Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 24: Ride of the Valkyries
"Isn't our Norwegian holiday off to an exciting start?" Muriel asked as she and Courage walked to the cliff edge. Both were wearing horned helmets.
Vacation. Something that everyone looks forward too. Especially after long weeks of hard work and trying to get the family out of danger. Okay, the last part may just be me and Courage. But still, it's nice to have. Especially with the family.
"And thank you bringing us along." Ren thank walking next to her.
"Yeah, thanks auntie." Nora said excitedly while wearing a horned helmet as well.
"It's no problem dearie." Muriel said with a smile.
And vacation is even better when you also have friends with you. A few days ago, Nora and Ren came to visit as they had vacation from Beacon. At the same time though, we were already planning our trip here. But without any hesitation, Muriel booked two more seats for them before they even said anything. Nora was excited while Ren was hesitant as he felt they were intruding on our vacation. But Muriel told him it was fine and the more the merrier. Not to mention, now Nora sees Muriel as an aunt while Muriel sees her as a niece as well.
"Your friends certainly are something." Iris said giggling at seeing Nora bounce around excitedly with Ren chasing after to make sure she doesn't fall of the cliff.
"Yeah, they are." I said smiling at watching them enjoy their time here as well.
To top of this vacation, Iris came along with us as well. Me and Iris were spending some time together on the day before we left to come here. Though, we did have a lot of questions come from both Nora and Ren, mainly Nora, when they discovered I was dating Iris who is an actual storm goddess. Luckily, they agreed to keep quiet about this. And Ren also agreed to make sure Nora keeps at a secret as she not great at keeping secrets. Currently, we were a bit away from the house that we were renting and sitting down at the base of a tree.
"Do you really think she would keep this a secret?" Iris asked worried while looking over at Nora bouncing around.
"No. She is terrible at keeping secrets but Ren will help make sure it stays a secret for as long as he can." I answered. Iris nodded at this yet is still a bit uncertain and nervous but calmed down when I squeezed her hand. Looking back to the others, we saw them listening to Muriel s she read a book about Norway.
"According to the guidebook, some of Norway's most beautiful birds come to feed at this very spot." Muriel said reading the book. She then took out some binoculars and began to look around.
'Ooh!' Courage whined as he still did not like birds.
"Look." Muriel said pointing to a bird that landed near them. She then, along with Courage, Nora and Ren, quickly ran to a log nearby and hid behind it.
"What kind of bird is it?" Ren asked.
"According to the book, we are looking at the Norwegian Blue. In olden times, they believed this bird soared with the Valkyries. Fierce warriors that wore helmets just like ours." Muriel answered.
"Isn't your hyper friend's last name Valkyrie?" Iris asked.
"Yeah, her last name is Valkyrie." I answered. "Do you know the Valkyries Iris?"
"Yes, I talk to them from time to time. If you can get past their passion for battle, they are nice to know." She answered.
Turning back to the bird, we saw something a bit strange. The bird reached behind the rock it was sitting on and pulled out a lunch box. It then opened it to reveal bird seed along with a thermos inside. It then grabbed and handful of seeds and tossed them onto the floor. It then began to quickly pick them up withs mouth like how a bird would normally do so except really quickly.
"It's feeding." Muriel said excitedly.
"I never seen a bird feed like that." Ren said staring at the bird.
"Duh, ha, ha, ha." The bird said lifting its head back up. And we could see that all of the seeds the bird threw down went on its beak instead of in its mouth.
"Neither have I." Iris said surprised at how the bird tried to feed itself and failed.
"Did those birds actually sore with Valkyries?" I asked.
"Actually no. Long ago, people did see these birds fly nearby the Valkyries, it was more of crossed paths rather then fly together." She explained and corrected. I was about to ask something else when Eustace suddenly shouted from the house.
"MURIEL T.V.'s BROKEN!" He shouted before taking off his hat and throwing it. "And this hat stinks too."
"OW!" The bird said when the hat hit him on the head. Lifting it up to see, he quickly flew over to Eustace and laid on his head.
