole body seems to have changed.
Thinking of the glimpses of my reflection, I realized how much I had. I seem to have grown a lot, similar to a toddler now. But, that isn't what I am referring to. Catching a glimpse of myself in the liquid Mother was using, what stared back was hollow purple eyes and messy dark brown hair.
My eyes seem to have changed color. Originally my appearance was the same throughout both my lives. Brown hair and eyes, my skin was also pale but not nearly as much. Now it seems like I am truly my Mother's son. But something is offsetting about my eyes, occasionally they itch. One time I saw what happened while they did.
I saw a pure black void instead of eyes, inside was a single red ring around where the start of my pupil would be. It was unsettling, the sclera completely contrasted with the rest of the eye. It was odd, unsettling almost. Then it twitched and they returned to normal. Hollow purple.
My parents seem to think nothing of it so I will have to wait until I can communicate with them for answers. Speaking of which, it seems that my brain's ability to calculate has grown. It has become much stronger, which seems to only be part of the effect. My whole brain has been becoming more capable and quick to pick things up. But, this is not making me a genius. A genius is not based purely on their capabilities, but on their perspective.
They look at the world completely differently, that is a fine line that people cannot cross, no matter how much they memorize. Of course, the main prerequisite is also having the capabilities to realize their visions. But, you get my point.
My parents seem to know this because they have been training me far too young. Even this will not let me catch up though, how can they expect me to learn so soon?
I heard boiling and looked at the liquid once more. Mother seems to be brewing some kind of red potion, she seemed like a witch who would cook children. Soon the concoction gained a shade of black until eventually it became wine red. With a satisfied look, Mother pulled out countless glass vials and started filling them with the liquid.
Mother seemed to have finished her preparations so she started going upstairs, she set me down on a random table.
Then she grabbed a green apple from who knows where, "Apple," she said as she pointed towards it, "A-p-p-l-e," she repeated. My head translated it to English automatically because that is the language I think with. But is she actually serious? Fine, I'll play along, "Apple." Mother then pointed towards the chair, "Chair."
"Chair," I responded. For the next few hours I 'learned' Latin. Satisfied Mother started teaching me sentences, is it normal to learn this now? Eh~ People can cast magic and we are Viking mercenaries in ancient Greece. Who cares if I am early to develop?
"You are Mother, I am me," I said my first sentence. Mother proceeded to continue until I could talk in complete sentences. By the point that I was talking like how I imagine a ten-year-old to talk, Mother relented and finished her lesson.
"Your name is Callahan, I am Aisling, Mother," Mother stated. I am Callahan? It sounds good, with a slight smile on my face, I looked at the rain out of the window.
Seven Months Later~
I am around one and a half now, I am roughly three feet tall. I don't know how I compare to others and can't measure. There are a lot of differences here, for example, the calendar here is called the Coptic calendar and has thirteen months. I have slowly grown used to the differences by this point. Currently, I am standing in the middle of the house that seems on fire.
Going back a bit, four months ago the redheaded captain returned. She was called Tristina. She has been held up in their room for a while mysteriously but her screams gave her activity away. I took a slight peak inside and saw a bright red rock in the shape of a foot-long stick, well not actually a stick. It was being used as a dildo which was when I shut the door. It isn't even entertaining as I haven't gone through puberty!
About a month after the guy with dyed hair returned, the dude was pregnant. I asked my parents if he was male and apparently, he was, he just got pregnant despite that. They seemed to think I was all innocent without knowing about sexual organs so they didn't explain how.
Soon after that, the redhead got pregnant from the dildo. It was at that point that I gave up.
Apparently, the yellow-haired dude is going to take a while because he didn't create a plan to give birth.
Two months ago, the dude with dyed hair gave birth first, he didn't seem to care that I watched the whole thing. He didn't gain a new hole or anything, he merely grew a hole in his stomach. It grew while somehow not bleeding until it revealed an entire baby. He simply reached in and took it out, that simple. What the actual fuck?
He seemed to be called Trygve, which means trustworthy. According to my parents, his parents fought over the name, the disturbing part was it wasn't in goodwill. They just hated each other, why did they even have him?
The child is a girl that is going to be named after puberty according to her father. She seemed to have more realistic hair than her father, the colors seemed to blend much better in addition to leaning towards one color. Her hair was yellow with black tips. The yellow was less like her father's and the sun, but paler like light or snow. The black also became deeper than her father it looked like she dipped the ends in ink. Her hair also seemed to have a tiny hint of red in the light. Her eyes were already opened, they were reddish, yellowish, and a hint of pink, kind of like a sunset. Her pupils were luckily normal besides that, but it doesn't really matter at this point. You get used to it after being around her father for so long.
