Birger's Body- The Worst Food Chain of Them All
It took them a good hour to get back to the edge of the settlement, even with Cheveyo's speed. Dagny jumped off, followed by Aiyanna. "Where will you be? Will I need to bring Cheveyo back here when I'm done?" she asked. Aiyanna shook her head. "No, Cheveyo is able to immediately find me wherever I am. All you have to tell him is that it's okay for him to go...and maybe slip him some berries or something sweet," she said.
Dagny smiles and started to walk away, petting the side of the wooly beast, before stopping. "And where will you be? Do you want me to come back and tell you how it went?" she asked. Aiyanna shook her head. "I'll be heading home soon. You can tell me how it went the next time we see each other okay? I'm sure it will go well. If anything happens, Mother or Cheveyo would be sure to tell me," she assures her.
Dagny nodded before walking back toward the settlement, Cheveyo walking aside her. The buffalo's tail swished excitedly as he followed her into the village. Dagny giggled when she saw that Cheveyo was looking around at everything frantically, trying to take it all in. "Maybe some time when Aiyanna is being less shy, I can show you guys around," said Dagny cheerfully, adjusting Kuma in her arms.
After a few minutes, the two made it to the door outside Lukas's cabin. Dagny frowned as she squatted under a window, gesturing for Cheveyo to get down. She was quiet as she heard her brothers fight from inside the cabin. "What do you mean she just walked off? You spent all this time trying to come home before dark without making sure she was fine? I knew you were stupid, but I though you honestly had some common sense," hissed Norway.
"No choice. Best idea we had," huffs Berwald, stepping in, surpisingly, to defend Denmark. "We thought you could use your magic or one of the trolls to find her faster than we could. She used some sort of spell to cover her tracks so we thought your knowledge of magic would make it a lot easier to find her before it got dark. That and the horse are here," said Tino, also coming to Mathias's defense.
"Whatever. We need to get out there and search for her. Did you get the food, water, and bandages I told you to get?" huffed Lukas, sounding like he was at his last straw. "Yes," said Sweden. Lukas huffs one more time. "All of this because Mathias can't keep his mouth shut. What did you say again that made her mad?" he asked. "I was upset at some shiny rocks she brought us. She made me think they were gold and I got disappointed when they weren't," said Mathias.
"All of this over some stupid rocks? You couldn't be nice to her about it and just tell them they were great?" snapped Lukas. Dagny flinched. Lukas was mad...really mad. She glanced around, looking for his troll just in case she was in the way of it crashing into the house. "Mathias. You stay here and make sure that if she gets home, you find a way to tell us and that she's alright. I can't believe you were so stupid," said Lukas.
Vinland turned to Cheveyo. "Do you think I should go in there?" she asked quietly. Cheveyo bumped against her, nudging her toward the door. "Fine, Fine. I'll go in...but you hide behind the cabin where no one will find you. I don't want them thinking you're dinner," she said. Cheveyo whimpered before walking over to the side of the house she indicated. "That's weird...The spell says she's here…" muttered Lukas.
Dagny slowly opened the door, causing all four men gathered around the kitchen table to spin around and stare at her, most of their hands on their weapons. Lukas dropped his spell book before immediately hugging his little sister. "Where have you been? If you decide to ditch these idiots, you know to do it in a place you both now. You know the rules," he said. Dagny buried her face in her brother's shoulder.
"I'm sorry Storebror...I shouldn't have run off… Am I in trouble?" she asked quietly. "Nei. These goofs will be doing all of our chores for the next three weeks though," he said, playing with one of her curls. "What? That's not fair! We were going to look for her! I didn't know I was going to make her upset-" Mathias stopped when Berwald glared at him before clearing his throat and looking down. "You're right...I'm sorry. We'll do the chores. I should get do them all though...Tino and Berwald didn't make her upset," he said.
Everyone stared at Mathias, who looked at them confused. "What? I can be mature. How else did I become the leader?" he said. Berwald snorted. "Not sick then," he muttered. Tino laughed and Lukas smirked before looking down in Dagny's arms and blinking. "Where did you get the cub…?" he asked. The three others also paused, staring at it before Tino immediately started gushing over it.
"It's so cute! And so small! We need to return it to its mother so it doesn't get sick," he said. Dagny took a step back from him. "Nei. He and I are bonded now...He wouln't get sick...at least I don't think so," she said. When no one said anything, she glanced at Norway's astonished face. "I promise I'll take care of him. And I won't let him eat anyone. He's really sweet," she said.