"Huh?" Eustace said surprised when the bird laid on his head. He was about to try and get it off but grew surprised again when the bird suddenly laid a giant egg. "HEY!"
"Um, Muriel. Does the book say anything about that?" Ren asked.
"Nope, nothing here about this." Muriel answered as she tried to see if the book says anything about this but didn't find anything.
"What's-Huh?" Eustace said surprised when egg hatched and three Norwegian Blue birds flew from it. They then started to attack Eustace who tried to get them to stop. But because he wasn't paying attention, he eventually walked off the edge and fell of the cliff into the water below. And judging by the grunts, I am guessing he hit the cliffs rocks a few times as well.
"That gotta hurt." I said trying to hold back my laughter while Iris did not even try to and laughed at what just happened to Eustace.
"I suppose that's what you get for scaring the Norwegian Blue." Muriel said surprised at what just happened.
"BIRDIES!" Nora shouted and ran to the baby Norwegian Blues. And it didn't surprise us what happened next. The birds calmly went over to her. She hugged two of them while the third one landed on her head and fell asleep. She then went inside the house with Ren following her. Muriel and Courage decided to do the same. We just chuckled at the same but I got confused when I heard a small thunder clap happen in the sky.
"Oh, man. Looks they need me for something quick. I'll be back later Jaune." Iris said getting up but I stopped her.
"Before you go, I want to sing you something I wrote recently." I told her as I pulled her back down. Reaching behind the tree, I pulled out a guitar I hid there earlier.
"How, sweet. Let's hear it." Iris said as she turned to me and sat on her knees.
"Ok, here goes." I said as I began to sing her the song.
"I love you too much
To live without you loving me back
I love you too much
Heaven's my witness and this is a fact
I know I belong
When I sing this song
There's love above love and it's ours
'Cause I love you too much
I live for your touch
I whisper your name night after night
I love you too much
There's only one feeling and I know is right
I know I belong
When I sing this song
There's love above love and it's ours
'Cause I love you too much
Heaven knows your name I've been praying
To have you come here by my side
Without you a part of me is missing
Just to make you my own, I will fight
I know I belong
When I sing this song
There's love above love and it's ours
'Cause I love you too much
I love you too much
I love you too much
Heaven's my witness and this is a fact
You live in my soul
Your heart is my goal
There's love above love and it's mine 'cause I love you
There's love above love and it's yours cause I love you
There's love above love and it's ours if you love me
As much."
Placing the guitar down, I turned to Iris to ask how she liked it. Only for her to kiss me passionately on the lips. We stayed there for a few minutes just kissing each other. Soon, we pulled away because of the need for air.
"Did you like it Iris?" I asked.
"I loved it Jaune. Thank you." Iris said as she stood up and helped me up as well. Right then, another thunderous clap was heard. "I have to go now. I'll be back later."
"Okay. I'll be waiting here for you." I told her smiling. She smiled before giving me one last kiss before leaving.
"So, when's the reception going to be?" Ren suddenly asked. I looked in him in surprise but relaxed when he gave a light chuckle which caused me to chuckle as well. We then went back to the house and entered it.
One hour later
We were inside the house sitting on the couch watching the television. Ren made a few more jokes about me and Iris potential future marriage though it was all in good nature. Nora was to the side taking care of the birds the Norwegian Blue bird from earlier laid on Eustace's head. Apparently, they now think she is their mother. Muriel was making dinner while Courage was next to her chewing on the horn of the helmet her was wearing. After a couple more moments, a loud and harsh banging was heard coming from the front door.
"Could one of you get that? I can't leave my soup." Muriel asked.
"I got it." I said as I got up. Ren also got up and said he'll help. Nodding, we went over to the door and opened it to reveal an extremely tall and muscular lady.
"YO-TO-HO!" She chanted. I turned to Ren and he silently nodded. Turning back to the lady, we slowly closed the door on her.
"Um, did you see-WOAH!" I began to ask if he saw that lady as well but couldn't when the lady easily punched a through the door. We saw her fist even had a tattoo that said love. Luckily, she pulled her hand back from the door.