Then is the weirdest part, she was born with a body around a year after birth compared to my statures. A full head of messy hair on her head. Both of our hairstyles are the same as any other babies. This leads me to another oddity I noticed, neither of us has muscles like a normal baby. I never inspected myself much, but toddlers normally have fatty segmented limbs. I'm not sure of the cause, but maybe it's simply Celtic or Viking genetics.
The child is always up to something, every time my parents look away she steals my food out of nowhere. Besides that, I never even noticed her until she did something big. She also occasionally just lies in the sun. A strange child if I were to see one. Due to her fondness for the sun, I decided to call her Sola.
A month ago, the yellow-haired dude returned with a small baby. The yellow-haired dude was called, Bodil. His child had bright golden eyes like liquid gold. His hair is also a kind of rich yellow, but much duller than his eyes and missing the darkness of gold. He was going to be named after he became an adult. It seems that the names are decided by maturity in the order of birth, after asking though no one told me why exactly. This one is also odd, he is completely silent.
At some point, I think that Bodil has tortured him to be this silent. He went without food for a day without letting out a peep.
This leads me to yet another oddity, each of them eats weirdly. Sola eats the milk her father produces and the other eats very little! He also ate this weird liquid from his Father. Is it even okay for him to eat that little? Also, what about getting proper vitamins, and veggies?
And finally, back to now. Tristina suddenly started giving birth, the child's birthing was unique just like Trygve. Me and Sola were chilling with Mother when Tristina's water broke. I felt like the air became hotter and hotter before Mother took her away. This left me and Sola alone, and with a glance, we both started scheming. We both wanted to witness the birth, I mean who wouldn't want to see another supernatural birth? Not to mention how the warming air and Mother's help hinted at how it will be more complex than a simple birth like Trygve.
Little Sola is surprisingly intelligent, which means I can trust her with parts of the plan. I quickly started scheming, everyone besides Mother was currently outside. They will rush back, but we have some time until they will be here. There is no way Mother will let us near the birth seeing as to how dangerous it seemed by the rising heat. Before I could plan more, it happened.
The house started to catch fire. It was small at first, but it quickly sped out of control. Due to being in the mountains away from most people, the village was made of a lot of wood, including the support beams. I was about to find a way to leave when I saw it. It was beautiful.
The fires looked a deep shade of red, lighting up lines where the wooden supports once were. Parts of the roof fell into the fire and seemed to become one giant mass. It seemed like it would spread forever, it felt like I was watching the end of the world. My eyes started spasming as I saw a tall shadow near me, he towered around ten feet tall with black coal-like markings covering his body. His veins seemed to shine like fire as he watched. Due to me being behind him, I couldn't see his face, only his back. As if he sensed me, his head whipped around and looked directly at me. His eyes were merely pools of fire as his gaze drilled into me.
A crooked smile spread on his face as I backed away slightly. I felt something deep inside me thrum as I looked at him, the fires seemed to grow hotter around me as his smile turned to a small frown. Then, a block of concrete fell in front of him, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared.
I felt the smoke getting to my head and making everything fuzzy. The rest was a blur, Mother came out and cast a barrier around me to protect me, even the smoke seemed to be purified. About five minutes later the whole house collapsed, but Tristina barely started the process of giving birth. Still being tended to, the ground around her seemed to start melting. The grass around the mansion quickly caught on fire, due to the whole village being made of wood on a grass plain, things quickly got out of control. The good thing is that the trained mercenaries did not panic, they quickly upwind towards a rocky outcrop. Of course, this was under the guidance of Bodil, who noticed an outcrop ages away, fucking magic.
Father quickly came by and picked me and Sola up carrying us with him as he guided the troops. The next thing I knew I was looking at the burning village from the outcrop a few miles upwards. The flames seemed to be almost gleeful as the plain caught on fire. Then, looking at the smoke, I fell asleep.
I woke up in some kind of tent. Toddling outside, I looked to see a series of tents set up on the rocky outcrop. The fires were still somehow burning and from the looks of it, spread even further downwind.
Looking around I saw how smooth everything was running. There were already designated groups of hunters, and cooks, locations for equipment, holes for defecation, places for food, and tents for sleeping. As expected of nomadic mercenaries, it seemed like we had already lived there for months.
Bored with no one around, I finally snuck around and learned about the group. Before the captains made sure I stayed away from everyone, but that was a second priority now. Mother and Tristina were obviously preoccupied and the rest were taking care of the army. I started going towards the armory first, sadly it felt like I was a snail. The good thing is that I didn't really get tired, is it due to being a baby or my parents?