"H-How did you…?" trailed Lukas, staring at her. Mathias grinned. "Looks like your little siblings have a tendency to make furry friends! Too bad we didn't bring Emil with us. He would have loved to play with her and Mr. Puffin," he said. "B-But...Usually only countries with no real guardian are able to develop a bond with an animal...or the animal has been with them most of their lives," said Lukas.
Tino's face fell. "...Does that mean we're not good guardians? Was it because of what we said?" he said, looking crestfallen. Guilt crossed the others' faces and created a knot in Dagny's stomach. "Of course not! You guys are good guardians...but you're not adults so maybe that's why I found Kumajiro. It could be the prophecy too. I don't know. Lukas, can we have mutton for dinner?" she asked, tugging on her brother's sleeve.
"After you tell me-" Berwald shook his head, cutting off Lukas before putting a hand on Dagny's shoulder. "We should get a blanket for your bear," he said simply, leading Dagny out of the room. Dagny perked up and started telling Berwald how she found Kuma crying in a bush and was able to help it out. Lukas frowned, turning to the others. "What is going on? Something obviously happened if Berwald cut me off," he said.
Tino fidgeted, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "We think its her magic...It's getting stronger," he said. Lukas gave them a leveled stare. "What do you mean by that? Has it been acting up? Has she been complaining about it?" he asked. Tino shook his head. "N-No it's nothing like that. I don't think she's even realizing she's doing it…" he said, not sure how to go about telling Lukas.
"She sees dead people," blurted Mathais, jumping in before Tino could dig himself into a bigger hole. Lukas blinked. "What?" he asked. "Do you remember Birger? The kid that went missing last week?" asked Tino cautiously. Lukas frowned. "Ja…" "When she went to go show us the rocks...she crawled into a cave that was too small for us to get into," started Tino, flinching a little when he saw Lukas scowl at that piece of information.
"And she was talking to him. Called him by name. Asked him why he wouldn't come home with us and why some funny looking rocks had bits of rags on them. She seemed pretty oblivious to what was going on…" said Mathias. "Which is a good thing...She doesn't need to see that," mumbled Lukas. "Do you think it could be her magic acting up?" asked Tino. Lukas sighed. "Tonight the three of us are going to the cave and see what these rocks are. Maybe we're lucky and it's just her imagination," he said.
"Lucky?" asked Mathias, looking confused as to how their little sister's imaginary friends being named after dead people would be lucky in any way. Lukas glanced at him. "I rather her to have imaginary friends that fade with time than for her to have to worry about seeing things no one else can see when she looks too old to be doing that. That, and the dead aren't always friendly, much less child-friendly," said Lukas.
Tino swallowed and Mathias frowned. "Okay. We'll go with you to the cave," said Mathais. Lukas frowned. "Someone has to watch Dagny and I don't think she's the happiest with you Mathias," said Lukas. "Tino can watch her!" said Mathias, already walking around the kitchen to gather up supplies. "I'm the smallest one out of us four. I'm the one most likely to fit into the cave," said Tino, frowning slightly.
"I'll watch her," said a voice, making them jump. The turned to find Berwald holding a jug of milk. "You don't mind?" asked Lukas. Berwald shook his head. "She wants me to show her how to feed Kuma. If she asks, I'll tell her that you guys had to go help one of the farmers mend a fence or something," he said. Lukas nodded. "Thank you Berwald. We'll try to be back before it gets too late. We're taking supplies so if we do get lost, we should be okay until morning," he said. Berwald simply nodded before going upstairs.
Lukas turned to Tino and Mathias, who were putting on extra coats and packing another picnic and medical kit. "I'll go get my coat and magic stuff. Stall if she comes in before I do," he said before walking out. Once he was out of sight of the other Nordics, he ducked into his room. "I'm glad you're here. I need you to watch the house, Dagny, and Berwald, but especially Dagny," he said.
The troll looked up from where he was sitting on Lukas's bed, flipping through one of the picture books he and Tino made for Dagny. "Dagny's magic had a growth spurt of some sort. I haven't confirmed it, but I need to investigate. Could you please stay here and keep an eye on her for me? If her magic acts up, I need someone with experience there to keep it from getting out of hand," he said.
The troll grunted, setting aside the picture book before towering over Lukas. Lukas gave him a small smile. "Thank you. I'll will try to be back as soon as possible," he said before grabbing the things he needed and going back to the kitchen to meet the others. "What took you so long?" asked Mathias with a smirk. "Dagny has been playing in my closet again. Had to figure out how she reorganized the closet," he said.
Tino smiles. "Well we got everything we need ready for the trip. Is there anything else that we should bring? Do you think we should bring along a horse?" he asked. Mathias shook his head. "She'd know the minute she realizes a horse is missing that we're not helping any of the villagers doing anything. Might as well go on foot. Mathias, if you get too annoying we're leaving you here," said Lukas.
