Soul Searching
It had been one of the craziest weeks of Hiccup's life. It was even more bizarre in addition to life-altering then when he had to live a double life, after befriending Toothless, and making peace between his people and the dragons. It seemed that the world had almost became still yet at the same time, it seemed time was passing faster. Though for himself he couldn't be sure of how time was passing outside the cave. Una didn't really know how to tell time that well, seeing how she was technically only five years old, and hadn't really been educated very much. As a result he once more was trying to teach her things, and was hoping deep down that he could help her enough to win his freedom. Hiccup was if truth be told starting to miss his family along with friends. He didn't want to leave Una alone in the dark for a second time, without any human contact or leave her to be forsaken in addition to forgotten about once again. Nevertheless he also sought after to go home as much Una had in life wanted to go home with her brother Boden, and still longed to go 'home' in her death. Yet neither Una nor Hiccup had any idea of how to get out of this cavern, which Hiccup by now had concluded must hold strong spiritual energy, and be a sorta limbo state due to such energy.
Hiccup had been studying the runes etched into the cavern's walls. He was attempting to figure out if they may perhaps provided a clue on how to leave, so far no luck at all. Una had told him they'd been there since even before she and her first brother had come to this place. She of course couldn't read them. Una didn't even know how to spell her own name! There was a bit of good news though that he was happy about for her. Una's memories though still very foggy were starting to become unclouded and ever so often a new memory broke through the dense fog of her mind. It was never a complete memory and usually it wasn't very useful, yet he still encouraged her to try to remember.
It was during their first reading lesson she recalled something, while she still didn't know how to read or write extremely well, she did remember that her old brother Boden trying to teach her to do it. Though she informed Hiccup he was a much better teacher and had a better sense of humor as well. He laughed at that. Most people didn't get his dry sense of humor. He pulled the small ghost child into his lap and began to teach her how to write her own name.
"Okay, Una, I've just written the entire alphabet. Have you been practicing the letters?"
"Yes, I've been practicing!" she retorted angrily at him. Her pale cerulean eyes became brighter with the mild rage she was feeling. Feeling like she had to defend herself she shot back at him crossly, "I'm not a dummy! Not like that Snotlout you told me about! You said he couldn't figure out a way out of a water pail if he had too! You said he was a dummy! You also said the twins were silly as well!"
Laughing gaily at her remark he smiled. He patted her pale blond and lilac hair and kissed her head too. She smiled back him with an incredibly kindhearted and affectionate look etched up her pale features, and then realized he wasn't trying to hurt her feelings, he was merely trying to get her to laugh. He was trying to make the lesson more fun and enjoyable. Learning need to be somewhat fun or it would be too hard to really pay attention. And as far as she could tell Hiccup was one of the few people of his tribe to actually care about reading, writing, and art. So he was a very good candidate for being a teacher. She snuggled closer to him and hugged him tightly. The young Viking blushed from the attention and felt his fondness for the girl overflow his heart and soul. It was nice feeling these feelings he felt with Una and he knew he do anything to help her.
"Yeah, they can be a bit of unintelligent along with wacky, but they're still my friends. Though none of them wanted to read the "Book of Dragons" True that book was almost completely inaccurate, yet it did get a few facts right I guess. I know you're smart, Una. Now tell me what letter is this?"
"That's a U, right?" she inquired nervously.
"Very good, Una!" he told her in an encouraging tone "Very good indeed! Now can you read this word?"
"U...n…a, wait it's my name! That my name Una! I can read my own name now!" she exclaimed excitedly. She then threw her tiny arms around Hiccup's neck and nearly chocked him when she hugged him so tightly. Not that he was worried about being chocking to death. Given right now he wasn't 'alive' in the right sense.
"Yes! That's your name! And this is my name, Hiccup. Now can you read the whole sentence?" he asked her kindly with some more encouragement. With a determined look on her little pale face she looked back at the small flat rock Hiccup had been using to teach her. "Una…" she started slowly "and Hiccup…to geth…together… for… ever!"
"Good, Una! Really good! You're brother Boden would be proud of you! Now what this word?" he asked her. Her eyes were shimmering with an eagerness for learning. So they continued on with their lesson.
