Aiyanna hid behind a tree as they watched them. She thought the pointed-haired one would have noticed her but he ended up falling into the water in the time that it took for her to jump out of the bush and into a tree. The men seemed to genuinely care for Dagny, though she found it a bit alarming that they all looked at each other when Vinland mentioned the shiny rocks. Aiyanna frowned.
"Mother, why are they so interested in a bunch of rocks for? They're just rocks," she said. A mouth appeared on the branch near her ear. "The other nations are different from yours. They do barter and exchange goods, but many of them are turning to using certain shiney rocks as a form of what they call currency. It takes a lot of explaining, but the basics are that they use the rocks to trade for any goods or services they need instead of trading goods and services," said Mother Earth.
Aiyanna frowns. "I see...and they want the shiney rocks here? Why? Don't they have plenty in their homes?" she asked. "It's more complicated than that...the more of those rocks they have the more goods they can buy," said Earth. "Don't they just share goods if they don't have enough to contribute? What goods would they possibly need if they do their own hunting?" she asked.
"Well, the stones bring them a certain amount of power. The more of it they have, the more land they can own, the more people they can hire, the more things they can buy instead of making it or doing thing themselves," said Earth. Aiyanna gave the branch a confused look. "Buy land? How does one...own land? Own you? You're not something to be bought. People can't be bought," she said, slightly horrified.
Earth sighed. "I don't know how to put this in a way that will make you feel better but be truthful at the same time… Aiyanna, I've told you that the countries on the other side of the world has lost sight of what they call the "old ways" yes?" she asked. Aiyanna hesitantly nodded. "Well...They don't see me anymore. I don't believe many of the nations that still exist do. Some are close enough to me to be able to use magic...but not enough to talk to me the way that you do," said Mother Earth.
"B-But...They don't have any connection to you at all?" she asked. "I never said that...They have a connection. Each and everyone of them are connected to me. I'm the reason they are alive, muchless able to live as long as they have. It's when they start abusing that connection, me, or cut themselves off from that connection that they will start being negatively affected. It has happened before," she said.
"What do you mean?" asked Aiyanna, fear and distrust starting to twist in her gut. "There were men in a land call Egypt that would claim themselves gods or attempted to connect themselves to me. Because they were abusing their own power and forcing a connection with me beyond that of a people to the land, they all died in horrible ways. There have been empires, as well, that have tried to conquere as much as my children as possible. ...They two fell. I've tried to stop it...but when they abuse me it is only them that can reverse the effects," she said.
Aiyanna closed her eyes tight. "Mother...How often does it happen?" she asked. "Aiyanna, do not worry about it. There are still enough countries and tribes that respect me that it doesn't happen too much. A few of them are able to talk to me as you do, but others are only close enough to develop magic. I'm happy as long as my children and grandchildren are happy. You guys are my babies," she said, voice becoming light at the end.
"And what of them? Have they hurt you mother?" she asked. "Aiyanna, you need to give them a chance. Sure they may not act the same way you do, but they are still family. If you watch them, I'm sure you'd see that," said Earth. Aiyanna huffed, happy that the creek the Nordics, as Dagny called them, covered the conversation she was having. She watched as they killed fish without asking for them first, not even recognizing the death of the fish as they happily speared them.
After a couple of hours playing in the creek, Dagny got tired and laid out on the bank of the creek. "Wanna show us the shiny rocks now?!" asked Pointy-head as Aiyanna decided to call him. The scary one frowned. "Maybe next time…" he trailed off. Pointy-head pouted. "I wanted to go and see it now though! Can you imagine how great it would be if it's the kind of rocks we're looking for?" he asked excitedly.
"What do you mean? What rocks are you looking for?" asked Dagny curiously, still laying on the ground. "It's a special type of rock that is very...popular in our lands. It's rare but everyone who lives there want to have some. We were hoping to find some and bring them back!" said the happy one. Happy, Pointy, and Scary. That sounds like the beginning of a children's story.
"I'll show you! If it's really imprtant to you, I can show you! I'm not tired at all!" said Dagny, jumping up excitedly. Happy and Scary both gave her doubtful looks, well Scary just frowned a bit more than usual. "Are you sure Dagny? You were about to fall asleep on the beach a few seconds ago," said Happy. Dagny gave them puppy dog eyes. "I wanna show you the rocks! That's the entire reason we're out here!" she said.
