Chapter 4: Happenstance and Fortune
More days and nights had passed than Astrid could count, the cold slowly beginning to settle on the once warm nights. The world around the young girl was unlike anything she had ever seen. Unlike Berk, the rolling green woods around her never seemed to find an end. Every day, she walked with her new friend in a new direction, and each day she let herself be carried back to a small cave by the fresh spring; exhausted and no closer to finding her home.
After she awoke to find her new friend chirping worriedly above her, Astrid felt the hard clamp of hunger on her mind. She spent the entire day looking for something she knew she could eat. The blue beast hovered around her as she carefully watched which fruits Astrid recognized from her family's hall. Food was scarce, and Astrid could only gather a few berries and fruits in a day, despite the bird-like dragon fluttering to-and-fro in its attempt to gather similar items to feed its newfound companion.
Astrid had never had a pet before, and by extension was never really good with names. But her friend was already acting like a sister and a mother all in one, therefore it simply wouldn't do for her not to have a name.
The young girl had proposed one or two to the dragon as their days went on, talking insistently to her plucky companion. The name 'Berrysnatcher' and 'Eyetwitch' hadn't gone over very well with the proud dragon, and had been promptly refused with a flat glare. The glares never lasted too long however, as the dragon would suddenly spot a small twig in her hair or ruffled clothes and would rush to preen her charge.
Amidst giggles, Astrid couldn't help but feel grateful she had been found by the big cute dragon. It made her laugh, helped feed her, curled itself around her to keep her warm and carried her home when she was tired. She faintly remembered the horrible stories of the dragons her momma and poppa were always fighting, but none of them seemed true when she stared into the warm eyes of her dragon.
Every morning, Astrid would wake up and scratch the blue dragon under her chin and rouse her from slumber. Ready and full of energy, the two would set off aimlessly in whichever direction the little girl had chosen at the moment. It never seemed to matter, as they would always find themselves at home. There were few moments when Astrid was alone, and that was when the beast flew off to hunt after it made extra sure that the little girl wasn't going anywhere.
It was always breath taking to watch her dragon leap into the air with a shrill cry, doing tricks for Astrid's amusement as it flew off to find its prey. They had a system without words, when Astrid sat down to eat her meagre lunch, the dragon would fly off to find her own.
Astrid had long since stuffed her small handful of nuts and berries into her face while waiting for her companion's return when great black clouds began to pool above her. Recognizing the clouds, Astrid began to jump with excitement, and removing her threadbare shoes in preparation for what would be a grand time of dancing. As the rain began to pour down on the rolling green forest, Astrid broke into what parts she could remember of a jig her brothers had taught her in the great hall during a wedding. Skidding and jumping across a small clearing, Astrid showed Thor who was the tiniest and greatest dancer in the woods.
So wrapped up in her dance, the small girl failed to notice the low rumbling and flashing that began to flash above her, as though Thor sought to congratulate and warn the small girl all at once. Great peels of thunder began to arc across the forest, striking the tallest trees across the woods and shattering them into small shreds of kindling.
As Thor raised his hammer once again, Astrid finally noticed the terrifying show of nature above her, the smile falling from her lips and replacing itself with a quivering whimper.
Bursting through the storm, her beloved companion and caretaker grabbed Astrid by the scruff of her neck and crashed into the treeline, mere seconds before a streak of lightning crashed into the clearing and vaporized the still wet grass below it. Panting and crying beneath her moaning dragon's wing in thanks, Astrid found her dragon's name.
Their routine continued to form, and the distances they crossed grew greater and greater with each day. Yet, at the same time, so did Astrid's gnawing hunger. As the fat on her face grew small and lean with each day of malnourishment, she could almost feel her time slowly running out. Long gone were the days when she could bask in the warmth of the sun, and as the very last of the fruit was shrivelling up and falling, Stormfly seemed more on edge and watchful around Astrid. The dragon often flew off multiple times a day to feed, offering more than once to share her bounty with Astrid. The offer was tempting, but one encounter with raw fish was more than enough to make the three year old sick at the thought.
Stormfly plowed forwards through the woodlands, a more confident Astrid sat on her back as she clung to the plethora of spikes that littered her perch. Brown, orange and red flashed by her as she ducked bellow the branches that swept past her head, bobbing and weaving with Stormfly to pluck small gnarled apples from high branches as the passed.
She had never spent a winter on her own, but Astrid remembered the biting cold of her home island, when the hearth in her hall wasn't enough to make the cold stay its hand.
Shivering at the memory, Astrid curled up tighter against Stormfly's back, earning a worried squawk from the dragon. Murmuring words of encouragement to her best friend, she sat up and looked at her portion assembled in front of her. While a much larger bounty than normal, Astrid couldn't help but whimpering at the crushing pain in her stomach.
Sensing her riders hunger and discomfort, Stormfly lowered down on her haunches and shook lightly, as tried and tested sign to the little girl that the ride was over. Astrid carefully held her supply within the folds of her threadbare blue dress as she slowly dropped off the lowered dragon.