The three of them started their trek, passing underneath the three that Aiyanna was lounging in. She looked up when she saw them heading in the direction of the cave. When they were far enough that they wouldn't hear her jump out of the tree and start to follow them, ducking behind trees. The boys chatted friendly enough among the three of them, well at least the two blond ones. The newcomer, Lukas is what Tino called him, seemed to be upset with the two of them.
Aiyanna frowned. Lukas had an aura of magic surrounding him. It was faint, as if he hadn't used any spells recently, but still there. She was going to have to be careful about how powerful her spells are if she uses any near him. She wasn't sure what type of magic he had so it was best to watch him for the time being. Aiyanna frowned as she followed their slow pace to the cave.
Surprisingly, Mathias was quiet the entire walk. Tino looked at him concerned but Lukas just outright ignored him. Aiyanna figured that they had a spat of some sort. She observed the boy closely, as well as she could from a distance behind them. He didn't have the same color as his sister. Dagny had slightly more golden hair. She didn't have his eyes either, though they had the same icey look to them, hers were a not quite blue and his was more violet.
Dagny certainly didn't have his personality either. He seemed cold and distant to the others and outright mean to Mathias. Aiyanna almost would have felt bad for the poor idiot if he didn't keep smiling it off. Tino acted as if the entire thing was normal. She could see the resemblance between Tino and Lukas but Berwald and Mathias didn't strike her as sharing any features that resembled the others. When they got to the caves, Aiyanna was quick to hide once again.
"This is it? These are the caves you let her wander around?" asked Lukas, causing both Mathias and Tino to flinch slightly. "We said we were sorry!" said Mathais. "I should have gone after her Lukas. It was a stupid thing to do," said Tino. "Mathias hold this and don't mess with it," he said, handing Denmark the heavy book. "Aye Aye Norge!" said Mathias happily. Lukas peeked into the cave, looking around. He frowned and held his arm out, muttering a spell that caused his hand to glow before backing up.
"I don't see any bones. Tino, are you up for looking for them?" he asked. Tino nodded, taking off his coat before squeezing into the hole. "Okay, I'm in but I can't really see. Can you do that light trick you were doing before please?" he asked, panting from the effort it took to wiggle his way through the cave entrance. Lukas muttered an affirmative before peeking back in and holding up his hand. "Tell me where to point," he said.
"I will," said Tino, begging to crawl around the cave before yelping when something cracked underneath him. He looked down and swallowed. "Lukas...Shine that light over this way please," he said, backing up slightly. "What is it? Did you find something? Crap, we forgot about the bats. Did they not leave to hunt yet?" asked Mathias with a bombardment of questions.
"N-No...I think I found Birger…" said Tino slowly, staring at what he had cracked. "Tino, tell us what's going on. Do we need to find away to come in after you?" asked Lukas. Tino shook his head, eyes tearing up. "I-I found his skeleton...B-But I a-accidentally stepped on his footbones and broke some of them. W-What are we going to tell his parents?" asked Tino. Lukas hesitated, not being the best at comforting people.
"Tino calm down. We'll find a way to tell them. Right now Lukas needs to find out what's been going on with Dagny. Then we'll figure out a way to bring the bones back...or should we just tell his parents and have them come here?" said Mathais. Lukas shook his head. "It's a long walk out here. Too long to let them contemplate what happened to him as we travel here. We'll bring the bones back as respectfully as we can," he said.
"O-Okay...Well what is it that you need to do Lukas?" said Tino. Lukas sighed and looked around the cave once again. "I don't see him…" he said. Tino frown. "See him? See who?" he asked. "Birger. I'm not sure if he doesn't have enough energy or if he's shy around groups or older kids. He might sense that we're not from here too, but his family is Norweigen so that shouldn't be enough to scare him away," he said.
"You aren't making any sense Lukas...but okay. Whatever you say. How can we help? Should we call his name or something?" asked Mathias cheerfully. Aiyanna rolled her eyes. If anything, she felt sorry for the dead child for having to have these boys handling his death. Lukas sighed. "You and Tino might scare him...he probably can feel that you don't have any music. I'm going to try to call him so just keep quiet okay?" he said. Mathais nodded.
Once Mathias and Tino were both quiet, Lukas whispered into the cave. "Birger, it's me Lukas. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Dagny's older brother. These two here are Tino and Mathias. We're from the village. Are you there? I can see you if you decide to take on a form," he said softly. "It just got colder…" whispered Tino, sounding slightly frightened. Lukas lifted a hand to quiet him, focusing on spotting the dead boy.