The armory was really just mounds of large sacks, inside each was everything you would need. Preserved meat, flasks of water, arrows, whetstones, and some backup weapons if yours breaks. Based on my observations while coming here, everyone already carries one of each, these are for if you run out.
Around the pile are a few guards, looks like they didn't really worry about betrayal. I guess being raised together for generations basically removed that possibility, adding to the racism from others and further unifying them. Sneaking into the" armory" I opened a bag to realize with so many arrows they could last tens of years. Did they stockpile in their free time, what work ethic!
As I was leaving I noticed a small pale thing in one of the mounds, the soft sounds of giggling resounded from it. This one was for water, going closer I saw the bags shifting more. Looking at it, I noticed it moving away from the center, displacing bags in the process. I snuck behind another pile of bags and waited for it to get out, I quickly realized who it was. Hearing the giggles go out of the mound, I quickly rammed into the thing from behind.
I immediately knocked it off its feet, I sat on top of it leveraging my weight as it struggled to get out from under me. "What did you do little Sola?" I asked as she wiggled beneath me. As soon as I said that she started giggling, and soon I heard one of the few guards come nearby. Seeming to stop herself, Sola seemed to glare at me. I quickly got off and hid in a pile of bags. Laying face down on the ground, I slowed my breathing. I suddenly felt something next to me, Sola doing the same as me. The good thing is that we are extremely small, we were only toddlers after all.
I heard footsteps approach the displaced bags as they went towards them, after a few pokes he left. After breathing a sigh of relief I felt something roughly grabbing me. Light flooded my vision disorienting me as I was held suffocatingly by hands. Quickly, the hand became gentle yet still firm, "Why are there children here?" A young voice said as he sighed. He started walking away holding me firmly in one hand. The guard held me to his chest as he walked away.
Looking next to me, I noticed Sola squiggling in his hand. I need to be smart about this, if I get caught I will never be allowed outside for even longer. Sola seemed to stop wiggling, don't I already have a scapegoat? Looking at Sola, I saw her smirk. Then, she was gone.
"W-what?" The voice said, by the sound, he is a teen. He quickly set me down and told me to stay there, then he ran off. Is he stupid? Oh~, I forgot that I am a literal toddler. What kind of toddler sneaks into the armory intentionally, only my parents would know that I didn't wander in there. I toddled as fast as I could towards the tent I woke up in. It was obvious which one it was due to being noticeably bigger.
Walking inside, I bumped straight into something. Falling backward, I saw Sola on the floor in front of me. She merely stared in front of her, looking up I saw what occurred. I went to the wrong tent, of course, some tents are bigger due to positions in the group. Among those with big tents are the captains. Looking into the blazing eyes that resembled liquid gold, I felt shivers down my back.
I quickly tried to back out of the tent only to be faced with a look of inquiry from the child. The silent child simply stared at me as if asking why. He seemed to be bigger than what he normally was, but just as quiet. After a moment he seemed to reach a conclusion and started glaring at Sola. Suddenly, Bodil, the child's father walked in. He simply looked at us and said and said, "Come with me." I guilty followed him with the silent child and Sola following me. The silent child seemed to shrink a little and return to the same height as me. Looking back, the scene must have been ridiculous, toddlers in a staring match. It's not like they know what we did, only one person that is but a teen did. I don't think that anyone would believe him, in addition, he didn't even recognize us. No one k-
"Ingvar, I found the babes. Trygve's child added poisons to the emergency water," Bodil said to Father. He was dealing with the issues of the group like a king inside a massive tent. Wait, what did Sola do? Why? How did she even get poison? Looking at her face, I realized that something was up. Father stared at him, "*Sigh*, I will keep them with me in the future, I will ask Trygve about the poison later." With a satisfied look, Bodil left the room, then he stared at me and asked, "Why did he take you here?"
Sigh, the exact situation I wanted to avoid. One thing you learn quickly, Vikings believe that lying is one of the worst things anyone can do. "I snuck into the armory to take a look around, I found Sola in there and trapped her, then a guard came and we both ran together," I answered truthfully. Father nodded and replied, "From now on you are to watch over her."
Sola looked like it was the end of the world. I can't really shrug it off either, Viking values have rubbed off on me. Among them loyalty despite it being nonexistent for me before. I won't just abandon the job. But, he never said I couldn't go outside. After going outside we found Bodil, "Father told me to look after Sola."