Lowering herself onto the grass, Astrid began to dig into the varied nuts, berries and small fruits they had collected that day. All too soon, Astrid finished her meal and rolled onto her side without any satisfaction. There was simply no food left for the girl, in the woods nor in her bodies reserves. The cold of the woods seemed to bite far deeper as she lay there, the frantic and worried calls of Stormfly all around her.
Weeks of little comfort, food or peace had eaten away at the tough but young viking, and the sudden realization that she would go hungry had finally brought her low.
"Storm...fly..." she whimpered, reaching her hand out to touch the beasts snout as it drew closer to check her for illness. It eyes shot open wide at her fragility and immediately leaped into the air, circling several times before shooting off at great speed. She watched Stormfly leave with fluttering eyes, unable to crane her neck and look up after her companion.
The bitter frost seemed to settle on the forest as the quickly moving sun raced towards the horizon, slowly knocking the leaves out of the trees and onto the ground around Astrid's prone form.
Strange noises began to glide on the wind, the deep guttural sounds of wild animals slowly drawing near with the rustle of the undergrowth and snapping of felled branches.
Panic shot through Astrid, though the power to move escaped her as her body fell numb with exhaustion and cold.
The presence of the animals wrapped around her, and soon she felt herself being lifted up, the guttural noises still aimed right at her. Warmth surrounded her, and soon she found herself unable to resist the call of sleep in an animals arms.
Warmth cut through the haze of sleep, coating Astrid in an uncomfortable layer of sweat and displeasure. The first sensation she felt as she roused from sleep was the feeling of a soft fur surrounding her from head to toe. Her eyes creaked open to the flickering light and crackle of a campfire, whose warmth reached her in waves.
The soft grunts and chortles of men echoed in her ears as she opened her eyes past the pain and up at the stretched leather ceiling of a tent above her. A low glow flickered from outside the tent and rested on the tips of her feet. Rather than immediately sit up to start her day like she normally would, Astrid couldn't help but bask in the warm furs she had been depraved of for so long, humming with contentment as she rolled and attempted to surround herself with the furs as tightly as possible.
Feeling the soft pull of sleep tugging at her once again, Astrid's eyes fluttered before contentedly sighing "G'night Stormfly" as she always did since her best friend got her name.
Yet sleep didn't come immediately to Astrid, as she felt the hairs on neck stand up straight at the sudden and sharp silence all around. The mysterious voices of the men outside had stopped speaking in their low guttural tongue, and all the little girl could hear now was the snap-hiss of the fire weakly burning beyond the tent's folds.
The unnatural silence set Astrid on edge, all to familiar with it during the long nights when her fathers hall was fast asleep while the sharp winds whistled and whispered through the cracks in their home as though they were alive.
The muffled footsteps on the ground outside made Astrid sit up straight, as she was hit with the realization that she had no idea where she was or who was outside her tent right then and there. Tears welled up in her eyes as she figured that since Stormfly wasn't in the tent, that her best friend may not know where she was.
The fear in her stomach wasn't given the time to grow as the flaps of the tent opened to the brightness of the campsite and several large men standing in the entrance, shadowed by the now-visible night sky and flames. A small cry escaped her lips in reflex as the lead man began to speak to her in his harsh, unintelligible language.
After several moments of silence, the lead man repeated himself, a more urgent and hostile tone escaping him as he urged her to answer his unintelligible questions. Tears began to surface in Astrid's eyes, unable to keep herself from panicking under the sudden stress of interrogation.
The large man shook his fist at her, and took a single step forward. Yet that was all it took to illicit a sharp sob from the small girl, all her willpower breaking under her terror. Several of the other men began to murmur, and the apparent leader growled in frustration as he spat in front of the girl, reaching for the seaxe he had strapped to his belt.
Backing away on all fours, Astrid barely found her voice as she stammered out the reflexive words of every three year old.
"I'm sorry!" she sobbed, curling in a corner of the tent, shuddering gasps rocking her body as the emotional toll of the last few months coursed through her with the confusing nature of these strange people and the land she found herself in.
The men stilled, and a man in the back of the group began to yell at the leader in apparent disgust. The larger man had the decency to look sheepish, his hand moving from his blade as he took a step back.
The vocal man in the rear of the group pushed his way forwards and into the tent, taking small steps towards Astrid as he made cooing noises and calming gestures. Slowly working his way towards the distraught girl, he sat down in front of her, causing the petite blonde to flinch.
"Calm yourself girl, you make Lars nervous." chortled the man in thickly accented, yet clear, Norse. Astrid's face shot up from its place between her knees, wide tear stained eyes staring at him wildly with her mouth agape.
"You... You understand me?" Astrid asked in disbelief.
"Aye. Family traded with vikings a lot when I was a boy. Used to play with the children while our parents made deals. Taught me Norse." the man spoke softly and with kindness, as though he understood Astrid's struggle. "My name is Schäfer," he continued, "and if you are a viking then you must be a very long way from home." He reached into his pocket and drew out a long strip of jerky and held it out to the young girl. "Eat, you must be hungry."
