The Runemaster: Chapter 2
Ruffnut stalked to the Mead Hall, sending a glare in the direction of anyone who so much as breathed in her way. Throwing the doors open, she made her way to the table where her brother, Fishlegs, and Snotlout sat. She sat down heavily and fixed her gaze on the largest boy.
"Fishlegs, tell me about runes," Ruffnut commanded.
"Um, well, they're sometimes called 'letters' and we make words out of them," Fishlegs offered tentatively.
"No, no, no!" she said angrily, snatching Tuffnut's cup from his hands and taking a long drink. "Not what they do. What they mean!"
"Vikings do this thing called reading—," Fishlegs began, only to be cut off by Snotlout.
"Fishlegs, my man!" he high-fived the other boy who looked very confused.
"Yeah, man. Totally didn't know you had it in you to make fun of Ruff," Tuffnut snickered as Ruffnut seethed.
"That's not what I meant!" she barked, throwing the cup at her brother's head with deadly aim. "I meant what the runes mean separately, not together. Like, what does 'fehu' mean?"
Fishlegs' confused look grew more defined. "Ruff, runes don't mean anything on their own unless— unless you're talking about their spiritual meanings," he said. He looked at her askance, "You aren't asking about their spiritual meanings, are you?"
Ruffnut looked down her nose at the boy. "So what if I am?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at her brother and Snotlout, who were suppressing laughter. "Besides, I asked you first."
"I—I don't know," 'Legs finally answered. "You'd have to ask Gothi… or her apprentice, Ævi."
"Yeah, they're like the only two on the island who actually care about that st—stuff!" Snotlout's wheezing reply dissolved into laughter, and Tuffnut joined in.
"Gods, Ruff, why would you even care?" her twin asked, and she understood why. On Berk, relying on the gods was seen was weakness rather than reverence, and runic divination was all but a lost art. Like 'Lout said, Gothi and Ævi were the only ones who cared.
Ruffnut's frown deepened, why would that little man bring the runes here? They were as likely to get destroyed as they were to be read. Lost in thought, she left the boys behind in the Mead Hall.
And Ævi, there was a strange one. Her father, Wyrmfang, had been a great warrior, even travelling to the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. But when he died on scouting expedition, Ævi dishonored her father's memory by cutting off all of her hair, like a boy, and going to live with Gothi as her apprentice instead of becoming a shield-maiden, almost like a Valkyrie in her power, like Wyrmfang had wanted. That was years ago, even before Hiccup's battle with the Green Death, and Ævi seemed… happy.
Ruffnut's feet lead her to Gothi the Elder's dwelling (it was smaller than a house but more than a hut, and no self-respecting Viking lived in a cottage) where the door was open and a sort of song drifted out into the air. Ruff cocked an eyebrow but entered the domicile to find Ævi weaving and softly singing a song, if you could call it that.
"Fehu fehu fehu; ffffffffff—; fu fa fi fe fo; of ef if af uf; fffffff—," Ævi stopped her strange song and turned to look at Ruffnut. "Well," she said, "I can't say you were the one I expected to be here." Ruff scowled at the girl, who was only a year or so older than Ruffnut herself. "And," Ævi said, smiling, "you want something, I'm sure."
Ruff swallowed her sneer and instead asked, "That rune. The one you were singing. What's it mean?" She had to admit, not knowing what this rune meant was gnawing at her conscious, especially now that Ævi had sang it. How could she have known that Ruffnut was coming, and that it was that particular rune she wanted to know about? Maybe that small man had come here; the thought made her scowl. She didn't trust that man as far as she could throw him, which was, admittedly, pretty far.
"Ahh," Ævi said knowingly, interrupting Ruff's thoughts. "Fehu. Mundane meaning of cattle, sheep, and power. But that's not what you're looking for, is it?"
Ruffnut stared blankly at the girl until she realized Ævi wouldn't answer until she did. "No," Ruff said, this time swallowing her pride. "What the, the—the spiritual meaning?" she asked as if the words tasted bad.
Ævi nodded. "Fehu is the mystery of creation and destruction, embodied in one. It is the rune of eternal becoming, of the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth," she explained in words Ruffnut found to be as clear as mud. Ævi gestured at the younger girl, "What have you got there?"
Ruff looked down, confused until she saw the box of runes in her hand. How did the boys not see these? she wondered briefly, before deciding, They must be stupid. Ruffnut stroked the lid of the box with a finger as she debated on telling Ævi about the Sanngetall Runes. Eventually she handed the box to Gothi's apprentice, reasoning, he didn't say I couldn't talk about them. "These are some runes a stranger gave me," she said. "He wants me to protect them, says they're famous in Norway." She shrugged, acting nonchalant.
Ævi nodded and carefully slid the lid of the box back to reveal the runes. "Interesting," she said after a moment. "The box is made of rowan, but the runes themselves are ash." She picked up a rune delicately; it looked like a tree with three branches. "Algiz, how droll," she handed the rune to Ruffnut, who blinked at her. "Protection, and the link between the gods and humanity. I'd say you're at the beginning of a fantastic journey, Ruffnut Thorston."
Ruffnut bit back a laugh and collected the box from Ævi. "Sure," Ruff said. "Thanks for the tip. But if you'd excuse me, I'll be going now." She waited until she left the house to let the laughter loose, barely able to walk from the guffaws. It was in this way that she nearly tripped over Gothi. The little woman peered up at Ruffnut, who suddenly felt naked for the second time that day. "Can I help you?" Ruff asked curtly.
