Title change: Someone mentioned it, and it just sort of clicked.

Hiccup unsteadily stood up. Beneath him was a mud puddle, from him or the river or both. The water continued to drip from his clothes and he shivered. The shivering was good. The shivering meant something and for the first time in days he felt real. Real? He had been dragged under the river of death and washed up here. Wherever here was. He stared up again into the giant trees. They were impossibly high, and he felt the surety of smallness he had whenever he stared out into the ocean.

He had gone back. All of this trying to get away from Berk and he had somehow gone back.

His dad had to suspect something now. His dad probably had known it the entire time, just didn't want to face it. Hiccup tried to shake away the image of his father running out into the snow calling his name, like he would be just behind Toothless.

He hated being dead.

A wind picked up. It felt real. Back on the island he had felt nothing. He squeezed the water from his clothes and started walking upstream. What was he thinking, trying to walk back up to Niflheim? He was supposed to be heading to Valhalla to steal something just so he could get into Hel. Like he honestly wanted to go to Hel. Who cared if it weren't that bad? He had lost out on Valhalla by idiotically falling off of a dragon. But if he was going to somehow magically get there, couldn't he just stay? Or would Odin have some special requirement? Like dying properly in battle?

The leaves rustled above, loud as thunder. One of those leaves was probably the size of him. He trudged alongside the river, staring at the slow-moving water. So different from the rapids of the Gjöll in Neiflheim.

Then it hit him. He didn't want to steal anything from Valhalla. He didn't want anything to do with Hel. He wanted his life back. He wanted to go back. He should have never gone with Od. It was all his fault. He should have stayed on the island, as bad as it was. Maybe he should have just hopped back into his body. Become a draugr. Join Disa.

Because that was the most for which he could ask. Because he was stupid enough to forget checking security. Because he was incapable of making a decent harness. How many other people were going to get killed because of his stupid designs? And he couldn't fix any of it because he was dead! He furiously kicked a small rock back into the river. It landed with a deafening clunk that stuck out even among the wind. He had lost everything he had ever cared about. His father. Astrid. His friends. Toothless.

He threw his head back and let out the kind of scream that should make any Viking proud. It echoed against the thick tree trunks and against the water. He screamed until his fell forward in exhaustion.

What did he think he was doing? He was not going to help anyone. His death, his choice.

Then the wind stopped, and laughter rang out in the distance.

"Disa?" he called. It was female laughter.

The laughter came again, followed by indistinguishable voices chattering to one another.

Hiccup took a step forward into the trees. Disa and Modgud?

For a long time he heard nothing, and the wind slowly began to build itself up again. He stared into the cool green darkness, considering the possibility he might be going mad.

Maybe this was his afterlife doom. Suffering in madness.

"We know you're out there." The voice was distant, yet far too loud. A woman's, friendly and slightly mocking. Never a good combination.

Hiccup remained where he was.

"He stops," another voice whispered far too loudly. "I think you may have frightened him, Urd."

"He'll come. He's curious. Heroes are always far too curious for their own good. Have patience, and watch."

Well, now he definitely wasn't going.

Laughter. "He's fighting it. Stubborn one. They're always stubborn. All right, Skuld, how much do you bet he'll stand in one spot for an hour?"

"I say a day. One of Midgard's days. One nice big Hawk egg and a chance to throw something at Ratatosk."

More laughter. "This is getting exciting. I still predict he'll come. He was no other choice beyond standing there like a fool, coming, or leaving. Find his thread for me. I'm sure it's somewhere among the rubbish. Let's see for certain he does."

"You always spoil the fun, sister! Call to him again. See what he does. Without staring at a stupid thread."

All three voices laughed.

"We know you're out there, boy. We know everything. Come here, Hiccup. We promise we won't bite."

Apparently it wasn't looking like he had much of a choice. He sighed and followed the voices.

They had been distant. The forest continued, the path stretched on and on, and still the voices sounded distant and yet so close. And they continued to taunt him, laughing and calling and then talking amongst themselves. Why was he going toward them? Clearly a lack of anything better to do.

And then he was there, standing in a small clearing at the base of a tree that made the giants around him look like weeds. It drew his eyes up, daring him to see the top. All he could see was the continual stretch of trunk disappearing into a distant cobweb branches and finally a single point somewhere above. Inside something plunged. It was like being dropped down a deep hole.

"Look away," a voice whispered.

No. The falling sensation was too strong. He could not pull his eyes away.

"Look down," another voice whispered, right in his ear.

The tree was so tall…

"Look at us," whispered a third voice. This time a hand took hold of his chin and yanked his head away.

For a moment the world spun. His legs shook as wind roared in his ears. The ground rushed up toward him, but at the last moment arms caught him. Slightly more aware of himself, he allowed himself to be lowered to the ground.

"I hate it when they do that," a woman said, clucking her tongue

The shaking world slowed to a stop. Hiccup blinked, then coughed, trying to remember just where he was. He had heard voices, he had followed them because they were making fun of him, and…

Three beautiful women smiled down at him. At first glance they seemed identical: unbound blonde hair, green hooded cloaks, ice blue eyes. He felt himself blushing, and struggled to sit up.

"You looked at the Tree," giggled one. He recognized her voice as the first he had heard in the woods. Her hair was much curlier than the others. "It's not wise for a mortal, even a dead one, to look at the Tree."