Scary and Happy hesitated before Point-Head wrapped an arm around Dagny's shoulders. "C'mon guys! It can't be that far from here. And if she gets tired, we can just give her a piggy back ride back like we do with Emil!" he said happily. Happy frowned. "Mathias, Emil still looks like he's four or five. He's a lot easier to carry around," he said. Pointy-Head-No, Mathias, pouted.
"We came all this way though...Please Tino? I promise I'll carry her if she falls asleep on us!" said Mathias. Happy, Tino, sighed. "Fine, as long as you carry her back without pushing her too far. I don't want her passing out on us or making herself sick because of a few stupid rocks," he said. "The rocks aren't stupid! They're cool! I promise I won't need to be carried back," said Dagny.
Mathias blinked before grinning and running over to the picnic. "Here, have as many of these as you want!" he said, holding up some of the sweets Tino brought. Dagny blinked. "Really?" she asked hesitantly. Mathias grinned. "I know they're your favorite. C'mon. If you get hyped up enough on this you won't have to worry about falling asleep," he said. "No," said Scary. Tino blinked. "Mathias! Lukas would kill us if he found out!" he hissed.
"Then we don't tell him. It's not that bad of an idea. What's a few sweets?" asked Mathias before allowing Dagny to have the handful of sweets. Tino took a step forward to stop her before finding that she had already devoured the sweets. He blinked and sighed. "We blame you for anything that goes wrong Mathias, understood?" he asked. "Agreed," said Scary. Mathias rolled his eyes. "It'll be fine. Worry warts," he said.
"Let's just get going," huffs Scary. Tino elbowed him. "Don't be mean Berwald. If you're sure you're not too tired...I guess you can show us before the sugar kicks in," he said. Dagny jumped up and nodded before running over to the creek, hesitating. "It's on the other side of the creek...usually there's a branch or a log to help me over," she said. Berwald jumped into the creek and held open his arms. "Jump," he said simply.
Dagny didn't hesitate before jumping down into his arms. He gave her a smile before turning and placing her on the opposite side. "MY TURN!" shouted Mathias. Berwald just stepped out of the way and watched as the loud country bellyflopped into the creek. Tino winced before making his own way over to the other side. "Are you okay Denmark?" he asked Mathais. Mathias nodded before pulling himself out of the creek. He was dripping wet, all his clothes soaked.
"You're all wet," giggled Dagny. Mathias gave her a good-natured grin as he crawled next to her. "And you're going to be too," he said with a smirk. "What?" she asked in confusion before he started shaking out his hair like a wolf would next to her. She let out a squeal before attempting to get away. "Not so fast!" he pipes, grabbing her arm. "I want a nice big hug from you!" he said before giving her a brotherly bear hug. Tino and Berwald both smiled at the squeal that followed that.
He let go of her and gave her a grin. "Okay, now I think I'm dry enough to look for those rocks," he said. Dagny frowned slightly. "Won't you get sick if you don't change into something warm or at least dry?" she asked. Mathias waved her away. "Nope! Benefit of being a nation! We don't get really sick unless there's an epidemic or something in our countries or something wrong with our countries. If I do get sick over this, it'll be soemthing really small. Haven't you noticed that?" said Mathias.
Dagny slowly shook her head. "No...I know that I don't get as sick as easily as the settlers, but I still get sick every now and again," she said. Tino frowned. "That's strange…" he said, looking at Berwald with worry. "Probably because you're a new settlement," said Berwald simply. Aiyanna leaned forward, interested. Even her newer tribes don't tend to get sick unless it had something to do with their people. Perhaps that was because they had their mother taking the brunt of the effects though?
"Well..How sick do you get? If it's nothing serious I'm sure it's just what Berwald said," said Tino. Dagny shrugged. "I don't know...It doesn't seem to different from what the settlers get when they get sick. I haven't gotten seriously sick yet but none of the settlers have gotten anything worse than a cold. I don't know what to tell you. Let's go look at the rocks before it gets dark. Lukas gets worried when we're late for dinner," she said before skipping away.