'What was that?' Courage asked running up to us in fear when he heard a loud crashing sound.
"Some lady just punched through the door." I quickly answered.
"What could she want?" Ren asked nervous as he pulled out his weapons.
I was about to answer but had to dodge out of the way when the lady punched another hole into the door. She then reached in and grabbed both of us by our necks and pulled us through the holes she created. She then dropped Ren before wailing on me with her fist. I was nearly knocked out but only stayed away because of my aura. Ren tried to help but the lady quickly dropped me and did the same to Ren. However, he was fully knocked out by the end. She then kicked the door to pieces and stepped inside the house before dropping the unconscious Ren to the side.
'AAAHHHHH!' Courage screamed in terror. He then tried to run back to Muriel but the lady grabbed him and threw into the wall on the other side of the house.
'Brunnhilda, Dear Sister. Praise the gods I have found you.' The lady sang as she walked up to Muriel and easily picked her up. 'Come back to your home in the sky.'
"Ha, ha, ha," Muriel laughed not at all seeing what was happening.
"Who are you?" Nora asked excitedly walking up to her.
"I am Erda. A Valkyrie of the Gods." Erda answered before staring down at Nora. "And who are you?"
"Nora Valkyrie. Hammer wielder and leg breaker extraordinaire!" Nora said excitedly as she pulled out her giant hammer. The birds she was caring for were not fazed by this and simply landed on top of her hammer.
'By the Gods, another Valkyrie I have found. Come, I must bring you to your new home. For we have much to do.' Erda sang as she easily picked up Nora as well.
"I thought the Meet the Valkyrie pageant was tomorrow." Muriel said chuckling
"Bye, Ren. Bye Jaune. Bye, Courage." Nora shouted excitedly as Erda carried both Muriel and Nora over to what looks like a horse with wings. From what I can recall Iris telling me, it's called a Pegasus.
'AAAHHHH!' Courage gasped when he raced out of the house after freeing himself from the wall and saw Muriel and Nora getting carried away.
"Oh, Courage. This tour package is packed with surprises." Muriel said giggling.
"Up, up and away horsey." Nora shouted when she saw that this horse can fly.
"YO-TO-HO!" Erda shouted. The Pegasus neighed before flying into the air and away. Courage tried to chase after the Pegasus and grab onto its tail but failed to do so and nearly fell off the cliff as a result. Luckily, he managed to grab onto the ledge before that could happen.
"Ow." Ren said waking up. His aura while not enough to stop him from getting knocked out, did managed to at least lessen the pain and prevent any bruising from occurring.
"You alright Ren?" I asked as I got up and then proceeded to help him up as well.
"No, felt like I had just gone through ten rounds with an angry Yang and sugar crazed Nora." He answered groaning while rubbing his head.
'Yeah, they sure do pack a punch.' Courage said as he walked up to us.
"Unfortunately, we might meet her fists again as we need to get up there and get back Nora and Muriel." I said looking in the direction they went.
"Wait, the lady took Nora?!" Ren asked surprised.
"Yeah, I heard the lady say that she was a Valkyrie. And I'm guessing that because Nora said that her last name was Valkryie, the lady thought that she was a long-lost sister or something and took her as well." I explained.
"Great." Ren said in frustration as he picked up his weapons and out them away.
'But how are we going to reach them is the question? As we have no why to get where they are nor have any idea on where they are.' Courage asked as he looked to the sky.
"Yeah, that's going to be a problem." I said agreeing with him.
"What did Courage say Jaune?" Ren asked.
"He said that we have no way nor any idea on where that lady took Muriel and Nora." I answered.
"Perhaps your girlfriend might know where they are." Ren suggested.
"She did say she knew them so maybe she knows exactly where they live." I said agreeing with him. Luckily, at that moment, a thunder clap was heard with Iris appearing a moment later.
"Hey everyone. I'm- what happened here?" Iris began before asking when she saw us beaten up and the broken-down door.
"A lady who called herself Erda beat the lights out of us, broke the door to pieces and then took both Nora and Muriel away on a horse." I answered.
"Erda? That name sounds, wait. You mean the Valkyrie Erda?" Iris asked worried.