Bodil guided me back to the tent I woke up in and left me there. Sola was sitting on the floor poking me as I was laying down on a kind of soft sleeping bag. "We have to figure out how he knew what happened. If it's magic, then there's got to be some counter," I told her to get her to stop. It has to be some kind of magic, but what? Well, there is one simple solution, "Hey, Sola, do you know how to disguise us?" I asked the person who not only got poison without his knowledge but also almost successfully poisoned the water. However, I feel that is not the whole story which is even better. His magic must have some kind of limitation so that he didn't know what the liquid was.
Sola stared at me before getting an idea. She closed her eyes and sat there. I waited patiently and after five minutes I started bugging her.
After she successfully got annoyed she showed me something I've never noticed. When I looked at her, I knew she was there, but she seemed unimportant. Then the next second she came into focus, the baby has fucking magic. With a prideful smirk, she stuck out her chest and started to do it again. I noticed how the change between on and off was becoming smoother and smoother.
Fucking hell, was this why I never noticed her? Isn't that like a kind of curse, naturally being looked over? It's kind of like blending into crowds from Assassin's Creed.
Soon I felt the change become almost invisible, like my focus merely shifted without her doing anything. Only after I felt her grab my arm, I felt a kind of cool mist come into me, kind of like the coldness I have. Wait, is that magic? Then the feeling is just affinity or something! That means that I am an ice mage or something! Maybe it is less like that, but more to do with coldness, more specifically lack of heat. I will be able to debuff all my enemies with it! I can also make water by using cold to condense air! The body is also seventy percent water! The possibilities are endless!
Snapping me out of my thoughts, I felt the coldness inside of me help the mist spread. When it spread through my body, I felt a small kind of murky feeling, as if my body was treating it as a disease. Then my heart skipped a beat and it was over unnoticed.
With a nod, we headed towards a new adventure. Where to go, where to go…
I know, "Let's try to find where the children are," I told Sola. She seemed fine with it also, the mercenary group is kind of like a tribe with it being made of multiple families. I have always wondered where the children would be. The fact that the guard assumed we were supposed to be somewhere confirmed my suspicions that there was a set area for toddlers.
With that the hunt began, I started towards the main camping area. Luckily, we didn't have to worry about anyone finding anything odd, magic is broken! Eventually, we didn't find anyone young so I decided to check the inside, maybe the layout would reveal whether there were children there.
Entering inside, I was greatly disappointed. There was but a simple sleeping bag. What a waste of time, then we left to go towards the center of camp. That is generally the safest location, but all I ran into was the tent with Father. Quickly leaving, we went to walk around the perimeter. We were on a part of the mountain that had no grass or anything similar. We just ended up walking on stone for ages until something happened. Someone was coming. Normally it wouldn't matter, but there are no crowds or ways to blend in here. Sola decisively acted, she lay on the ground like a plank. What do I have to lose? I laid down right next to her, we were small and pale, but my hair was the problem. I quickly turned so that my feet would face the incoming person. I felt a sense of Deja Vu from before with the guard.
But, this time I waited a solid minute after he left before taking in a breath. I got up and started walking to where he came from, a small path through the mountains. Finally, I can stretch my legs!
As I started walking, I heard voices nearby. Going around the bend, there was a small cave with guards all around it. Staying just out of eyesight, I started to think of a plan.
Why not just make ourselves gray and blend into the ground? Looking around I saw a soft-looking rock. Grabbing it, me and Sola headed back.
We once again snuck into the armory and grabbed some water and a large hammer-type weapon. Leaving to a secluded part of the outlook, I focused inside myself. Reaching for the coldness, I tried to freeze the rock.
After a while, nothing happened. I took a deep breath and decided to try to meditate, maybe then I can see it like cultivators. Sitting down I started meditating.
I felt something jab into my Adam's Apple, and feeling pain thumping through my body I shot up. Suddenly I felt my head slam into something, I quickly returned to the floor.
Reaching for my head, I shook off the dizziness and quickly looked up. Nothing, standing up I looked at what was in front of me. Sola was on the ground, she was staring at me angrily.
Piecing together the situation I commented, "You should've picked a better place when you tried to wake me up." It wasn't my fault I was shocked awake, falling asleep isn't that bad if it was just for a moment.
Sola simply pointed at the sky. Fuck, it's already sunset, did I really sleep that long?
Me and Sola started heading back to the cabin in a sprint. Why did she not wake me up earlier? We were luckily not noticed, but that is no real excuse!
Eventually, we reached the empty tent and I collapsed on the soft sleeping bag. As I started hopping inside, I felt something off. Getting up, I went towards a small bucket of water in my room. Looking inside, I saw hundreds of gray markings all over it.