The boys look at each other, a bit concerned. Aiyanna frowned. So it's not normal then. This has something to do with the prophecy. I know it. She crawled to the next tree, following the men and girl silently. She wanted to see what rocks Dagny kept talking about and why anyone would be so crazy as to come all this way just to see some rocks. Cheveyo was happily grazing in a field, a good thing because stealth was one thing she was sure the beast couldn't wrap his head around no matter how hard he tried.
After another hour of walking, the men started to tire. "Maybe we should head back to the settlement before we get stuck out here over night. We only have a couple of hours before it gets dark," said Tino gently. "We're almost there...Actually, we're already there!" she said before letting go of Mathias's hand and running over to a cave that was more of a crack in the stone than a cave. "Dagny, don't go in there!" said Tino, hand on the dagger at his waist.
"I'll be fine! I'm just gonna get you guys the shiny rocks!" she said, disappearing into the cave. Mathias frowned, squatting in front of the cave. "Dagny, we can't follow you in there if something happens. Just wait until we can get Lukas to use his magic to create a bigger opening," he said. "It's fine! Birger says the cave isn't likely to fall in. He also say all the bats are sleeping so you need to be quiet," she says back in a hushed whisper.
"Birger? Who is Birger?" blinks Mathias, turning to look at his brothers in curiosity. Tino shook his head. "There's only one Birger I know of...but he went missing…" he said. Berwald frowned slightly. "Imaginary friend?" he asks, shrugging. Mathais frowned but nodded. "Maybe...We'll ask Lukas. Remember when we thought his trolls were imaginary?" he said. "We don't want to see that again...I still think that Troll is the thing that keeps breaking my vases," said Tino.
Aiyanna frowned as well. "Mother, is it an imaginary friend or a manifestation due to her magic?" she asked. "Aiyanna, you can't expect me to give away all that child's secrets. Besides, she hasn't said anything about seeing spirits to anyone. I would have heard," said Earth. Aiyanna frowns. "I'll find out myself," she says before cupping her hands together and muttering a spell. When the spell was said, she blew into her hands and opened them, a clear bird of light flying out.
The bird flew over the men's head before flying through the stone. "What was that?" said Mathias, frowning. "It must have been the shadow of a bird flying overhead. Dagny, are you okay? You've been in there for a while," said Tino, voice tinged with worry. "I'll go in and try to find her," said Mathias, moving to the entrance of the cave. "You're too big..I might be able to fit though," said Tino. "I'm fine! I'm just having trouble finding one of the rocks since someone's blocking the light from the entrance," said Dagny.
The boys reluctantly moved from the cave entrance. Dagny ignored their murmering as she crawled. "Birger, do you see any of the shiny rocks?" she asks the little boy who was sitting by the entrance next to the weird shaped rocks. "I-I think they're by that wall over there," said the boy in a faint voice, pointing to the rock next to her. Dagny crawled over in that direction, not noticing the bird land next to Birger.
"Ooh, I think I found them. Can you hand me a rock so I can break it off?" she asks him quietly. "Who is she talking to?" asked Tino, having half the mind to go in there and tell her to come out. "Shh… Lukas said this could happen. We don't want to scare her," muttered Mathias, a serious expression on his face. "I-I can't...S-Sorry Dagny. I can't move anything. I'm not strong enough...I'm so cold…" whimpers Birger.
Dagny looked up, frowning. "It's not that cold...I can lend you my coat if you would like. Lukas will have to make another one soon. He thinks I'll be having another growth spurt in a few months," she said. Birger shook his head. "T-That's nice of you but I can't...It won't work like that," he said. Dagny gives him a curious look. "What do you mean by that?" she asks before glancing at the strange rocks next to him. "...Why are those rocks wearing rags?" she asked.
Birger blinked before turning and glancing at the rocks she was talking about. He gave the 'younger' girl a weak smile. "...Those are to keep the rocks warm. They're...special. Y-You should talk to your older brother about it, the one with white hair," he said in a gentle voice. "If you say so...Why are you over here anyways? I know your Mama and Papa are worried about you," she said, grabbing a rock and banging it against the shiny rocks.
Tino frowned as he listened to the exchange. "...I don't think it's an imaginary friend...The conversation is too strange for that," he said. Mathias shrugged. "It's probably a troll or fairy or something. She does have Norway's magic abilities, it could be that she sees things like he does," he said. Mathias nodded and leaned back against the cave until he heard banging noises. "You okay?" he shouted. "Yep! Almost done!" she whispered back, careful of the bats.
