Dagny finally made it back to the settlement...her settlement. She couldn't help but find the sensation odd. I treat the settlers and the buildings and camp as different...but they're really the same as me. They are me. I suppose I should get to know them like Aiyanna said. A hand gently came down on her shoulder, making her jump. "There you are Dagny! Lukas was looking for you. Did you have a nice walk in the woods?" asked Tino.
Dagny nodded. "I did! Where's Big Brother? I'll go find him now," she said. Tino smiled. "He's in his house. Did you have dinner yet?" he asked. Dagny shook her head. "You should get something to eat. I'm sure Berwald has something already made up if you'd like to eat with us," he said. "No, I appreciate it but I don't want to worry Lukas any longer. Maybe after I meet with him I can come over to your house," she said.
Tino smiled. "I hope you do then. I'm sure Mathias is wondering where you are as well. Berwald thinks he's going to wander off into the woods to look for something cool or fun to do. Could you please look for him when you're done with Mathias and find a way to distract him?" he asked. Dagny giggled. "I'll do that. Is he at Lukas's house then?" she asked. Tino smirks. "Yep. He doesn't seem to wanna go to his own house, does he? He's always at someone else's house to annoy them," he said.
Dagny let out another giggle before giving Tino a quick hug and running off into the direction of the Norweigian's house. She sprinted into the house, nearly knocking the Norweigian off of his feet when she crashed into his kitchen. Lukas blinked before smiling at the girl. "There you are. I was wondering when you were going to be back. You get anything to eat while you were wandering around?" he asked.
Dagny shook her head. "I wanted to wait until I came back so I wouldn't spoil my appetite," she said. Lukas smiled and stood up. "You're in luck Lillesøster (little sister). I just finished making some mackeral. There's also some Lefka to go with it. Did you have a nice walk?" he asked. Dagny nodded, happily watching him set the plate out. Lukas smiled and set the plate in front of her.
"The idiot is upstairs if you want to talk to him. He has the stupid idea that there's a secret city in the wilderness that he can go raid. Can you think of anything you can distract him with? I've tried everything but he won't stop bugging me about it," he said. Dagny tilted her head. "What did you try?" she asked. Lukas smirked. "Ignoring him. That's why he's sulking upstairs," he said.
Dagny snorted without thinking before taking a bite of her food. "I'll go show him some cool rocks I found, but I want to ask you something first. Can you teach me more magic?" she asked. Lukas smirked. "Of course little one, but why are you suddenly so enthusiastic about your lessons?" he asked. Dagny made a face. "Well, I have to get really good if I want to do any of the cool tricks you do, don't I?" she asked.
Lukas nodded. "You have a point there. Tell you what, you get Mathias off my back about all of this raiding nonexistant civilizations business and I'll have more time to do your lessons," he said. Dagny raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't he just bug you about it a little bit later when he gets bored again?" she asked. Lukas smirked. "Of course he would but that doesn't mean I wouldn't appreciate the peace and quiet while it lasts," he said.
Dagny smiled and finished her food, getting up to wash the plate and cup and put the dishes away. "You said he was upstairs?" she asked. He nodded, rolling his eyes. "He got into the wooden building blocks he made for you. Said he was building his own castle out of them to surprise you with. The dork," said Lukas. Dagny smiled before turning around and running upstairs to her room.
"Mathi-" she stopped when she opened the door and found him sitting on the floor, in the middle of a giant wooden castle. "Do you like it!" shouted Mathias, grinning at her. She opened her mouth to answer yes when a wall of the castle fell down from the noise. He pouted. "They always fall down...I wonder why," he said. Dagny pokes one of the fallen bricks. "Big Brother says it's because you're too loud," she said.
"No...That can't be it. Hmmm...I know! It's because the bricks don't stick together. I know! I'll use honey or something to make them stick!" he said. Dagny made a face. "Wouldn't that get really sticky or messy?" she said. Mathias waved her away. "That's not the problem. I'm sure if I'm really careful it won't be anything to worry about!" he said. Dagny grinned. "Okay...Can I help you reassemble the castle if you decide to use honey?" she asked.
"Of course! We can play make believe when we're done rebuilding it! But first, I want to go out and see if there's any treasures we can find! You must have found something cool if you keep wanting to wander around outside!" he said. Vinland hesitated but nodded. "There are some things I can show you. We should get some food and stuff so we can have a picnic while we're exploring!" she said.
Mathias grinned. "That sounds great! You know who would have picnic stuff? Waldy and Tiny. Let's go!" he said, jumping up and ramming his knee into another wall of the castle. Denmark's face fell. "Aw man...When we get back I'll be sure to fix all that with the honey," he said. Dagny tilted her head. "Do we even have that much honey with us? It's going to be getting colder soon…" she said, doubtful Mathias was going to be able to get his honey to complete the castle any time soon.