"I would say so. Jaune did say he heard the lady proclaim herself as Erda the Valkyrie." Ren answered.
"Now, we are trying to find a way get Muriel and Nora back." I finished.
'Do you know where they could be?' Courage asked Iris. At first, Iris did not understand Courage but eventually, somehow, she began to understand him at one point.
"As a matter of fact, I do. I know where they are. They are most likely in their home castle getting ready for battle." Iris answered.
"That's good. Now, we just need a way to get there." Ren stated.
"Got that covered too." Iris said as she summoned a cloud beneath her feet. "Hop on."
Courage, Ren and I looked at each other in hesitation before nodding and getting on the cloud.
"Hang on." Iris said with a smirk as we took off to the sky.
Two Hours later
"Okay, here we are. Since it's late, they are probably sleeping in their quarters which is just giant stone rocks with a flat surface." Iris told us as we arrived at a castle in the sky. We moved until we were next to a window near the top.
"Aren't you coming along?" Ren asked as he readied his weapons in case of anything.
"I can't. To put it short, there are certain rules and restrictions gods and demi gods have to follow. And unfortunately, entering this place would break a few and the consequences would be severe." She explained.
"All right. We'll be back soon." I told her.
She nodded and with that, we entered the castle and began to search for Muriel and Nora. After about ten minutes, we felt like we were going in circles. I was about to suggest that we split up to cover more ground when Courage suddenly grabbed our attention and pointed down the hall. We followed him and eventually we heard Muriel and Nora singing coming from down the hall. Following their voice, we came upon a room lit by a fire place and had some strange stones around the room in a weird patter. And in the center were the sleeping Valkyries with their gigantic weapons nearby. Looking around, we saw Nora and Muriel nearby laying down on a large rock slab. Moving closer to them, we also saw they were dressed exactly like the other Valkyries.
"To war. To war." Muriel sang along with Nora.
"Muriel, Nora. Are you both alright?" Ren asked in a whisper.
"RE-" Nora began to shot but was quickly silenced when Ren covered her mouth.
"Good to see you too Nora. But keep it quiet." Ren whispered while motioning to the sleeping Valkyries. Luckily, Nora understood this and saluted.
'Come on. Let's get out of here.' Courage said as he grabbed Muriel's hand and tried to get her to stand up.
"Oh, you three. Isn't it exciting? I get to be in a make-believe battle." Muriel said as she stood up from the bed.
"This isn't make-believe Muriel. They're actually going to a real battle." I tried to tell her. But she simply went to the giant axe behind her.
"And we get the cutest little toy weapons." Muriel said as she tried to left and swing the ax.
"Watch out." Ren shouted whispered as he pulled me down to avoid having my head cut ff by Muriel.
"Oh, my." Muriel exclaimed as she lost her balance and fell over while losing her grip on the ax as well. The weapon would have fallen and hit Muriel on the head had Nora not caught in time.
"I got it." Nora quietly said she easily with one hand picked it up
'Nice catch Nora.' Courage told her which caused her to smile a bit.
"Thanks Courage." Nora said as she raised the ax over her head and posing as if she was victorious in a long hard battle. Unfortunately, when she did this, the axe hit one of the giant rocks which cause it to fall over and create a domino effect knocking over all the other giants rocks in the room. Thus, waking up the Valkyries.
"YO-TO-HO" The Valkyries all shouted angrily. They then marched over to us with a threatening aura surrounding them.
'SPIES!' The Valkyrie with orange hair shouted/sang pointing to us. Then each of the Valkyries roughly grabbed us by the necks.
'THREE SPIES!' They all sang/shouted at the same time as they pulled us closer to them.
'THREE SPIES FROM THE TROLLS' They sang as they began to punch us as hard as they can.
"Play nice now you three." Muriel said as she tried to remove her helmet from her head that was preventing her from seeing us get beaten. Thankfully, Nora decided to help her. "Thank you, dearie."
"No problem auntie." Nora said cheerfully.
'BEAR THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR TROLL KING' The Valkyries sang as they punched us so hard, we nearly passed out. Courage even lost a tooth from the hit.