"How can anything be that tall?" Hiccup asked as he lifted his eyes again.

The woman pulled his chin down. "Don't," she said solemnly. "Don't look up. You might as well drown yourself."

The other two woman helped grabbed his arms and pulled him awkwardly to his feet.

"Urd is right," said one. She seemed the shortest of the group. "Yggdrasil is incomprehensible to you."

Hiccup resisted another urge to look up.

"Don't look at it," she said. "It's next to impossible to awake people from it after so long."

"Now, Hiccup," said the third woman. "You've been through a lot. Take a seat with us." She gestured to a circle of four stools surrounding a pile of spindles and thread. "We prepared one just for you when we saw that we were going to have a guest." Her hand securely around his arm she moved him over to a stool and sat him down. Her strength was amazing.

His mind finally caught up with the rest of him. "Where am I? And who are you?"

The woman laughed. "I'm Verdande. These are my sisters Urd and Skuld. And you are right at the base of Yggdrasil. I believe you just crossed over from Jotunheim. "

"I was just in Niflheim."

"We know," said Skuld as she sat down on the stool next to him. "Fell into the river. I always said that river was dangerous. Good thing you're already dead."

"Fell off a dragon," Verdande said, shaking her head. "When a storm was coming and the stirrup was bad. Stupid."

"Don't remind me," said Hiccup.

Urd laughed and ruffled Hiccup's hair. "Boys will be boys and boys don't think. Even Hero's threads can be remarkably short. Let's see, where did we put it?"

"Now you want to get it out?" Skuld looked annoyed. "Now that the fun is over?"

"Yes." Urd was already digging through the pile of threads. "It wasn't very long ago that it was cut. I cut it myself."

"My thread?"

"Yes, Hiccup. Your thread." Verdande joined in the digging. "Aha! Here it is!" Smiling broadly, she held up a golden but very short thread. "Heroes' threads are always short. Though I must say this is one of the shortest. Once again, stupid boy."

"Knew it from the moment we spun that one," said Skuld.

"I don't think I get what the thread is," Hiccup said, though he was beginning to have a rather grim idea.

"Your life, silly. What else do you think Norns do?"

"Much more interesting and meaningful than all that battle fanciness the Valkyries weave," said Urd with a sniff. "I have a few of their life threads right here." She pulled a box out of seemingly nowhere."

"Urd," said Verdande. "No more pretending to cut a Valkyrie thread!" She sighed, then smiled warmly at Hiccup. "We honestly could not care less what the Valkyries do. We just hate it when their weavings get more credit than what we do."

"You spin lives?"

"Indeed we do. We are Destiny."

"You, Hiccup," said Skuld, taking the thread away from Verdande, "were a hero. Nothing better. You saved your tribe from imminent disaster and revolutionized a species relationship. Impressive. Monster killing always looks good in mortal sagas. Too bad you messed up on Valhalla or Folksvangr. Odin and Freya love their heroes."

"You could have changed that," Hiccup said. He didn't want to be thinking about Hel's request and Valhalla. "Thank-you so much for spinning that thread with a bad ending."

"We weave what we weave," said Urd. "We don't pick anything and we can't be bribed. Besides, it's a little late for that complaint."

He figured as much. He sighed. "What happens next?"

"We only concern ourselves with lives," Skuld explained. "We saw you coming, of course, but we can't be bothered with the fate of a dead boy."

"No offense," said Urd, "But we really don't care what anyone does after death."

"Can I see my thread?" Hiccup asked.

Skuld looked to her sisters, then shrugged. "We're done with it. So are you, but sure, have a keapsake."

Hiccup took the thread. It looked like ordinary thread. It was about as long as his hand. The only extraordinary thing about it was that it was golden. Without thinking about what he was doing, he tied it around his right wrist. "How do I get out of here?"

"The way you came," Verdande suggested. "It all depends on where you want to go. I heard that lunatic Hel asked you to rob from Valhalla. Do you want to do that? One of the branches leads right up to Asgard… though I really wouldn't recommend going so directly on the Tree. So. Where do you want to go?"

"Home," came the first response. He wasn't sure that was what he wanted.

The Norns exchanged sympathetic smiles.

"Homesick, are you?" Urd squeezed his hand. "Poor boy. Are you sure that's what you want?"

He thought of his father outside, Toothless scrambling up the stairs, and shook his head. He didn't want to see anymore of that. But he didn't want to go anywhere else.

"Uncertain." Verdande grabbed his wrist. "Do you know what this thread is? This is a Hero's thread."

Skuld laughed. "You're dead, Hiccup. Nothing worse can happen to you. You're past it all."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, pulling back his hand.

"You can do whatever you want. Steal a cup from Valhalla if you want. Don't feel you need to Hel. Your body is buried under ten feet of snow. It's frozen. Until you're found or you decompose, Hel has no claim over you. No one does."

"How long?"

"We won't say," said Urd with a laugh. "But I think that if you take advantage of this time, look around, you'll find where you're supposed to be." She took his hands and pulled him to his feet. "You should go."

And then she and the other Norns were gone. So was Yggdrasil. He was back by the river, heart pounding.

Yggdrasil: The World Tree. Literally. We don't get it, either.

Norns: The lovely mysterious ladies who spin the fate of everyone.

Jotunheim: Home of giants/trolls or "jotuns".