"Don't worry! We're immortal so we have plenty of time! Besides, maybe we get lucky and come across some bee hives during our picnic!" he said. Dagny wrinkled her nose but nodded. "Let's go visit Berwald and Tino," she said. He grinned and picked her up, giving her a piggy back. "Okay then! Off we go! You got a good grip up there? Lukas will have another fit if I drop you again," he said.
They go downstairs and Lukas blinks when he sees them. "What are you two up to?" he asked. "We're going to see if Tino and Berwald will make us a picnic basket so we can go exploring!" he said. Lukas rolled his eyes. "Just don't bother them too much. Dagny, tell Tino that dinner will be over here tonight. Make sure you two don't eat too many sweets before dinner," he said. Mathias made a face. "I'm not a baby Lukas. I'll eat as many as I want," he pouts.
Lukas rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just get out of my house," he said. Mathias grinned. "We'll be back before it gets dark! See you later!" he said before practically running out of the house. Dagny squeaked and tightened her grip on Mathias. After a few minutes, they made it to a small log cabin. Mathias promptly pounded his fist on the door. "Anyone home?! I have Dagny with me so you can't just lock me out Waldy!" he said teasingly. The door swung open revealing a frowning Swede. "Don't call me Waldy," he said.
Dagny scramled from Mathias's back and quickly hugged Berwald before the two could get into a fight. A slight smile appeared on Berwald's face. "How are you Dagny?" he asks. Dagny smiled. "I'm doing good! I had a fun time in the woods. Mathias and I are going on a picnic so I can show him some of the cool stuff I found! We were hoping that you could help us make the basket up," she said.
Berwald glanced at Mathias. "Let me guess. He was too impatient to make the basket up himself?" he asked. Mathias looked away, whistling. Dagny tugged on Berwald's sleeve. "Well, I like your food better. You make the best meatballs and I like Tino's sweets," she said, look at him sweetly. Berwald sighed. "I suppose I can whip something real quick. Tino will be coming over soon. I'm sure he'll have some sweets already made up. He usually brings some when he comes over," he said, ignoring Denmark's teasing grin at this piece of information.
Dagny grinned and followed Berwald into the cabin. Berwald turned to Mathais. "Sit in this chair where I can see you and don't touch anything," he said. Mathias gave him a look of hurt. "Why? Don't trust me? I'm not going to take anything!" he said. "It's not you taking anything that I'm worried about. You have a tendency to break anything you touch. If you break any more pieces of furniture, especially the table that you've already broke three times, I'm snapping your battle axe in half," said the Swede.
Mathias shrank back. "Okay, I'll be more careful. I already said sorry for breaking it the first two times...It was an accident. I totally thought that baby polar bear was tame," he said. Dagny giggled. Berwald rolled his eyes. "You can't just bind yourself to any animal you see Mathias. If you want it to actually be your companion through the ages, it has to be compatable," he said. Dagny looked at Berwald. "What do you mean?" she asked.
Berwald blinked before remembering that she was new enough to all this, despite her older age, at least for a nation, of eight years old, that she didn't know about a lot of things about their kind. Before Berwald could explain, Tino came into the house, smiling while holding a tray of the predicted sweets he'd bring. Mathias grinned, waving his hand at Tino. He nearly knocked the lamp on the table over in his excitement. Dagny quickly fixed it before it could break or start a fire.
"Oh! Hi Mathias and Dagny! You're just in time for some sweets I brought for Berwald! It's nice to see that you returned from the woods safely, Dagny," said Tino cheerfully, as he placed the tray of sweets on the table. "Actually, Dagny and Mathias want some sweets and meatballs for a picnic they'll be going on," mumbled Berwald, picking up a cookie and taking a bite. Tino smiles. "Is that so? That will be fun!" he said.
"You guys can go with us too if you want!" said Dagny. "Ja! She's going to show me some cool stuff she found while exploring," said Mathias, bumping the table and making the lamp rock. Tino settled it without looking, doing his best to do so in a way where Berwald wouldn't notice and get upset at Denmark. "That sounds like a lot of fun! Are you sure you don't mind us going?" asked Tino. "Of course not," said Dagny.
Tino grinned. "I'll go and make up the picnic basket. Dagny, would you care to help me?" he asked. Dagny hopped down from her chair and scampered over to his side. "Sure! What is it that you want me to do?" she asked. "Could you help me wrap these sweets in cloth so they won't get all mushy?" he asked. Vinland nodded, jumping to help him. Mathias grinned as he stood up. "Sweden, you need any help making those meatballs?" he asked. Berwald sighed. "You can pass me ingredients," he said. Mathias nodded.