It took Astrid only a second before she leapt forwards and tore the jerkey apart, all semblance of decency her mother taught her long forgotten in the face of food. Brittle, hard and utterly tasteless, Astrid had tasted nearly as good as that dried meat in her life. Gulping it down in two big mouthfuls, Astrid was roused in time to see another piece being presented to her; which was promptly devoured once again.
By her third piece, Astrid was eating more slowly, taking calm bites and chewing her food properly as she looked at the man in front of her. He seemed leaner than the other men by the entrance (who had already begun to drift away from the show and towards the fire), and his face had an easy smile on it. He wore simple garbs and furs, a short bow resting on the ground next to him with a small quiver of notched arrows resting on his back.
"My name..." she suddenly stammered out, unsure herself where the words came from, "My name is Astrid!" she finished with a jolt of joy. Sticking her hand out to the man just like she was raised to do, she beamed her best smile at Schäfer, who chuckled at the wild, unkempt viking in front of him with bits of jerky still in her teeth.
Taking it daintily, Schäfer gave a small nod at the little fighter. "I have a daughter just like you, ya know?" he smirked, standing up and taking her hand with him. Astrid followed her new friend with little prompting as he continued. "And if you're anything like her, then I'll bet you want some nice and cooked fish!"
Unable to remember the last time she had enjoyed cooked food, Astrid took the lead and began to steer Schäfer to the campfire as fast as possible.
The other men around the small campsite of half a dozen tents surrounded the pit, chortling and pointing at the cute scene. The unmistakable noises of jeering lashed out from around the fire, which Schäfer replied to in turn in the same spitting tongue.
Handing Astrid his already cooked and ready fish, Schäfer placed another freshly gutted fish on a spike and positioned it over the fire. Astrid watched with great interest on how the fish was cooked as she eat slowly around the sharp bones.
The men were all dressed similarly to Schäfer, all tooled up with small hunting bows, spears and daggers. Several men passed around a wineskin and told grandiose stories with extravagant and confusing hand motions, much to the cajoling and disbelief of their comrades.
"So Astrid, where are you from?" Schäfer probed quietly and he slowly rotated his fish above the flames.
Astrid's brow furrowed at the question, trying to figure out what exactly he meant by that. Chewing thoughtfully, she mulled over the question before perking up and turning to Schäfer. "I live in a cave by the spring!" she exclaimed, proud of her clear answer.
Displeasure flashed across the mans face briefly, before shifting back into his easy confidence. "Nay, I meant where do you come from?"
Now this question truly made Astrid pull a face in consternation, trying to remember the bits and pieces of her homeland. The only things that really stood out were the games of Grumpkins and Gnashers that she and her friends used to play under the Goethi's hut, as well as her hall.
Telling her new friend just as much, and that she only knew she lived in her momma and poppa's hall in the village, Astrid sat back contentedly as she munched on the small remains of her fish.
Schäfer reached up and scratched his beard, before turning to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
"How long ye been out here?"
"I'm not sure..." came Astrids self-conscious reply.
"How did ye survive for so long out here, all on your lonesome?" Schäfer inquired, leaning closer as if to hear better.
"Oh!" exclaimed Astrid, brightening up considerably, "I wasn't alone at all! I was with Stormfly!"
"Stormfly? What's a Stormfly?"
"She's big, blue, carries me and helps me find nuts and berries!" squeed Astrid, who was almost vibrating with excitement "You would really like her! You're both big!"
This earned a laugh from Schäfer, who waved the conversation off in playful eye-rolls. "Aye, well, while I'm thankful for Stormfly, it may be best if ye come along with us for now."
Astrid shot Schäfer a wary look, "Can Stormfly come too?" she asked.
"Of course, of course, that's 'nay a problem." Schäfer said, looking relieved.
The two sat in silence as men stretched and began moving to their respective tents, some stretching out on the ground and casting a longing look at Astrid's tent before curling up into balls of fur.
Keeping her voice in what she thought was a hushed whisper, Astrid felt the need to ask what Schäfer and his band did.
"Well, we're sort of both hunters and gatherers," he started, scratching the back of his head as he searched for the right words in Norse. "We find what we can for our families back home, and then we send it on its way while we stay out here and keep gathering."
Astrid nodded solemnly at what she believed was a noble profession, and suddenly felt her eyelids get heavy as she slumped forwards where she sat, the exhaustion she managed to brush off for a short time beginning to take its toll on her once more.
The calloused hands of Schäfer carried her to the tent she had woken up from, decidedly more at ease and full than she had been this morning.
Soon the sensation of a warm cloak being draped over her blotted out all other senses, and Astrid faintly heard Schäfer whisper his goodnight's before leaving the tent.
"G'night Stormfly. G'night Schäfer."
A/N: Oh ho ho! And so the story continues.