How did Sola even get the gray dye? I started inspecting them, at first, I felt upset, but I gradually came to like them. I was one of those people who drew all over themselves in ink when they were bored so it didn't disturb me too much. As I tried to rub them off, they didn't even budge. Frustrated, I dipped my fingers in the water and tried again. Nothing, it was like a tattoo. A quick wave of anger came over me then a sense of acknowledgment. She was able to create a dye like this while I was asleep, it wasn't as simple as writing in a Sharpie.
I had to acknowledge the effort that was put into the prank. Feeling a slight sense of weight from it, I focused on the sensation and felt it all over my back. How much did she do?
I inspected my face closer. There were all sorts of symbols and drawings, it looked like they were alive. Among them, three stood out. One on my right forehead was a crescent moon facing upwards. Out of it came a greatly detailed sun with countless tiny rays. The detail was astounding!
The second was on my left temple, some kind of triangle. It had one deep triangle that had a circle in the middle, it was made of countless lines with a hole in the middle. There was an outline of a perfect triangle behind it, slightly bigger and very faded. Then there was a faded curved kind of triangle crossing the first one, I say kind of because it was a bunch of curved lines. Behind that one were even more faded curved lines.
The third was on my lips, I don't even know how she did this one. It was half of a wolf face on each lip. They were just the head and composed of countless small lines. It was by far the least noticeable. The only reason I could pick it out was due to the slight taste of it. It somehow didn't smudge or even change no matter how much I licked my lips.
Heh~ I don't know whether to be insulted she used me for her doodles, or admire her for how complicated she made it. Looking behind my head, I saw a scene straight out of a book. The tent was a patchwork of countless different clothes being supported by a beam. Due to the sunset, there had been a slight hue inside of the tent. But now the sun had set, the tiny bits of moonlight were shining on her head it was tilted slightly upwards. It created an inconsistent shadow and added a hint of mischief to the pose.
She looked like she was trying to hold in a giggle, her lips were quivering while trying to look innocent. She couldn't control her emotions as her eyes which had the kind of yellow-orange from a sunset seemed to steal my focus. Her hair swayed ever so slightly, the pale yellow seemed to give a kind of hidden heat. She was lazily spread on the brown fur sleeping bag, she looked like an innocently mischievous child.
Then I snapped out of it, and with a smirk, I walked towards the sleeping bag. I was around three feet tall with Sola being two. I'm not sure if that is tall or not, but we now look like children. It is true that kids really grow up fast. The sleeping bag was around six feet long and three feet wide, with plenty of space. I slowly crawled into it while ignoring the giggling coming from next to me. Since the start of the trip we occasionally slept together when our parents felt like it, the annoying thing is that she is surprisingly hyperactive. She will never calm down, at least by the time that I start falling asleep.
Laying in the massive sleeping bag I thought about everything that happened, everything seemed to go by in a blur. Like it was just yesterday I was in the cave, I need to slow down.
I calmed myself down, nothing good comes from rushing. Slowly, I absorbed the moment. I simply breathed, in and out, in and out. With a light smile, I drifted to sleep.
…
I woke up to find Sola missing. Moving around, I felt something clamping down on my legs like one of those iron balls and chains. Sigh~ This is what I meant, Sola is always a pain to sleep with.
Looking upwards, I saw the moonlight directly above me. Seems like I didn't sleep too long, it is kind of obvious considering how soon before I had taken the massive nap. Licking my lips I noticed the lack of rocky taste from the gray dye. Too bad it already came off.
With nothing to do, I decided to test out my abilities again. Hopefully, meditation will work now that I am very well-rested. I emptied my mind and lay in bed. Thoughts passed by, I resisted the temptation of engaging in any real thoughts. Why do people do this to themselves? Why am I? Noticing how I got distracted, I once more emptied my mind.
I don't know how long later, but a thought came across me. How am I supposed to focus on the energy when I can't think about anything? Did Xianxia lie to me? Fuck china.
Time for plan B, I started getting up again only for my leg to be weighed down again. I bent my back as I turned to lay sideways. I took the plunge and scooted into the sleeping bag until I was fully submerged. It was an odd experience, the dark was surprisingly comfortable. There was a kind of weight due to the "blanket" of the sleeping bag being tied down towards the sides. It wasn't enough to be uncomfortable, quite the opposite. It was kind of like a weighted blanket, this was further helped by the heat.