When they were finished packing up the picnic basket, Berwald handed the basket to Mathais. "Be careful not to lose this...On second thought, Tino, do you want to carry it?" he asked, ignoring Mathias pout. Tino nodded and took the basket. "Okay! Dagny! Where to first?!" asked Mathias happily. "There's a creek nearby. But you guys need to stick close. I don't want to have to go looking for you if you wander off," she said, giving Mathias a pointed look.
"Don't worry! I won't wander off like I did last time!" he said. "You wandered off the top of a cliff and we had to drag your dead body back here and hide it until you could reanimate," mumbled Berwald. "That was one time!" protested Mathias. "Just try not to do it again, okay Denmark?" asked Tino gently. "I swear I saw someone in the forest. I just wanted to talk to them," he muttered.
"Imaginary friends," muttered Berwald. Mathais snorted. "I think you got me mixed up with Lukas, Waldy. Fine. I won't wander off to do my own exploring. But I am taking my axe with me!" he said, waiting for the others to protest. Berwald just nodded. "Safer that way. I'll bring my sword," he said, leaving the room and coming back with it sheathed. Tino smiled. "I think we're ready to go whenever you are Dagny," he said. Both Berwald and Mathias nodded.
Dagny nodded and led them out of the house and into the forest. A few of the settlers gave them respectful nods but no one seemed to find their leaving all that surprising. They were used to Dagny and the other nations going into the forest to explore, especially Dagny. Mathias hummed happily as they walked through the forest, Tino following behind him with a smile. "Too bad Norway couldn't join us. He usually loves my fish-shaped cookies," said Tino.
"He wasn't feeling good. Said he had a headache," lied Dagny, not wanting to make Mathias upset with th real reason Lukas decided not to come with. Berwald smirked slightly. "Is that so? I hope his headache is not contagious," he said. Tino's face filled with concern. "Is that so? I'll be sure to swing by later to bring him a fresh batch of cookies. Maybe we should go back and check up on him," said Tino.
Mathais waved away Tino's concern. "I'm sure he's not as sick as you think. I'm sure a nap will do him good! But if you make a batch of cookies, I won't stop you. Especially, if you make those ones with powder on top!" said Mathais. Tino frowned. "I told you I'd only make cookies if there's a good reason for it. We only have so much sugar and flour with us," he said. "Doesn't stop you from making Berwald sweets, does it?" teased Mathias.
Tino's face turned a bit pink. "That's different. I use honey to make those. It doesn't waste our sugar supply," he said. Mathais perked up. "You have honey? Can I have some? I need it for a project I'm working on!" he said. "What project is that?" asked Berwald, raising an eyebrow at his spikey-haired frenemy. "I'm building Dagny a castle out of blocks!" announced Mathias with pride.
Tino blinked. "Wouldn't that get really stick and messy?" he asked. "No it's perfect! It'll be like mortar, but unlike mortar it doesn't get all hard and stoney! That means the blocks can be taken apart and put back together in different projects without being easy to knock over!" said Mathais. Berwald blinked. "You're still trying to find away to improve wooden blocks?" said Berwald, remembering how last time he did that Mathias had used lard to try to stick them together.
"Yeah! I feel like I'm really close! It can't be that hard to created the ultimate building blocks!" said Denmark happily, swinging his axe in excitement. Dagny squeaked and ducked in time. Berwald scowled and easily took the Dane's axe away. "You're going to accidentally behead someone and make them spend the next week in bed," he said. "My bad! Sorry Dags!" said Mathias, snatching his axe back.
"When do I get a weapon?" asks Dagny curiously. "If it were my choice you'd already have one. Weapons are cool!" said Mathias. Berwald huffs. "Too bad you don't seem to know how to properly manage one," he said. Mathias growled out a challenge the two began taunting each other. Dagny blinked before looking at Tino, afraid that her older brothers were going to start fighting. Tino gave her a reassuring smile, taking her hand before turning to the two.
"You're scaring Dagny. You guys have to remember that she hasn't seen nations fight before. She doesn't need to see that now. You guys promised Norway that you two would behave around her," he lectured. Berwald blinked and Mathias frowned before both of them looked a bit ashamed. "You're right. We're sorry…" said Mathias. "It won't happen again," affirms Berwald with a nod. Tino nods before smiling at Dagny. "It's okay. Let's get to the creek so we can eat!" she said.
She led them to the creek. "Cool! We should follow where it goes!" said Mathias. Dagny mentally panicked, remembering that the tribe she first saw Aiyanna lived downstream. Something told her that she shouldn't have them meet so soon after the failed attempt of getting information from Snake. "Let's have a picnic first….I'm hungry. Ooh, and I haven't shown you the cool shiny rocks I found!" she said.
