HOW TO PREVENT RAGNAROK
Chapter 1: Starwing
Written by: Sosai
First Upload: 5-3-10
Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon.
The world is not as small as Berk.
Sure, Berk has dragons. I can't remember how that one happened, but from what my peers said, one day, suddenly, the humans of Berk just stopped fighting with the dragons and started getting along with them. But just because Berk has dragons doesn't automatically make it the most awesome place on this flat Earth to visit.
Yes, in case you haven't heard, the world is flat. What, you thought the world was round? Sorry, you're playing by our rules now.
Here, I'll inform you, seeing as how you have no clue. This world that some call Earth, others call Midgard, was formed after Ymir died. Ymir was the first living thing in the universe. We don't like him much. The world was formed from him. But enough about him, and your flat Earth. Personally, I don't care much for Midgard. What really matters is Asgard, the home of the gods. You see, technically...that's where I'm from. No, I'm not a god. Gods have better things to do than write down stories. Or, at least that's what they tell me.
More specifically, I'm from Folkvangr, owned by Freya. For those of you who are living underneath a rock, Freya's a goddess. I like her. She's kind of cool. She's also one of the few who understands me. She feels sorry for me, because I don't get along with the others, and I feel sorry for her, because she's always on the hunt for her husband. Apparently he doesn't stay in one place for too long, and Freya's always chasing him down. She's not home often because of this, but when she is, I try to stay as close to her as possible.
So Freya owns Folkvangr in Asgard, which is the home of the gods. Make sense? Good, because I'm not repeating myself.
Folkvangr is also known as one of the homes of the dead. Valhalla is the other one, more heard of because it's supposedly better or something. I donno. I think humans have this idea about themselves, that they'll go to Valhalla when they die, carried there on the wings of Valkyries, but when they end up here instead, some of them aren't happy about it. I mean, they eventually settle and get over themselves, but I've learned not to hang around newcomers. They're always sour.
NO, in case you're wondering, I'm not dead! I am very much alive. But there are some cool dead people around here. Granted, a lot of the better known ones go to Valhalla, but Folkvangr is home to some pretty cool people. It is also home to the Valkyries, the creatures who go to Midga -- erm, Earth and collect those who are ready to die to take them to Valhalla or Folkvangr, depending on personal preference and how Odin's feeling that day. Heck, I even know some of the greatest Valkyries by name now. There's Hercana, the main Valkyrie of the south, who brings back warriors from warmer climates; Miko, who is one of the strongest Valkyries I've ever met, who watches from the far Orient; and Solana, who brings most of the dead from the regions up north, and then --
"Starwing!"
...and then, there's me.
You would think being a Valkyrie has all these perks. You get dead men (who act very much alive) hanging all over you. You are stunningly beautiful -- and it's not just me, all Valkyries are this perfectly crafted. (I say that with sarcasm.) We have skinny legs and long glistening hair and boobs human ladies (and men) would kill for. (Note to humans: you do NOT want yours bigger! They are VERY uncomfortable and I would have them chopped off in an instant if it didn't sound so painful.) Plus, you get to fly between two worlds, you never have to sleep, you never have to eat, and you can have as much sex as you want with anybody you want without worrying about babies or diseases! Whoo hoo. In case you can't tell, I'm not thrilled about this life. But I was born a Valkyrie, and I'm stuck being one.
But no. Enough about me being a stupid Valkyrie. Somebody's calling after me, and I'm in huge trouble...again. Don't worry. Since you asked about Berk, I'll tell you more about that...eventually. Right now, this older Valkyrie won't shut up about me.
Crap, here she comes. Oh, I know her. Gersemi. She's in charge of the Western Valkyries, so she's a higher ranking one herself. She's also one of Freya's daughters. She's got this long flowing blonde hair, the most piercing blue eyes that I've ever seen, and boobs that should have broken her back long ago (underneath a long, flowing white dress, of course).
Maybe she'll let me off the hook again. ...Maybe.
Gersemi looks at me. "You were going to sneak out again, weren't you?"
