There are so many possibilities when people start over in life. This is especially true for those who are completely relocated. New friends are made, new places seen, new things experianced.
The forest of the Bishen Realm is full of wild Bishens of the clan. It is dense and well-tended, for many greens reside among its trees. Flowers and birds are aplenty, and small game, deer and other animals. It is a wonder in its simplistic, natural elegance, and it drives Gunnhild, who is so used to snow and divine intervention, crazy. One more thing about starting anew: adaptation is a gift that few have.
"Dagmar, eh?" Havelock asks, watching Astrid nurse the babe. She had previously found the ring about the child's neck, and now she wears it around hers.
"Yes, that's right. She'll be the youngest Valkyrie," Astrid replies, smiling.
"Only if she earns that title," Ingegerd adds, removing her armor and drying it to prevent whatever rust can form on dwarven-crafted metal. Astrid's armor, Asraynor, and pieces of Ingegerd's armor lay beneath a tree with the swan-feather mantles of both women.
*She will,* Gunnhild projects, bathing in a pool of sunlight. She had forgotten how wonderfully warm the sun is. *Havelock, tell me what you'd meant when you said we'd never met your mother.*
Havelock looks away, but her remains silent.
*Please?* Gunnhild rises and slithers over to the boy, feeling flying would ruin the sentiment she is using. She wraps a wing around him and looks at him curiously with her eye.
Havelock sighs. "Denby and I were brothers. Our mother had been a mortal woman, and our father had been a demon of some sort. Mother raised both of us until we were three. Then she died of some strange disease. Denby and I only had each other, and we wandered about, knowing where to find food and what for we'd lived all our lives in the woods. Then, we were crossing a fallen tree bridge, I slipped and fell about six feet. I blacked out, and when I came to, I was all alone. I wandered and reached a village. A woman took me in, said she was moving soon, and took me on a boat with her. THe boat was attacked by pirates, and they took the woman and I as hostages. The man you all know as my father was another taken. He and the woman and I escaped, but the woman no longer wanted me. He took me home to his wife, and she took me in. They were my parents ever since. About a year or so later, I found out that Denby was in the same village somehow. Now he's dead." He hadn't paused until now, and now he is crying.
*Shhh... there, there. It'll be okay.*
"I've no family. How will it be okay?"
*We are your family now. I'm your sister, and you're my brother. All will be good here; I can feel it in my bones.*
Havelock wipes his tears nd takes a deep breath. He nods and tries a smile. Gunnhild touches her forehead to his, and then he grins.
"Does anyone else swear there's something watching us?" Ingegerd, again fully armored, asks.
"I think you're just being paranoid," Astrid replies. She's fully armored, too, and carrying Dagmar. Havelock carries what is left of the sword, Asraynor.
Gliding behind Havelock, Gunnhild lets known her opinion. *No, she's right, Lady Astrid. Something has been following us for some time.*
"Oh wonderful. I hope it's not hostile, whatever it is," Astrid mutters.
"Are you in flux, Miss Astrid?" Havelock asks innocently.
"That's none of your cursed business!"
*That's a 'yes.'*
"The sun is setting. I say we stop here for the night," Ingegerd suggests. She decides the forest is dense enough to avoid full-out attack.
*Agreed,* Gunnhild admits, settling down between two thick roots.
Astrid pulls off her gauntlets after handing Dagmar to Havelock. She then removes her shin- and thigh-guards, her body armor, and her mantle. Dagmar is wrapped in her own blanket and her mother's white cape. She takes her child, who is begining to fuss, in her arms. She hums a lullaby and begins to change the leaves that are her makeshift diaper.
Havelock finds a nice bit of moss and rests his head on that, covered with Ingegerd's cape. Ingegerd settles in, armorless but sleeping with her sword, covered in her mantle. Astrid sleeps beneath her mantle with Dagmar and the remnants of Asraynor.
Gunnhild lays down and closes her eye, ready to sleep. However, almost as soon as she does that, she senses movement. Staying alert wile forcing herself to seem as if sleeping, Gunnhild feels her body tense up. There is something there.
She has to force her spines on her back to stay relaxed, and she takes control of her breathing. Suddenly, the motion is right beside her. She sits bolt-upright, spines flared and wings unfurled. Her eye adjusts to the darkness to see a blue dragon similar to her, but with four legs and no spines on his back.
Growling lowly, Gunnhild leans towards the dragon. *What do you want?* she projects quietly.
*Oh! Sorry!* the dragon replies, the voice saying that its owner is male. *I thought you were the Kailan.*
*The what?* Gunnhild replies, confused but still angry.
*The Kailan. The oldest, wisest dragon. In the dark, you know, you look similar to him.*
Gunnhild takes offense that she is mistaken for a male. She seethes, debating whether or not she can impale the dragon with her spines. *Well I'm not him. Scurry along before I decide I want to run you through. I've a few easy ways to do that, you know.* Her spines flare again and her wings twitch in aggrivation.
*Errm... yeah.* The legged dragon soon departs into the darkness.
At ease, now that the threat is passed, Gunnhild sleeps.