This went on for quite some time. By the time twilight was falling Una had learned to read a bit better. She even read a short story Hiccup had wrote about him and Toothless. She really was proud of herself for doing so well. The nightly breeze made the echoing melody seem sad but sweet tonight. Una was dancing on her lilacs and Hiccup was trying to determine their next course of action. He glanced outside. They were far enough in the cave that only a glimmer of the outside could be seen.
The second day trapped in the cave he'd come to the conclusion, that if you went too close to the entrance of the cave, you'd loose your 'substance', and if you went too far into the cave, passed the rainbow crystals and the sparkling pool of water, or Una's lilacs you'd loose yourself as well. So it was about only this middle spot of about eight feet in either direction could you hold your substance and be solid. He guessed that this part of cave had the strongest spiritual energy so it would be the center of it. At least that's what Hiccup guessed, and it was as good a guess as anyone ones was gonna be. He was a smart boy that much was for sure and sometimes being brainy was a good thing!
Una, who'd been busy dancing, stopped abruptly and gazed at Hiccup. He seemed to be very preoccupied in addition to dreadfully heartbreaking. He looked like she had looked for so long without anyone to be with. He looked like he was about to shed tears. Rushing over to him she hugged him tightly. "Don't be sad, big brother! If you're sad then I'm sad and then I cry and soon we'll both be crying! Don't cry, Hiccup!" she pleaded with him as her face was slowly becoming tearstained from the tears in her own eyes.
He turned at a snail's pace to gaze upon the little girl whom he now truly felt was his little sister. He bent down and hugged her close to his chest, and as they hugged tears fell from each of their eyes. It may've only been a week since they'd met but in that short time a bond had been forged and it seemed to be as strong as any bond of love could be. It didn't matter to either of them that Una was a ghost and Hiccup was just a misplaced soul. It didn't matter that they weren't blood siblings. They're as much as a brother and sister could be. Their bond was that strong.
Hiccup glanced back at the setting sun and sighed. He sank down on Una's lilacs and sighed a second time. The little ghost child sank next to him and curled her arms around his left side. "What's on your mind, big brother? Tell me, please."
"I miss my loved ones. I wish right now I could kiss Astrid."
"What does kissing feel like? Kissing on the lips, I mean. I mean I've been kissed before, but I've never been kissed on the lips. So what's that like? What's it like to be in love?"
"When you kiss you can taste their breath on your lips. It's like a piece of their soul is being breathed into you. Their gentle touch warms you right to the cockles of your heart. It's a feeling that cannot be put into words. It's just like being born and feeling your soul being set free like a bird. I wish right now I could feel Astrid's breath on my lips and her touch at my fingertips."
"Wow! That was deep! So what's it like being in love?"
"You could live to be a 103 and fall in love a 100 times over, and yet it's never the same way twice. It's always different yet magical experience. It's also beyond words to describe. Yet if you do fall in love it's the most wonderful thing that could happen to you. Love is very strong, deep and when its true love nothing matters anymore. To love someone so deeply they become a part of you and you of them. What matters in love is finding someone who makes you happy, gives your life meaning and makes you feel safe. If you've got those three things then it's the perfect and truest feelings you'll ever have."
Una's eyes were big and she seemed amorous with his words and what he was speaking had touched her so deeply. She was sad but happy at the same time. Sad she never get the chance to fall in love, but happy to know someone who was in love. Even if she never get her first kiss or fall in love for the first time she at least could hear of it. Turning to face her big brother she inquired gently to him. "What's Astrid like? She's the one you love right? What she like?"
"Astrid is the most beautiful and bravest soul I know, Una. She's as brave as she is beautiful. I hope she's knows that I've got nothing but respect for her. Sometimes I feel like she the only person besides my father who loves me for who I am now. I know the rest of village and my friends still like to laugh at the past."
"If she was here, big brother, what would you say?"
"That I love her more then the air I breathe! That she could enjoy this magical sunset with us, and I kiss her till morning came. Right now I just want to hug and kiss her! I love her that much!"
"Sunrise and sunset are the most beautiful parts of the day. I wish I could meet Astrid and tell her how wonderful you're being to me. You're a beautiful person, Hiccup. Don't forget that. She sounds like she's an amazing person!"
"I know that, Una. I think I didn't believe it till Astrid said it though. I just wish that people knew how much love and courage I feel when I'm defending those I love. And that they know how much I care for them, even if they don't care that much for me in return."