All three older nations stopped what they were doing and looked at her. "Shiny rocks? What kind of rocks?" asked Mathias, interest piqued. "I don't know what kind they are…but I think they're kinda pretty. They look different from regular rocks...I don't know how to describe them. We can go look for them after we play in the creek. Can I have a meatball Tino?" said Dagny, ignoring the look Mathias shared with Berwald.
Tino gave her a smile. "Of course Dagny! There's a couple of water skins over there. You and Mathias can share one, okay?" he said. Dagny nodded and served herself some food. "Where are the shiny rocks at? Do you see a lot of the around here?" asked Mathias, sitting down next to her. Dagny shrugs. "I guess so...I don't see why you're so curious about some rocks. I'll show them to you after we play in the creek. There's cool fish in there," she said.
Mathias was about to argue but Berwald jumped in. "Do you think we could manage to catch some? Maybe I can teach you how to fish," he said. Mathias grinned. "Yeah! I'm great at fishing. I bet we can catch plenty of fish between the four of us to bring back to the settlement so we don't have to go hunting for a little while," he said. Dagny smiled. "Okay! I wanna learn so next time I explore I don't have to eat only berries," she said.
Tino grins. "Hopefully we can get enough fish to surprise Lukas with! He'd be so happy if we came back with a fish or two each. He might even fry them up for us," he said. Dagny grinned before finishing her meal quickly and jumping up. "Can we go fishing now?" she asked. Mathais finished his meal with equal vigor. "Sure!" said Mathias, taking her hand and running with her to the creek.
"You don't have a net...and you haven't made a spear yet!" said Tino. "I'm gonna catch the fish with my hands! That'll make Lukas even more surprise when we show up and tell him that I caught all the fish only with my hands!" he exclaimed. "Just don't fall in. Or do. I don't care," said Berwald, slowly munching on his meatballs. "You don't mean that Swede," said Mathais. "You're right. Fall in. Just be careful not to drag Dagny in with you," was the reply.
"I won't!" said Mathias cheerfully. "Good because I can't swim," said Dagny, dipping a toe in the river. Mathias blinked. "You can't swim?!" he exclaimed. Dagny shook her head. "We're gonna have to teach you then!" he said before jumping into the creek. "Right now?" asked Dagny, blinking. "Yeah! You never know when you might need to know it!" he said. "We should probably see if she has any clothes she can get wet first. We don't want to make Lukas do laundry while he's sick," said Tino.
"Fine...Well now that I'm in the creek I might as well fish," said Mathias before bending over and swiping at various fish in the creek with his hands. Dagny sits on the beach, her feet in the swirling water. "Be careful Dagny," warned Berwald, where he was helping Tino clean up the creek. Tino looked up and nodded. "We don't want to end up going fishing for you instead," he said. Mathais grinned. "But we will pull you out if you fall in. You can bet on that," he said.
Dagny nodded and watched as Mathias slipped and fell into the water. She started giggling as he stood up, sputtering. "Are you okay?" she asked in between giggles. Mathias spat out some water and nodded, giving her a smile. "I was this close to actually catching one. I told you I could totally catch a fish with my hands!" he said. Berwald smirked and sat next to Dagny, handing her a large stick.
"What's this for?" she asked him. He took out his sword and a smaller knife. "We're making fishing spears," he said simply, handing her the smaller knife. Dagny took the knife, still looking a bit confused. Berwald used his sword to carve away at the tip of the stick. Dagny caught on to what he was doing and started transforming the tip of her stick into a point. After a few minutes of carving away at the wood, she looked up at Berwald for approval.
"Good job," he said with a nod. He then jumped down and gave her a hand, helping her jump into the shallower part of the creek where she could stand without being knocked down. "Try to get the bigger ones. Bigger fish more impressive than many fish," said Berwald. Mathias grinned from where he was trying to grab at the smaller fish. "Is that a challenge I hear?" he asked.
Berwald smirks before nodding. "Challenge accepted! Tino, wanna team up with me since Berwald's got Dagny?" asked Mathias. "Oh, um, I think I'm going to help Dagny fish so you two can fish without being distracted by us. I wouldn't want to get in your way Mathias. Besides, I'm sure you don't need my help," said Tino. "Thanks for the vote of confidence Tino! You're right! I'm the leader! I should be able to do this by myself!" announced Mathias before slipping once more.
Berwald smirked. "Nice," he said simply to Tino. Dagny looks between the two of them. "What's nice?" she asked curiously. "Nothing Dagny. Why don't we go check those rocks over there? Sometimes fish like to hide around in rocks. I'm sure Lukas would be tickled pink if you catch him a fish," said Tino. Dagny grinned and jumped up, running over to the rocks as fast as she could without slipping, Tino close behind.
Reviews appreciated! Also, have a safe and spooky halloween folks!