Darnit! Curse you, Odin. And I've been so good lately about sneaking out the right way. I've been trying to vary it. Apparently this is just another instance of "fail" for me. I grab the hem of my short dress (I have shorts underneath it; there's no way those creeper humans are getting any free shows during my getaways!) and tug on it, which is what I always do when I'm nervous.
Gersemi just stands there and shakes her head. I hate it when she does that. It means that I've screwed up again. "Oh, Starwing," she says with that exasperated sound in her voice, like she'd rather be doing anything other than watching over me.
Which, come to think about it, I have to make a note about, since you're reading this and I'm not speaking this story to you. You'd think Starwing would be a cool name. Flashy, neat, special, even. But it's not. Our letter W is pronounced as your letter V is. Which means that you pronounce my name as "Starving."
Starving? Yeah, maybe just starving for attention, or freedom, or anything other than to be lectured by Gersemi AGAIN!
"Where were you headed?" Gersemi asked. "You know you're not supposed to leave Sessrumnir without permission."
I know I'm dropping a lot of terms on you, but Sessrumnir is Freya's hall. It's the only building in Folkvangr, where all of the Valkyries and Freya live. It's also home to everything else we need -- a cafeteria, our rooms, and big long halls with corners and what not that I like to sneak through. Valkyries aren't supposed to leave Sessrumnir, though. We stay here, in the hall, no matter what. The dead humans stay and relax in the field itself. We get the building.
Personally, I see the building as too constricting.
Gersemi is still shaking her head at me. "When will you learn?" she asks me, although she doesn't know that she's only asking herself (cause I ain't listening!). "When will you be more like -- " oh, no, she's gonna go there -- "Helga?"
I wince. Ahh, that's right. Helga. There are only a few probationary valkyries, valkyries in training, and I've been one for as long as I can remember. Mostly because I won't conform to their stupid rules. Helga's way newer than I am, but if she's going to get her first assignment soon, I better kick it into gear. We hardly get new valkyries -- most valkyries live forever -- so we hardly ever need new valkyries to replace old ones. Both Helga and myself are two of these new valkyries, and I can't look bad next to Helga.
"Because. I'm. Not. Helga," I mutter under my breath, each word pronounced. Gersemi will never understand what I hope to accomplish as a Valkyrie.
Gersemi just smiles. She didn't hear me. "Where, by chance, were you headed, Starwing?"
I'm so used to lying by now, it just leaks out. "I was actually going to check on the door," I say, referring to the door down the hall that I had been going to sneak through (until Gersemi found me). "Thought a screw was broken or something."
"Oh." Gersemi gives me a look that says she doesn't believe me, but at least I'm off the proverbial hook for now. "How did your VT tests go?"
She's referring to the tests I recently took that might actually get me a job as a full-blown Valkyrie. "Good, I think," I say, even though I know I never studied for the damn thing...wait, Gersemi's smiling at me. SHOOT! What did I do now?
"In case you're wondering, you passed," Gersemi tells me.
Buhwuh? Wait, I never actually meant to PASS the VT tests. I just took them because they wanted me to. I passed? I let it sink in.
I passed.
Nope. Not sinking in. All I really want to do is let my wings stretch out and fly and catch the air and see all that the flat world of Midgard has to offer and now I am going to be too busy for any of that? I bite my tongue. Don't talk, Starwing. Don't talk...
"You will report the to Grand Hall in two weeks for your first assignment," Gersemi tells me. She pats me on the head -- she seems to care. Sort of.
Meanwhile, I've got this mixed emotion thing going on right now. Yes, I do want to be a Valkyrie. Yes, I do want to bring people to Folkvangr. It's my job. But part of me still really doesn't want to do that. OK, a lot of me doesn't want to do that! I'm happy that I'm making everybody else happy but not happy because I'm not happy.
Oh, that made a lot of sense. That's okay, everything is right now.