"No," Gothi smiled, "but I would stay away from rings of fire, if I were you." Ruffnut snorted, like that was advice at all, there were no rings of fire on Berk, and why would anyone light a ring of fire, anyways? You would just get stuck in the middle and have to wait until it burned out, if it didn't burn you.
Ruff's boots crunched the early winter snow, as she made her way to the Thorston residence to drop off the runes. Or hide them, as it may be. She closed her eyes and let her feet do the work, listening to the sounds of the village preparing for the night. In the distance she could hear Astrid and Hiccup.
"C'mon, Astrid, you know I didn't mean to make you mad!" Hiccup pleaded.
"Yeah, but you did anyway," Astrid snapped back. "Why don't you grow a little backbone, huh?"
Hiccup's voice was quieter. "This is just how I am."
"How you are doesn't cut it!" There was a pause, then Astrid added softly, "I—I didn't mean it like that."
Ruffnut opened her eyes to see the pair standing in the darkness outside the Mead Hall. Even she could tell that Hiccup was hurt, and his response didn't surprise her.
"I didn't mean it like that," he began, his voice edged with steel, "doesn't cut it." Hiccup pushed past Astrid, walking as quickly as his prosthetic would allow. He didn't even see Ruff standing there, but Astrid did.
"I—I don't know what to do!" she said, walking towards Ruff with tears welling up in her eyes. "Everything I say is just, just wrong!" The taller girl wrapped her arms around Astrid in an unpracticed hug. "I don't think I make him happy anymore," she murmured despondently.
"I'm sure you do," Ruff said, though she was far from sure. "The winter stresses everyone out, just give it some time." She took the other girl's hand, and pulled lightly. "Come on, let's get you home. Everything will seem better with some Yak Nog, right?"
Astrid smiled weakly as she dragged the back of her hand across her eyes. "Yeah…."
Ruff chattered at Astrid as they walked, filling the silence with silly stories and ending with a dramatic rendition of Ævi's song.
"Thanks, Ruffnut," Astrid said quietly when they arrived at the Hofferson house. "I've got it from here."
"You sure?" Ruff asked.
"Yeah," Astrid pulled her into a hug, "thanks though."
Ruff nodded and waited for her friend to close the door before setting off into the darkness. For being so smart, Astrid sure didn't know how to handle a guy like Hiccup. Not that I could do any better, Ruff was quick to add to her thoughts, but honestly? She thought the two should break it off. Permanently. Because this was getting kind of old.
Ruff looked up, and realized she had walked right past her house, into the snowy pasture behind. Seriously though, her train of thought drove on, boys were just not worth the trouble. Look at me, she snickered out loud, single and lovin' it.
She tilted her head back and took a deep breath of cool night air. Sure, she could be lonely at times, but "love" wasn't for a girl like Ruff.
Something twinkled in the sky. She blinked, and it was gone. Must've been one of those falling stars, she thought. Wait, am I supposed to make a wish now. I wish—! Ruffnut's mind went blank as the sky burst into flames.
At least, that was what it looked like. An ominous red, flickering light covered the sky, casting strange shadows on the earth below. Ruff turned to run, but found she couldn't move, and was that a sizzling sound? She looked to the ground, and in a perfect circle, 4 paces from her at all sides, the snow was melting. "Loki's spawn!" she cursed, half-angry and half-frightened, and flames began to lick up into the air. "I am in a ring of fire. I am in a ring of fire!"
Around her, the shadows seemed to coalesce into a dark being with red eyes. Ruffnut fumbled around for her sword, but all she found was the box of runes. She slid the lid open and pulled one out, hoping for a miracle. "Algiz!" she shouted, recognizing the rune from earlier that day and folding into her fist. "Algiz!" she repeated and shook her fist at the creature, which drew steadily nearer. "Protection, damn it, so start protecting!" She threw the rune at the creature with all her might; it sailed over the flames, flying an unnatural distance, and hit the creature between the eyes. With a pained cry it dispersed into shadows, and the ring of fire flickered to nothing.
"I…," Ruff drew the syllable out, "really did not expect that to work." She quickly hopped over the scorched circle and gathered the rune in her palm. "Umm, thank you?" she said, feeling ridiculous for talking to an inanimate piece of wood. And though it hurt her pride, she silently promised herself to stay away from rings of fire. She was going to have to talk to Gothi. And Ævi, she thought, for good measure.
Ruffnut tucked the rune back into the box and walked back to her house, which was only a scant 30 paces away. Slamming the door behind her, she glared at her brother, who looked like he was attempting to put an entire loaf of bread into his mouth at once. "Did you not hear that?" she asked accusingly.
He looked at her dumbly. "Hear what?"
"That! That—nevermind," she fumed, and stomped up the stairs to her room. Scooting her front half under her bed, she pried up the loose floor board. "There," she said, sounding only a little satisfied, "no one will find you here." She backed out from under the bed, then sat on it.
Who—or what, rather—would want these runes? They were nothing more than glorified sticks. Glorified sticks that could allegedly tell the future. With some degree of accuracy, Ruffnut thought, or no one would care about them. She snorted. "Whatever! Not my problem," she said firmly, thinking of the little man who saddled her with these runes. Though if something tries to attack me again, I'm gonna kick his ass.