"I love you, big brother, Hiccup! I'm sure that Astrid would wait forever to see your beaming face!"
In next to no time the moon had risen and glancing up through the cracks of the cavern were the stars. It was the most enchanting sight. Still it only made both of them rather sad. Hiccup longed to go for a moonlight ride with Toothless and Una wanted to hear her first brother Boden tell her stories of the stars and their constellations. So both of them were a little bit sad, though they'd enjoyed the company of the other, they still wanted to be free of this enchanted spirit cave. Yet neither knew how to make that come about. It wasn't for a lacking of trying though.
"Tell me again, brother, what's it's like to fly with nothing but the silver light of the full moon to guide you? What's Toothless like at night? Is he happier?"
"Toothless is a Night Fury and he does seem happy at night, yet I think as long as I'm with him it doesn't matter what time of day or night it is. I just know right now he'd be very unhappy. It's not easy when your best friend is missing. I wonder if anyone else is missing me," he added in afterthought.
"No-one seemed to miss me or Boden, at least to my knowledge. I mean my memory is still dreadfully fuzzy. Yet on the days after Boden left I was hoping that someone would come and look for us. No-one ever did and I felt more alone then ever. You said that being alone is a fate worse then death, right?"
"Yeah, in life you need other souls to love and care for you. I do have the same opinion that being alone in addition to companionless is a fate worse then death. Death isn't something one should fear but just accept. As for the hereafter I don't know any more then you, seeing how you've not crossed over yourself, yet. In view of the fact that right now we are neither truly dead nor truly alive. As long as we stay in the middle of this cavern we're alive in a sense, but travel to near the cave's mouth we become unseen spirits, and if we go too far into the gave we're more lost. So if we wish to stay solid and 'alive' we must remain here in this part of the cave. I don't know the reason why but that all I can determine from what has occurred since coming here."
"You do use your intelligence more then anyone I've ever known. Even Boden wasn't as smart as you. You seem very keen of mind, and not so stupid with muscles!"
"Well, thanks for saying that. Yet being a smart Viking still makes me an outcast. Everyone else is so big and beefy, and you know can at least lift weapons, sadly which I can't do. Maybe that is reason why I'm still teased."
"Remember be true to yourself, and don't try to be someone your not! Why don't we try and read these runes on the cave wall? You said they might hold the key to setting us both free."
"Yes, they might, if we can decipher the code that might be our only chance of winning freedom!"
"So let's get to it!"
Taking some of the paper that had slipped from Hiccup's notebook when he'd first came to the cave they began to work feverishly. Using some of the chalk rocks they held the paper against the runes on the wall and began to rub them on to the paper. Hiccup wish that they'd ink but they'd to do with what they'd got. It wasn't unproblematic but after about half an hour they'd gotten as much as they could transfer to the paper. The rest were too worn to get a really good copy. Going over to the multihued gemstones for some light they'd began the uneasy task of trying to translate what was written. It was a good thing that Hiccup had begun to teach Una how to read. She seemed eager to help him and was very determined to read what was written on the walls. They worked enthusiastically all the way through the night not even bothering to sleep; they just kept doing what they could to figure out the cavern's secret.
By morning fair light they'd deciphered much of what was written on the walls but it was still very much of a riddle to figure out what it meant. Seeing how what they'd been able to translate was a riddle!
It went as followed "Life and death go round and round where only the soul can live on. Only in its radiant light can it take flight, for within these walls, more then life and death will you find. You'll find out who you truly are if you listen to the song of soul and heart. For only when you find harmony will the key to freedom be found and find your everlasting peace. So look inside and find the key and then you shall be set free"
"What do you think it means, Hiccup? What does the heart and soul mean to take flight? How is looking inside gonna free you or me? What does it mean?"
"I'm not sure what it means myself, Una. I just know right now we've got to look within if we wish to go forth and out of this place. I do think we are on the right track at least. Somehow we must find the key within ourselves and hopefully that we let us both go home. That's all I can say for now."
Both then looked at the glimmer of sunlight streaming inside the cave. It gave them hope yet it still didn't solve their problem. What did the riddle mean? Could they figure it out? Could they find the mysterious key to be free soon? Or would they remain inside this cave evermore? It was all up in the air at the moment yet hopefully sooner rather then later they'd be finally able to go home.