Valkyries can have one of two jobs. They are BUILT for these two jobs. One of them is to take those who are killed to either Valhalla or Folkvangr. They go down to Mid -- ahem, Earth, get the people, and take them kicking and screaming from their family and friends, up to Asgard. When humans die, their souls separate from their bodies. The family and friends only see the dead body. But the still-alive souls are usually PISSED about being dead. And it's our job to drag them to heaven, per se. We get "assignments" to collect them. Basically, they're written on pieces of paper, and we fly down to Midgard, pick up the human soul, and bring them back to Folkvangr.
The other job? I hate it so much that I won't even mention it. That's the only reason I'm going to be one of those ferry Valkyries. Because I can't STAND the other job! At least I can tolerate being a babysitter.
Meanwhile, Gersemi's walking away (thank Odin) -- oh, wait, she stopped again. She turns around. GREAT! Now I'm dead!
"Oh, by the way," she says, "since your first assignment starts in two weeks, you can take those two weeks off. I don't care where you go or what you do, but don't kill anybody, and make sure no human figures out you're a Valkyrie." NOW she leaves.
Two weeks. I don't even know what to do with myself! I've never had two entire weeks all to myself before. At least Gersemi shut up.
I whirl around, making sure Gersemi's gone, and bound through the door, out into Folkvangr.
I'M FREEEEEEEEEE! Woah -- wait a second. I continue to fly, but I let a thought sit in my head as I soar over Folkvangr. Valkyries never leave Sessrumnir unless they're A: on assignment or B: being a rebel, like me. Does Gersemi expect me to escape to Midgard, like I always do? Is that why she gave me two weeks off? Does she really expect not to hear from me for two entire weeks?
Eh, who cares. I'm FREE! These are going to be the longest, sweetest, MOST AWESOME two weeks of my entire life.
I speed toward the edge of Folkvangr, then fling myself into the void.
At the very edge of Folkvangr, surrounding it, is a portal. This portal leads to Midgard and only to Midgard. Normally Heimdall, the messenger, helps guard it, but most of the time he's busy with other stuff anyway. Nobody's going to mind if I just, you know, break the rules -- and the sound barrier while I'm at it.
Within seconds, I am flying in a bright, cloudless blue sky over an ocean. I can see the isles of the Viking lands ahead of me. Home, if you want to be specific, or as close to home as I would get on Midgard. The Vikings are the only ones who believe in us. The rest of the world? I don't know what they believe, but they're wrong. This is reality for me.
I let a little more air out around my wings and, taking in a deep breath, shout out a joyous song:
"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was! To fly high is my real test, to soar is my cause! I will travel across the land, searching far and wide--"
Something speeds by me, and I'm caught off guard. I look all around me. Nope, I don't see anything. Must have been a -- oh, wait. Yeah, I see something now. And it's coming right for me, not backing off at all.
The words barely leave my lips before it hits me.
"NIGHT FURY!!!"
-- END OF CHAPTER 1 --
SOSAI NOTES
Well, welcome to this idea I've had in the back of my mind for a few days. I've been developing it to the best of my ability (what with a thesis to finish and what not), but it works. I know that the Norse mythology in this story isn't the actual Norse mythology; that's okay. I'm making my own Norse mythology universe, based off of what I read, so I know things aren't exactly right. Hey, Vikings didn't originally have dragons, so I'm sure I can tweak things here and there. If it offends you, I'm sorry. (P.S. I am Christian, so forgive Starwing's "you're wrong if you don't believe Norse mythology" comment. It's all in good fun for the story, that's ALL. And bonus points if you know where the song Starwing sings at the end is from.)
In fact, I rather encourage your opinions. If you have any ideas from Norse mythology that you think would work, or if you think a particular thing would work better in a certain spot, let me know. I can't promise I'll go back immediately and fix it (I do have my ideas for this story), but I'll definitely take your ideas into consideration.
We first write fanfiction for ourselves, because we'd like to see something happen in the world we've come to know and love. While we also like to have reviews from people and like to hear their comments, if our fanfiction doesn't ultimately serve us in some fashion, what is it? I'm not saying all writing is to be selfish like this, but if we're not ultimately satisfied with the product, with the spirit of our writing, if we're only writing to please others...then that's not the way to write.
I'm not sure where that came from. But it's there.