Hola! Feliz navidad, everybody! And happy new year! For my resolution, I pledge to write more often! Promise!
Leif? Hmm… Surprisingly not-weird name. On Berk, children are named with horrible names to protect them from evil spirits, seeing as somehow bad names make children unappealing. I got away lucky, as a lot of girls do. But a boy with a normal name? Strange.
"Nice name. I'm Birg," I said casually, as if I met half-freezed foreighners every day.
"Birg? That's weird…" He sounded dazed, and I grew worried that he might have hypothermia. Reaching out to feel his forehead, I accidentally smacked him in the nose.
"Hey!" Leaping up, he stumbled and fell into me. He laughed, and I joined in wholeheartedly.
"Sorry," he said in a voice that portrayed no apology. I rolled over, dumping him facefirst into the snow. He yelped, but didn't seem overly injured. Anyone who could be this casual having just washed up on an unknown island. I felt Leif scramble up, shaking the snow out of his vest with a shudder. He began walking around, apparently taking in the scenery. Then, suddenly, I couldn't hear him anymore.
His voice rang out from above me, and I jumped.
"Wow! You can see everything from here! The sea- it's so amazing!" He sounded jubilant, and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.
"Really?" I called. "What can you see?" I wanted to know how the sea looked to someone who hadn't grown up with these waves and cliffs, someone who might not have seen the sea at all. Wait- he was washed up, so maybe once before.
"Just climb the cliff a bit, and you can see halfway to Valhalla!" Leif was on a cliff, which meant we could climb out! I frowned.
"Which way is the cliff?"
"What?" he called, "It's right over here! You can't possibly miss it. Just look at how far you can climb up!" I tottered around with my arms out, seeing as Leif hadn't told me if there were any trees between myself and the cliff face.
"What're you doing? Just look-" He broke off with a bit of a choke, then thumped down near me. Wow. He was strong, cool, funny and coordinated.
"Um, Birg?"
"Yeah?"
"You really can't see the cliff?"
"No, or else I would have climbed out already," I said with a roll of my eyes.
"But- Birg, are you… Are you blind?"
Then I realized why he'd been so strange towards me. Or rather normal. He hadn't noticed my blank stare, or the milky filter across my eyes. I was so used to people knowing I was blind that it hadn't occurred to me that he wouldn't. He thought I was just a normal, albeit strange girl.
"Yeah, I'm blind. I can't see anything more than light and dark. I could only tell you were there because I heard you breathing, and felt the warmth from your body. I fell down here, and I didn't know where I was or that there was any way to get out. I'm assuming Wink went to get help, but…" I bit my lip, just remembering that Wink had fallen at least part of the way with me.
"Wink?" He sounded confused.
"Oh, right. Wink's my-"
SCREEE!
A horrible shriek split the air. It scared me half to death, but I was overjoyed when I recognized this particular call.
"Wink went and got help! Hey, Leif, this is Hiccup and Toothless!" I smiled in his general direction, but over the flapping of enormous wings and the calls of the dragons, I hadn't heard his strangled scream.
"D-Dragons! Run, Birg! I'll kill it! Run!"
"No! Stop!" But it was too late. He rushed at the Night Fury with a broken stick, which I could hear him smacking against the ground. Toothless let out a startled churr, then reared and swatted at him with his massive black claws. I heard Leif grunt in pain, then gasp as he hit the ground.
"STOP IT!" Hiccup's command brought Toothless back under control and allowed me to run in the direction of the gasp.
"Leif! Leif, are you okay? Say something!" I was sobbing now, letting my tears run down my cheeks and onto the snow. I could feel his breath, but I didn't want to touch him in case he was seriously injured.
"R-run…" he gasped weakly, leading me to lean close to him to hear.
"No, Leif! We have to get you back to the village. You're hurt, and you won't get any better lying in the snow. Hiccup! I need help!" He responded, but I couldn't hear him clearly. I was too busy focusing on Leif's breathing.
In, out…
In, out…
In, out…
Then silence.
"No! Leif!"