"Another dragon, huh?" Ingegerd says as she and Gunnhild search for game for a meal.
*At least two, evidently.* Gunnhild is gliding behind the woman in the dawn light. *There's that Kailan fellow whom I evidently resemble.*
"It was dark. The other one probably couldn't see well."
*Something tells me he could see perfectly well.* An edge creeps into her voice as if she's offended. *I see one!* she projects quietly, her spines flaring and relaxing rhythmically. She makes a quiet clicking noise.
"I see it too. A hare. If we catch it, we'll probably have food for tomorrow. Look at hte size of him!"
*Can I start? I'll chase him back to our trap.*
"That sounds good. I'll stay around and see if I can find berries and what that look familiar. We can't live on meat alone."
*True enough. I'm off!* Gunnhild flits up to a higher level of the forest, watching the hare. She glides behind it and then dives, chirping.
The hare is a large one indeed. He glances behind himself and hops forward a little. He then begins munching on some grass.
*What are you? Stupid?!* Gunnhild projects, growling. *Ingegerd!*
"Yes?" Ingegerd calls from a bit off.
*It's not running! It's lathargic!"
"I'm coming!" Gunnhild keeps a close watch on the hare as Ingegerd navigates the forest. She comes up behind the rabbit silently. She looks at it, and then she looks at Gunnhild. The woman draws her blade nearly silently before plunging it into the hare's body. "You're right. It was lathargic." She sighs, pulling her sword out of its body and waiting for the convulsions of death to stop. "It'll make a nice fur for Dagmar. I wonder if it snows here, wherever we are."
*Probably not. They don't even make good bunnies here.* Gunnhild remains airborne as she looks about the forest. She flaps a few beats. *I wonder where we are. Do you really think this is better than death?*
"I don't even know if my Lord died. If the Norns were mistaken about the time frame of the darkness, they could have been mistaken about the death of the gods. They were my only family. I had been by their sides for all of my life, and now I must start anew."
*Do you think they're with Balder?*
"Probably. Though, that world burned as well." Ingegerd does a wonderful job of keeping her emotions out of what she says. She looks down at the now-still hare and picks it up by the scruff of its neck. "Let's get back. They'll want breakfast soon."
Havelock feeds the fire as Ingegerd skins the hare with a knife she had in her boot. Gunnhild plays with Dagmar as Astrid rigs a spit. After finishing the spit, she sets up a rack to tan the rabbit skin.
"Nice hunt, I take it?" Astrid asks brightly.
*The hare didn't even run. He wasn't scared of me,* Gunnhild relates, feeling a bit dejected. She sighs and lets Dagmar shake her tail.
"Wow. Stupid rabbits. Who would have guessed?"
*I was disappointed. We'd set up this great trap and everything.*
"I'll bet." Astrid grins as Ingegerd scrapes off most of the sinew from the rabbit skin.
"We'll do best to conserve whatever we can, so save bones. Even rabbit bones can be used for something," Ingegerd says, handing the skin to Astrid before begining to gut the rabbit. Gunnhild watches with fascination.
Soon, the rabbit is cooked and eaten. Ingegerd wraps the organs in dryer leaves and stuffs them in the embers of the fire afterwards. "Astrid, you'll eat the heart. Most of your strength is going to Dagmar, so you'll need as much as you can get," she instructs.
Astrid nods, making certain she has set the skin to tan properly. Havelock collects all of the bones picked clean so far. Gunnhild goes for a fly.
The skies are full of warmer currents. Gunnhild flits through the air, glad not to be confined by the dense forest. She sails through the air, pulling loops and twirls, stretching out her wings, and clearing her head.
*I wonder who that Kailan fellow is?* she wonders aloud.
*You could ask him,* a wizened voice says from behind her.
Gunnhild is startled and drops a few feet for she stops beating her wings. She turns and regains her composure upon seeing a red arboreal dragon, similar to herself, floating next to where she had been. She ascends to her previous altitude and blinks. *Are you -?*
*Heavens! No! I'm not the Kailan!* the red replies, its voice saying it is a male again. The dragon pauses. *I'm his nephew.*
Gunnhild sighs. *Can you tell me where we are? I'm from Norway and -*
*This is the Bishen Realm. This is where all of the wild Bishens live.*
*Sorry, but what is a Bishen?*
*You don't know?*
*I don't have a clue. Like I said, I'm from Norway, and -*
*I'm a Bishen. You will be one.*
*So red dragons with wings are Bishens?*
*Not all. Some Bishens have legs. Some are like really long wyrms. We can be blue, green, red, or some other color. You're a shrape now, were a wyrm, and will be a Bishen. Did you get all of that?*
Gunnhild nods. *Why don't you have spikes?*
The dragon shrugs. *Why do you have them?* he asks.
*I don't know. Can't you tell me?*
*It's probably a minor mutation. Some dragons get them, and others don't.*
*Okay, well thanks.*
*No problem. My pleasure. Well, I must be off. Enjoy your Shantel! It's next week!*
*Uh... thanks! Farewell!* As the old Bishen flies off, Gunnhild is left with one question: What is a Shantel?
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