When after a few seconds Birger didn't show up, Lukas tried one last time. "Birger, you're not in trouble. We've been worried about you. You're parents are worried about you. Can you please tell us what happened?" he asked. They waited a few minutes. Nothing. Aiyanna frowned. Usually spirits of the dead come to here without asking. Perhaps it was her type of magic or her connection to the spirit world.
Lukas sighed. "Alright. I suppose it was Dagny's imagination. Mathias, do you have the empty crate I told you go grab?" he asked. Mathias nodded, face sober as he puts the empty wooden box next to Lukas's foot. "Okay Tino, you can start handing me the bones," said Lukas quietly. Tino nodded, chin wobbling slightly as he began to hand him the bones. "He was a good kid...He was the one who helped me get Berwald's horse back after Mathias spooked it," he said.
The three worked quietly. "This is the last of it...His skull and a necklace he was wearing," said Tino in a hushed voice, placing them in Lukas's hand. As Lukas turned to deposit them in Mathias's waiting hands, he jumped back when Birger appeared, standing over the crate. "What are you doing!?" he asked indignatly, tears streaming down his see-through cheek.
Mathias quickly caught the skull just as Lukas dropped it. "What's wrong Lukas?" he asked, surprised by the stunned look on Lukas's face. Lukas ignored him. "Birger, you are here. Why didn't you come earlier?" he asked quietly. Birger shook his head. "What are you doing with my bones? Where are my parents? I want my parents!" he said. Lukas swallowed. "Birger, we're taking your body back to your parents. We didn't want to have to tell them and make them walk the entire way out here worrying. We'll make sure you get a proper burial," said Lukas.
Birger's lip wobbles. "Where's my necklace? My sister made it for me before we left her behind in Norway. W-Who's going to tell her about me? I want my necklace to go back to her," he said. Norway nodded. "Of course. Could you tell me what happened?" he asked softly. Birger stared at the necklace in Norway's hand for a second before slowly nodding. "J-Ja...But why can you see me? Why can Dagny?" he asked.
Lukas sighed. "Dagny and I are...special. I don't know how to explain it…" he said. Birger's eyes widened. "Are you and your brothers special too? You guys are countries aren't you!" he said excitedly. Lukas blinked but relaxed slightly. A lot of times younger kids or the elderly were able to easily guess what they were. "We're countries..I'm Norway, Mathias is Denmark, Berwald is Sweden, Tino is Finland, and Dagny is the Settlement of Vinland," he said.
Birger glanced up at Lukas. "S-So...You'll be sure to take care of my body right? You'll find a way to tell my sister? Please? You can find a way to do that…" he said. Lukas nodded and patted the child's head, ignoring the fact that his hand went through him partially. "Of course...but how were you able to figure it out?" he asked, ignoring Mathias's stunned look. "You guys have old eye...And you know everything there is to know about the country and all the old stories," replied Birger, happy he had figured it out.
Lukas smiled slightly. "How many people have figured it out?" he asked. Birger attempted, and failed, to kick a rock. "Just me and the three boys I hang out with…I tried to tell my parents but they said I was being silly. They say you knew all of that because you were the one who tutored the clan leader's son. I'm sorry...I shouldn't have told them. B-But they didn't believe me! They think it was a silly story so they won't get mad!" he said.
Lukas waved it off. "People your parents' age never believe it until they get a lot older. Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. I just want to know what happened to you. How did you get stuck in the cave?" he asked. Birger sighed. "I was exploring! Like the older boys get too. They wouldn't let me join them on their trip so I followed them...and got lost. It started raining so I hid in the cave.
"But the rain didn't stop for a couple of days. I was hungry and forgot to bring food or water. I-I tried to drink the rain water, but I forgot my waterskin. I tried to use my hands the first day and got sick...I don't know what happened the next few days, but I think I remember people near the cave. They talked funny. I didn't know what they were saying. T-Then one day I woke up and I wasn't in my body anymore...I couldn't leave the cave. A-And a wolf came in a-and..." he said, starting to tear up.
Lukas tried not to shudder at that last fact. He knew it was a freaky enough experience being attacked by a wild animal...but to watch them eat your body…. "I'm so sorry Birger. I promise, we'll tell your parents what happened. We'll even give you a funeral at sea like the explores do, okay?" he asked the dead child softly. Birger's lip wobbled as he gave Lukas a grateful smile. "T-Thank you…" he said before disappearing.
Reviews appreciated! I'm not sure if I'll be able to post next week, but I'll certainly be posting the week after! Lemme know what ya think!