'A spy' They sang as they slammed us to the hard floor. 'And thou who spy, good-bye.'
"AAAHHHH!" We all screamed as the Valkyries kicked us so hard that we flew out of their castle through one of the windows.
"BYE RENNY!" Nora shouted while waving at us.
"OOF!" We all grunted when we hit the muddy and murky waters of the swamp after that twenty second fall.
"Going to feel that for a few days." I said as I helped Ren and Courage up.
"And going to stink for a few days." Ren added as he wiped some mud off.
'Going to need a bath after this.' Courage said still a bit dazed. At that moment, we heard footsteps coming from behind us. Quickly turning around, we saw three green creatures with spiked clubs coming up to us.
"They must be trolls." I whispered to Ren and Courage.
"WHO SNEAKS UP ON OUR TROLL COUNCIL!" The apparent leader demanded.
'AAHHHH!' Screamed in terror but stopped when the goblin picked him up.
"Spies from the Valkyries." The leader declared.
"Cripple the Spy! Cripple the Spy!" The trolls behind the leader chanted.
"We're not spies. We just fell from the-" Ren began to try and explain what happened but got clubbed on the head. And because his aura was already depleted from the fall and beating we took; he was knocked out.
Ten minutes later
"Ow!" Ren said as he finally woke up.
"You alright Ren?" I asked as I saw him wake up.
"Just pain but I'll live. What happened?" He asked.
"Well, while you were out, they tied us up and are now cooking courage over a camp fire like he is a roasted chicken." I answered motioning to the rope that was being used to keep us tied down before pointing to Courage who was being spun around above the fire by the troll leader.
'How do you think we'll get out of this?' Courage asked worried. I was about to say something, but didn't need to as lightning struck the rope that was used tie us and Courage up. Freeing us. Right after that, another lightning bolt struck near the trolls forcing them to step back.
"Iris." I shouted happy to see her as she got off the cloud she was using to get here. Once she got off, she grabbed Courage and tossed him to me.
"Stand back you trolls." She threatened.
"A storm goddess." The troll leader declared as he raised his club ready to attack. But he and the other trolls froze in terror when a chant was heard.
"YO-YO-HO!" We heard. Looking to the sky, we saw that the Valkyries had decided to attack the trolls now. And soon they came into view and we could see Nora and Muriel riding Pegasus's of their own. Though Muriel was struggling to stay on while Nora seemed too excited.
"Ah! The Valkyries." The trolls shouted and rushed to fight them. Completely forgetting about us and Iris.
"Thanks for the save Iris." I told her.
"Of course. But now, we may need to help Muriel." She said as she pointed to Muriel who fell from the Pegasus and was now vulnerable if the trolls decided to attack her. Which unfortunately, they decided to do just so.
'AAAHHHHH!' Courage screamed when he saw this. Luckily, Nora came to the rescue and used her hammer to smash the trolls away.
"Good job Nora." I said as we raced over to her as she got off the Pegasus.
"Thanks, Jaune." She said while saluting.
"Crumple the Valkyries." The Trolls chanted from behind us.
"Crumple the Trolls." The Valkyries chanted from our front.
"Quick, we have to get out of here." Ren said as he helped Muriel up.
'Follow me.' Courage said as he picked up Muriel and began to run away from them. We quickly followed him hoping that the Valkyries and Trolls would be too busy fighting to notice us. Unfortunately, they did.
'They have stolen our leader!' The Valkyries sang/shouted as they began to give chase.
"Crumble the Valkyries." The trolls shouted as they too began to give chase as well.
We managed to put some good distance between ourselves and them. But as soon as we turned around, we saw that they are both quickly catching up to us. Looking around, I saw a hole in the mountain next to us that we could possibly use to escape from them.
"Quick, in here." I shouted as we entered the hole.