There was a brown kind of blankety hide, this made some warmth but not too much even in summer. It wasn't stuffy by any means of the word, but there was no light because it was closing at the top. It felt kind of surreal. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I noticed Sola curling up up in the fetal position around my knees. How did she even become that compressed? Making out her dead-asleep face, I decided it was okay to let her sleep this time. Vengeance is best served cold.
I curled up further into a fetal position around Sola and focused on my energy once more. A sense of coldness surfaced. I felt a kind of mist coming from where I was touching Sola. The feelings became more pronounced the closer they were to the contact. Feeling around it, I focused on the feeling of coldness. Slowly, I felt it becoming easier and easier to sense. Then I noticed something, the feeling was much weaker than it was during the incident in the cave. Scratch that, it was getting weaker as I was touching Sola. My first thought was to pull away, but I thought it over for a second, what is it? Where is it going? It isn't actually affinities, that is just what I call it. Elemental energy? No, it feels wrong also. I felt the energy around the contact closer. Something in my gut was whispering in my ear, look just a bit closer. So I did, and eventually, I noticed that it was there. It has only been changing me to become it.
It was kind of like a concentration, the densest parts are the energy. The rest is just my body, but does that mean that the energy is me? If so then why is it not just in me naturally? Why has it only appeared occasionally?
Was it the incident in the cave? No, the energy was clearly attempting to undo whatever that thing was doing to me. Wait. Does it have a consciousness then? No, it was less consciousness and more natural. Like when your body heats up in response to sickness.
But, is this good? I am just merging more with it, Sola has been using it for spells. Will it make me less capable of spellcasting and restrict my ability to do so, is there even any benefit from merging? What I simply become a ball of energy without a brain. Trusting my instincts, I simply let it happen.
It's not like Father can't use magic as an adult. Cuddling under the covers, I couldn't fall asleep. Is there such a thing as too well-rested?
I sighed and lay alone with my thoughts. Suddenly, I noticed a kind of orange sunset from under the covers. Guess like Sola's eyes really glow.
She rubbed her eyes with her hands as she stared at me. Vengeance might be best served cold, but does it really feel as good for you? I gently reached my hand towards Sola, she simply looked inquisitively towards it. Reaching her head, I pulled it closer to me.
Out of nowhere, I grabbed the clamped my hand around the back of her neck. She instantly pulled her head back. While she was distracted, I poked her stomach. Satisfied I let go, she was staring at me with a pout. "You are the one who messed with me earlier," I simply responded, in what world is this due to me?
Sola seemed to giggle remembering it, she then seemed to yawn. Tired, her eyes closed. In the middle of darkness four limbs wrapped around my torso, I quickly felt the call of sleep. Why not?
...
I felt like I was sleeping on clouds, I was already well rested so it wasn't deep sleep. But, it felt satisfying, fulfilling almost. Then, the peace was broken.
*Thud, thump, thud, thump* The stomping of boots interrupted my moment of blissful reprise. I turned on top of Sola and tried to once more fall asleep.
Before I knew it, light shone into the dark comfort. A large thick hand grabbed the back of my shirt. It was not hostile, but why now? "Just five more minutes..." I droned on, the bliss may yet be in reach.
The hand started pulling even harder, I resisted with all my might. One hand was with Sola, each of our hands grabbing the other's forearm. My other was holding a clump of the sleeping bag. After a solid minute of back and forth, the hand left.
Sweet b-
Motherfucker! He cheated! I looked towards Father's face as he ripped the sleeping bag in half. He destroyed it! What did it do to him?
He scooped me up with Sola, carrying us under his arm. Sighing, I resigned to fate and stopped kicking.
Eventually, Father reached the edge of the rocky outlook. Hm, the fires are g-
Before I could think more, Father jumped. Fucking triple suicide.
He pulled out a knife from who knows where and slammed it into the side of the cliff. At first, it did nothing besides cutting the tree, but it became progressively more dull and stopped more and more.
Feeling the wind in my face, I started laughing with Sola soon joining in. This feeling can never be compared to rollercoasters or anything of the like. We slid to a stop around thirty feet(10) above the ground. For that, Father simply jumped.
Soon we landed somehow uninjured. "Again?" I asked, that was fucking awesome. The feelings shocked me to my core, even the scenery was awesome. The morning dew lightly padding my skin, the fresh air waking me up. Father simply smiled and shook his head as he started walking.
Before I knew it, I was in the remains of the village. In the center of the wreckage was Mother holding a baby. Oh, this one actually looked like a real baby, not just born being able to walk and even having the classic chubby limbs.
Looking at Mother, I noticed how she seemed off. Father looked at Mother and said in a monotone voice, "The others will be here soon." There was a kind of air around both of my parents.
