Ch. 4

"When will you set sail?"

Snotlout, Spitelout, and Stoick stood at the start of the docks. Men swarmed around a boat loading and preparing the ship. It was almost midday with a slight nip of the cold that could be felt.

Snotlout responded, "In the early morn. Astrid and I thought it best for the men and crew to sail fully rested."

The king nodded, "You said you and Astrid's plan was to relay what you find?"

Snotlout looked pleased as he nodded. "Yes. Astrid was very adamant with only taking along warriors, but I managed to convince her that Fishlegs was too intelligent to be left behind."

"Fishlegs?" Spitelout arched an eyebrow.

"Yes," Snotlout elaborated, "he is a scholar I met during one of my adventures. He has extensive knowledge of the outside world. He'll be too valuable in our plan."

Stoick gestured for Snotlout to continue, "Fishlegs will be journaling everything we encounter. The plan is to find whatever is inside Hell's Gate. Nothing else."

Stoick nodded while placing his hand on Snotlout's shoulder. "Good. That's what I like to hear."

Snotlout felt let a small smile form at the sight of Stoick's expression of contentment.

"My king," Spitelout's commanding voice took control of both men's attention, "may I have a word alone with my son?"

Stoick simply nodded and walked away.

With the king's presence absent felt, Spitelout stood before Snotlout. Snotlout's skin started whitening. The father of the two put his hand on the son's shoulders.

"I can't tell you how important this is, can I?"

Spitelout's dark expression made his son's throat develop and a lump in it. Snotlout's voice was tight and forced, "N-No, father."

Spitelout continued, "If this is where the nest resides, this could be what cements the Jorgensons in song. We could establish a family legacy that could last long after all of us have turned to dust."

"You remember your cousin, Hakon?" Spitelout questioned. "He was the last of the Haddock line, he was supposed to take the crown and maintain his and his father's blood and the power that came with it."

Snotlout nodded, "But he didn't."

Spitelout continued, "He didn't. But you will. Darkness is coming, I can feel it. And our family's status will be decided when it comes."

Snotlout's father got in close and put a hand on his face in a loving but firm gesture. "You were not born a god so you could grift around aimlessly on misadventures hunting monsters and fucking whores. I need you to be the god to lead our family and tribe. Can you do that?"

The young god improved his posture even more. "I can do that, father."

"Good." Spitelout started walking away. "Because if you can't that spells death for our tribe."

Snotlout was left with a racing heart as well as racing thoughts.

It was early morning when the group set sail. The dawn's light was a thrashing golden orange, with the air damp from the warm sunlight clashing with the cool air of the night.

Astrid stood with her arms crossed. Her blonde locks were done in her signature single plait with a large, hooded coat draped around her form.

"Beautiful morning."

Astrid looked over to the scholar Fishlegs as he was observing the sunrise with her. She nodded, "It is a lovely sight."

"So lovely," Fishlegs continued on, "that you'd forget that we're on a quest to the entrance to hell."

"Oh, I'll never forget," Astrid responded, "this is a song I'll tell my grandchildren."

"Assuming we survive long enough to find our objective."

Astrid arched an eyebrow, "Quite the pessimist, are we?"

Fishlegs smiled before shaking his head, "I'm a scholar, my lady, I don't have the luxury of looking at the world with hope. I base my understanding of the world from the material conditions of it."

"Why are you here then if you aren't one for optimism?" Astrid questioned with narrowed blue eyes.

"I am a scholar, my lady," Fishlegs bowed his head, "that occupation comes with an obligation of learning and understanding how the world works. Demons are perplexing anomalies and deserve to be understood like any other organism."

"They deserve to die." Astrid's tone held sharpened steel. Astrid's eyes closed with a whisper, "And I will be the one to kill them."

The blonde goddess looked towards her pudgy, rotund companion. "I hope your knowledge will be of utility to us. I'd hate to bring along dead weight."

"I assure you my technical understanding is leagues more useful than your arrogance."

With that Fishlegs walked away. A scowl marred Astrid's feature after hearing Fishlegs's jab. She sighed hard. She could care less, she was the Goddess of Cold Fire, the Lady of Heaven. Her status and future are beyond the opinions of mortal humans.

The night was spent on the deck of the ship. The ship crew and Berkians shared meals and drink with rowdy laughter and people. Everyone was paired up into groups and pairs sharing meals and stories through candlelight.

Astrid sat alone with her musky beer and dried meat. Her demeanor and body language conveyed somber contemplation.

"Hey," Snotlout called over to the blonde goddess, "why are you sitting alone? Come over and make merry."

Astrid's blue gaze traveled over to the young war god before going back to prioritize the chewing of dried food.