Aiyanna was also frowning as she watched the men speak. The projection she sent out was a weaker one that would only report back, it wouldn't allow her to hear and see what is going on unless she wanted to use a stronger spell. She didn't think the girl was worth expending too much energy over and besides, the bird would be able to see any apparitions that the girl may be unconciously communicating with.
Dagny turned back to Birger and gave him a sweet smile. "Well...thank you for your help. You should go home soon. It's going to get dark and you wouldn't want to be stuck in this cave," she said. Birger swallowed but nodded. "I-I'll try...I hope you like the rocks. If you ever need help looking for more of them, I'd be happy to," he said, the ten year old trying not to cry. Dagny smiled. "Okay! Thank you!" she said before crawling back through the opening.
Mathias jumped when Dagny, looking a bit dusty, came out of the opening next to him. "You okay kid? We were getting kinda worried at how long it was taking!" he said. Aiyanna frowned. "They should be more worried about her going in there and causing the cave to collapse," she muttered to herself. "I'm fine! Here are the rocks I was telling you about! Pretty great right?" she asked, holding out a piece of black, slightly metallic, rock in her hand.
Mathias stared at it for a few seconds, face looking conflicted. "...That's the rock we went through all this trouble for?" he mumbled. Dagny's face fell with disappointment. "Y-You don't like it?" she asked quietly, taking a hesitant step back. Berwald glared at Mathais. Berwald glared at him as Tino crouched in front of her. "No, we like the rock!...It's just not what we were expecting," he said gently.
"Shouldn't have expected her to have gold," said Berwald, lecturing Mathias. "You had the same expectation. I don't see how I'm suddenly the bad guy! Don't tell me you aren't the least bit disappointed," muttered Mathias, not looking Berwald in the eye as he kicked at the ground slightly. Dagny's chin wobbled and she dropped the stone before running into the forest, shocking her older siblings.
"Dagny! Come back! I said I was sorry!" shouted Mathias before starting to chase her. Tino and Berwald glanced at each other before chasing after him. After a few yards into the forest, Mathais leaned against a tree. "I can't find her. She found a way to cover her own tracks," he said. "...Lukas was teaching her how to use magic to do that in case she was ever in trouble," said Tino quietly.
Berwald glared at Mathias. "Why did you say that to her? You knew she wanted to impress us," he said quietly. "I know alright! I'm sorry I was blunt...but I was disappointed. You guys were too, don't lie. I saw the looks on your faces. You wanted that gold just as badly as I did," he muttered. Tino sighed. "We wanted the gold...but we didn't want to hurt her feelings. She can't help it if she doesn't have gold," he said.
"Now she's gone," muttered Berwald, frowning as he looked around them. "We should go look for her...Lukas is going to kill us when he finds out," said Mathias. Tino frowned. "How are we going to look for her? It's a big forest and she was the one who guided us to this spot. I'm not even sure where we're at. You're right about one thing...Lukas is going to kill us," said Tino, hand clenching the dagger at his side.
Mathias sighed, running a hand through his har. "We can't split up...It's going to be dark soon and we don't know the area well...Our best bet is to go find our way home somewhere, see if she beat us there, and have Lukas use a spell to contact her or track her down. She's a smart kid. I don't think she'd go around looking for trouble if she can help it. I'll take the fall guys. It was my fault to begin with," he said, making the others blink in surprise that he was taking this seriously.
"Good idea...How do we find our way back though? She was the one that showed us the safest way. Dagny seemed afraid of us straying from the path," said Tino. Berwald simply pointed at the sun starting to go down before walking off. "Great idea Waldy! Hey, when Lukas kills me make sure to throw some salt on the funeral pyre. I want the flames to change color," said Mathias before running to catch up to him.
"I'm sure he won't be too mad...It was an accident. You didn't know that she was just going to run off. You didn't outright try to hurt her feelings. We shouldn't have let her crawl into the cave to begin with. We weren't sure it was safe and none of us would have been able to help her if something had happened," said Tino. Berwald nodded. "Lukas will be making three funeral pyres," he said.
Hey guys! Has anyone guess what the prophecy means? I might actually tell you if you're right or not. Reviews greatly appreciated!