Soon Badil and his son arrived. Out of left field, Trygve came out of the rubble of one of the houses casually. How did he even get there? Why was he even there?
No one seemed to care as Father knelt next to me, "Take care of the other children," he said, it sounded like he was tired.
He got up and started walking with the rest of the captains. Blinking, I realized I was holding the newborn. *W-w-wahhh!* The little thing immediately started crying. Why am I stuck with this? I gently tried to cradle it and calm it down.
I trailed after Father while patting the baby's back. Besides the baby's cries, it was deadly quiet.
A tap on my shoulder made me realize I wasn't alone. Looking to my left, I saw Sola trailing behind me with the silent child to my right. Sola got the little one's attention and looked at it. Soon she did something I tried to do to her countless times, but maybe because this one was more normal, it worked.
She used her two hands to cover her face and the baby started freaking out. Suddenly, she opened them and giggled slightly, the baby did the same.
The mood seemed to lighten even if only a little, even the silent one had a smile. As we walked I noticed how the adults didn't seem to be going slow only for us. They seemed to walk with hesitation.
Soon we reached a clearing, there was some kind of massive stone box in the middle. As we got closer, the smell of food overwhelmed me.
It was by far more delectable than anything I had ever known. Going inside, there were tables full of food, most I didn't recognize. They seemed to be Celic and Norseman food. I haven't really been taught culture and we eat a lot of food from the Mediterranean, it is not every day we cook some of these dishes.
The entirety of the inside was made of wood. As we walked deeper inside, we arrived in some kind of holy room made of white wood, where did they even get this?
It looked kind of like a church with benches and a podium. It seemed to be 350(106) feet long and a hundred(30) feet wide. On each of the seats was some kind of object, one in the front had a silver harp. Another was a fucking silver arm and a small spindle. Some of them I even recognized from around the house here and our current tent.
There were countless of them and just as many were empty, instead of an object just a rune in its place.
Behind the podium was a heavily decorated silver semi-circle. It was made of strands of silver so you could look inside, wherein there were logs and twigs. Wouldn't the fire just spread from outside of it?
Mother guided us to a few seats, the seating was messed up. All of us were separated, Sola was on the front right bench next to the aisle. At the very back right was Badil who stood with his son sitting in the second row on the right.
Father sat on the front right bench, he was second closest to the wall opposite of me, and next to him was a spear. It had countless valknots all over it, they are Norse symbols which consist of three triangles interlocking. It had a dull gleam to it that was the signature for all the items.
Mother sat on the front left bench, second seat to the wall same as Father. She had a massive fucking cauldron next to her, who designed the seating? The baby was at least sitting on her lap.
Finally, Sola's father, Trygve sat on the fucking floor. Why? It felt like he was sitting in the middle of the aisle during a wedding. This brings me to the second grievance, I was sitting on Trygve's lap. He seemed to be playing with my hair as he leaned backward. Sola started giggling at my plight.
Smirking, I stuck out my tongue slightly. Having your hair played with is surprisingly pleasent, she will also have to sit on an uncomfortable bench all day. I leaned backward on Trygve and saw him smile, maybe this isn't so bad.
What proceeded was sitting in silence until midday. I am fucking famished, but the atmosphere feels just wrong to speak in. Trygve ended up playing with me the entire time. I taught him tic tak toe, but he immediately learned the tricks.
Tsk~ towards the end, I was bored out of my head, but Trygve signaled for me to be silent. Sola seemed to be going insane, served her right. Vengence feels good warm.
Finally, Mother got up and walked towards the podium. She stood there for a minute before speaking, "Tristina was a Mother, friend, fam-
What the fuck, this is a fucking funeral? I felt my thick skin be penetrated by the realization that I played games during the entire funeral so far. Trygve seemed to find it a little funny with a smirk, he is the same as Sola!
"But, the occasion is not all bad. Her final grievance in the world was solved before she left. She lives on with Ivor through their child. May her way to the afterlife safely," Mother finished with a stoic face as she walked back to her seat.
Then Badil walked up, so she really died. He started his speech, "I have never been that close to Tristina, but I have seen her impact on others. She lit up every room she was in, she was like a caring mother to all... She truly deserved happiness." He awkwardly ended and stepped down from the podium. He arrived in his seat and Father stood up.
"Trisitna was a fine woman. Until the very end of her life, she waited for her lover to return... She was unconditionally loving toward each and every one. She never stopped to think about taking care of herself, only others. She lived a fulfilling life and died an honorable death," Father finished in a solemn tone.