The captain of the ship—a grey-haired, tanned old bear—laughed, "And here I thought you two knew were going to entertain me and my crew with you two fucking each other silly?"

Snotlout barked out a laughed, "As amazing as that sounds, I'm a man of privacy. If I could fuck Astrid, the only audience we'd have is four walls."

Whether or not Astrid heard their conversation, Snotlout didn't let that deter his lewd humor. In fact, when it came to Astrid in general, he was never deterred from his pursuit of her.

"Hell's Gate," the captain's humor was starting to leave his voice, "why are you and your people determined to sail through it?"

Snotlout downed a swig of his mug, "We are on a quest to cure our homeland of a certain plague. We believe the cure lies beyond the Hell Gate."

"Do you understand what lies beyond the Gate," the captain spoke incredulously, "I hear the Gate isn't meant for mortal men."

The war god nodded, "We understand what might await us after entering the Gate. That it is why our king has sent us to pursue this mission."

"You?"

Snotlout laid back with a smug smile, "Let's just say me and my partner have certain sets of skills that make it hard for us to be killed."

The captain shrugged, "I guess. But if what the legends are said to be true—that it is a doorway to hell—I'd hate to be the man with a 'certain set of skills' going for me."

"Then why are you helping us?"

Snotlout turned to Astrid, whose sharp words cut through. He saw that her sharp, yet incredulous blue stare was trained on the captain. "If you truly think we are heading in the direction of the Underworld, why risk your life for a little bit of coin?"

"Because your king offered more than a 'little bit of coin'," the captain pushed back, "he paid me so handsomely some men could consider it charity. With what I was paid, I could establish myself as a lord."

"You don't believe in the stories and tales?" Astrid looked perplexed.

The captain nodded, "Nope. I did once until I met the Invisible God. Encountering him for the first time broke my superstition."

The captain's words triggered an onslaught of moans and sighs. The captain jumped to his feet. "I told you, you goatfuckers, he's real!"

Snotlout considered the somewhat annoyed looks of the other crew members. "The Invisible God?"

"You've never heard of the Invisible God?" The captain looked at Snotlout like he had just sprouted a second head.

"You'll have to forgive his uncultured ignorance," Astrid snarked, "Snotlout is understandably lacking in this area."

"Watch yourself, Hofferson," Snotlout growled, "I may fancy you, but there is only so much a prince will tolerate."

Astrid generally smiled when she saw her partner bristle. The captain saw the rising tension between the two and continued with his explanation.

"People call him the Invisible God. They call him that because rarely anyone has ever seen him."

"The Invisible God?" Astrid commented, "Not a very intimidating title."

The captain explained, "The rumors say that he wears a cloak of pure darkness sewn from the fabric of the night sky, and the cloak allows him to turn invisible and gives him lordship over the night itself. He is a trickster that uses cunning and wit to overcome anything that crosses him."

"Sun-kissed?" Astrid pushed further.

The captain continued, "It's said that he is so crafty and sly that he tricked the sun out of its fire."

"He tricked the sun?" Astrid didn't seem convinced.

"The story says he tricked the sun out of its fire and that's why we have the day and night. Because the sun is chasing him all the time trying to take back his stolen flames."

Snotlout took a swig of his mug, "Does he have a name other than the 'Invisible God'?"

"Rarely anyone has ever interacted with him. And anyone that has met him said that he shapeshifts into different forms or takes the form of a shade. So, no one truly knows what his name is and what he looks like."

"So how does everyone that's seen him know that he's the same person?" Fishlegs commented from one of the other tables, "A collection of correlating stories isn't enough to reach a reasonable conclusion."

"Everyone that's ever met him has mentioned that he doesn't cast a shadow." The captain finished.

Snotlout nodded, "So if you met him, how'd you meet him?"

The captain downed his entire mug before looking into Snotlout's eyes. He answered, "Because he was the only other person to ask me to sail them into Hell's Gate."

Astrid stopped mid-sip and her head snapped towards the captain. Snotlout's eyes widened, "Did he ever tell you why he was sailing there?"

The captain shrugged, "No. But considering you're the only other people I've heard about entering or wanting to enter the Gate, I'm guessing his reason was the same as yours."

Snotlout's mind raced with so many thoughts as Fishlegs pushed the sailor. "So, you've been inside the Gate, that means you know whether or not the Gate is an entrance to the Underworld or just an unexplored layer of the world?"

The sailor nodded with a smile, "I've been in there before. But what I saw was… Look, all I know is that when we enter the Hell Gate, we'll be entering a realm, not of gods or men. But something else."

Anyone saw the new Eternals movie? I just saw it, 4/10 I gotta say it was pretty mediocre. It's like they weren't even trying. I mean the only thing I liked was being able to eyefuck Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, and Salma Hayek lol.