Entering it, we saw an entire maze was there. But we kept going straight hoping to get to an exit. As we did this, we kept looking back to see if the trolls and Valkyries are keeping chase. And judging by the sound of rocks smashing, they did not lose us. But because we kept looking bac, we were not paying attention and got caught in some curtains that blind us for a moment. We quickly took it off and got a surprise at what we saw. In front of us was the real missing Valkyrie and actual Troll King. They were standing on a pedestal with a light shining above them with flowers falling beside them.
'Please tell no one I love the troll king.' The Valkyrie sang.
'Please tell no one I love the Valkyrie.' The troll king sang.
'Our love that dare not speak its name' They sang together as they moved closer to hug each other.
"Isn't that touching?" Muriel asked.
"It sure is." Iris agreed wiping a tear from her face. Seeing this, I moved closer to her and grabbed her hand. She turned to me and smiled.
"Please go on young lovers." Muriel told them.
'She's large. I'm warty.' The troll king sang.
'He's petite. I'm husky.' The Valkyrie sang while picking up the troll king with one hand.
"YO-TO-HO!" The chanting of the Valkyries followed by the growling of the trolls.
"Oh, no. The other Valkyries and trolls are coming." I warned them.
'Her Valkyries hate the trolls. Yet she loves me.' The Troll king sang.
'The Trolls hate the Valkyries. Yet I love he.' The Valkyrie sang.
'What ever shall we do? What shall we do? What shall we do, do, do, do, do?' They asked while singing.
'I got it.' Courage suddenly said before pulling out a long garment I've seen priests wear during a wedding. He then quickly told the two to hold hands. Once they did, he essentially began to commence the process of making the troll king and Valkyrie a married couple. As Courage neared the end of the ceremony, the Valkyries and trolls finally caught up but they were surprised by what they were seeing.
'Do you troll king take the Valkyrie to be your wife?' Courage asked.
"I do." The troll king answered happily.
'And do you Valkyrie, take the Troll King to be your husband?' Courage asked turning to the Valkyrie.
"I do." The Valkyrie answered.
'You may now kiss the bride.' Courage announced. The troll king and Valkyrie proceeded to do so.
'Love.' The Valkyries sand tossing away their weapons.
'Love.' The trolls sang while throwing away their weapons as well.
'Love will conquer all.' The trolls and Valkyries sang as they now embraced each other.
"Oh, don't you love weddings?" Muriel asked getting teary eyed.
"They're magnificent." Iris agreed wiping a tear away.
"Our joy would be increased. If you'd join us for a feast." One troll said walking up to us.
"YO-TO-HO! A feast!" The Valkyries shouted in agreement.
We then began to all sing a bit in unison at this new union between Trolls and Valkyries. Once we finished, we all began to talk a bit with each other. But soon, Nora pulled me away from the others.
"Yes Nora?" I asked
"Can Courage actually make two people officially married?" She asked looking at Ren with hopeful eyes.
"Yes. Courage is indeed certified. Though, he would need to print up a marriage certificate when we get back home... and she's gone." I began to answer but stopped when I realized she took Courage and Ren to another room.
"Looks like your friends are going to be married as well." Iris said walking up to me.
"Yeah. It was bound to happen at some point." I answered.
"Hey, before the feast happens, want to spend some time together alone." She asked. Smiling, I grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight.
"Sure." I answered. She smiled and we exited the tunnels to spend some time together. Happy that everything worked out and that Ren and Nora are going to married as well. But as we walked through the tunnels, Ren's question popped back into my mind.
'I wondered if we'll get married soon?' I thought as we exited the tunnel and sat down in a spot to simply watch the moon shine down upon us.
Note:
This was fun to write.
(1) Hard Drive Courage with Penny (2) Conway the Contaminationist with Weiss. (3) Little Muriel with Ruby.
Should Winter appear with Weiss in the Conway the Contaminationist?
Should Terra, Saphron and Adrian appear as well in Little Muriel?
Still working on Windmill Vandals, Magic Tree of Nowhere and Mission to the Sun. But expect them soon. Suggestions for who to appear are most welcomed.
Also, from now on, if you think Iris should appear in an episode, just say in the reviews please. Don't want to ask every chapter.
Song is called I Love You Too Much by Diego Luna and Gustavo Santaolalla.