It was kind of awkward, I barely even knew Tristina. Also when will it finish though, I am fucking starving. Will we get to eat the food outside when we're done? Trygve picked me up from behind and walked up to the podium. Placing me on it and patting my head, he started his speech, "She was a good friend, fighter, and fu-," With a glare from Mother he stopped for a second, "Every time I got in trouble, she was always there to bail me out," he acted like he didn't even know her. Then he just stared at me, no he fucking isn't.
"Despite knowing each other for a short time. Callahan was instantly smitten with the crimson beauty. He once told me about how she taught him to skip stones. His mouth seemed to fill with endless praise about her, I think it is most important for him to say it himself," Trygve stopped and let me speak.
How the fuck am I supposed to bs out of this? Let alone with a straight face, fuck it code red. *Sniff... Sniff...* A small high-pitched M noise came out of my mouth. "S-sh *Wahhhhh!*"
Fuck you Trygve, making a child cry. Shame on him, whipping tears and hiding a diabolical smile, I saw Mother stare at him.
Eventually, I pretended to put on a false strength. You know when you act like you are okay but clearly not. Staring at Trygve he picked me up and stood in front of the silvery chalice fire.
He seemed to be very sad as he said, "Here's to a good woman." He snapped his fingers and a fire lit, then he walked quickly out scouping me out with him.
The rest quickly left with Father taking Sola and Bodil taking Kyrre. We quickly left the room and reached the feast room, all the food going to waste. I saw a perfectly preserved body as we passed by the room, in the very center lay Tristina's corpse. A smile was on her face as she seemed like she was simply sleeping.
Standing outside our parents stood in a group in front of us as we watched the building.
.....
(Third Person)
"Trygve," Bodil said in a low voice. "What? The kid was clearly bored and now it will be more memorable for him. His happiness is what she would have wanted," Trygve said in an annoyed tone. "So what, you made him try to deceive others," Bodil took a step forward, "you made him disrespect the sacred-
"Fuck off Bodil," Aisling interjected, "No one honestly gives that much of a fuck about traditions anymore," with a sadistic smile she stated, "It's not like it even matters anymore, nothing will be rewarded to those anymore."
Trygve smiled and commented, "Why are we even doing this? It's not like she will be able to enjoy the food or go to some kind of afterlife, she herself made sure of that."
Silence pervaded them as they watched the grave gain fire. A mix of both of their traditions.
.....
I stared at the baby as it was blissfully unaware of what just happened. Suddenly, the weird grave seemed to be consumed by fire. It blazed high into the sky like it was a lance piercing the atmosphere. The funeral house seemed to melt from the fire as it spread to once more cover the town.
I looked towards my parents as they left the items behind. Why did they leave some of them? Scratch that, when did they even move them there? Some of them were in the house when it caught fire, why didn't they melt then?
Due to my attention being split the baby got upset and started crying. Since when were newborns so active and observant? Why can't there be a normal baby?
Hushing it, I tried to do peek-a-boo. Of course, it failed. Why can't I ever do it?
Looking at Sola laughing the silent child stepped forward, he brought out a bottle of a weird liquid from who knows where. Passing it carefully, I stared at the glass bottle.
It was full of a swirling turquoise liquid with glitter. It looked like one of those ugly glitter decorations that girls love. Looking at the sucker lid, I uncapped it and gently put it in front of the babe.
It seemed to slow down crying and sniffing at the cap. It quickly giggled and stretched its neck out, I gently pushed the sucker into her mouth.
She quickly started drinking, sighing I looked towards the approaching fire. The adults were just staring at it, eventually, they seemed to snap out of it and come towards us. With a smile, Mother rubbed my head affectionately and started on the uphill path.
As a caravan, we spent the rest of the day walking back. Due to being starving, I decided to try the formula that the silent child gave me. He was drinking it and seemed to be around my build. Taking a sip of the liquid I felt like vomiting, but held it in with a smile. How can the baby or Mr. Silent tolerate this? I immediately masked all emotions besides joy and offered it to Sola who was also starving. I have not forgotten about what you have done.
She seemed to find it weird but tried it without hesitation. Sadly she dropped the bottle after trying it. She seemed like she was going to vomit, but come on it wasn't that bad. It was still kind of like Mother's milk... Milk.
I couldn't help but stare at Trygve, could his milk be that good in comparison?
The rest of the time was spent in silence as Tristina's death sunk into the others. We walked in peace until we arrived back at the camp. Surprisingly when we arrived at night I was still completely full. The formula that Silent Kid had seems to be truly exceptional. Not like I will drink it again though.