When Ivar meets a girl with flaming red hair and eyes that cannot see, he begins to wonder how a sightless girl can see so much beauty in the world... And in him.
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"I've never been on a boat before." She admitted as she walked along the wobbling interior of a longboat. Her arms were held out so that she would balance herself, the wind running through her long iridescent hair. "What if we get eaten by a whale?" She asked sincerely.
"A whale?" Hvitserk asked flatly, not entirely believing her question.
"Yes, Hvitserk, a whaaaaaale." She answered like a small child, jumping only once as when she felt the boat move beneath her, it took everything within her to not fall flat on her back.
"It's not whales you should worry about." Ivar's voice sounded from the shore. "You're more likely to get dragged down by the Kraken or killed by Draug."
At this Ailbe's face filled with terror, "Kraken?" She asked Hvitserk. "Draug?"
"Ignore him." Hvitserk rolled his eyes at his younger brother. "He enjoys terrifying people."
"What's a Kraken?" She asked again, but this time directing her question towards Ivar.
"Well," He began with a grin, utterly prepared for his horror stories to begin. Hvitserk could only sigh at his brother's enjoyment in tormenting the naive girl. "They say it's like a squid but it's the size of ten ships, and drags men down into the bottom of the ocean where they'll never be seen again. You know it's coming when you see gurgling bubbles, surfacing fish, or a loads of jellyfish because they're all trying to escape - but by the time you see that, it's too late, and the last thing you'll see is the huge monster and the black ocean."
Ailbe's face went pale, a look of pure horror dawning her naturally jovial features. Where normally she'd smile brightly, she looked as though she would faint from sheer terror. "And the Draug?" She asked quietly.
Before Ivar could even begin another of his tales to horrify the girl further, Hvitserk stepped in. "Not the Draug." He stated firmly, looking toward his younger brother sternly. For a minute, Ivar was going to argue but when he looked back at Ailbe he wondered if she'd even sleep between then and their trip so he silenced himself.
"Have you seen it before?" She asked again, timidly, making the two men look back at her. "The Kraken, I mean."
As if knowing that Ivar was instantly ready to tell her some grandiose story about how he'd fought off the Kraken before and traumatize her further - Hvitserk spoke again. "No. We haven't." He answered. "But I don't think it's from around here anyway."
Ailbe gave a short sigh of relief, stepping off the boat and onto the Sandy shore. "Good." She answered, ruffling her nose up in disgust. "I hate squid. They smell funny."
"That's why you were afraid?" Hvitserk asked in astonishment. "Because of the smell?"
"Well I heard that you two had the Gods on your side, so why would I be afraid of drowning if I'm with you?" She shrugged pragmatically. "Besides, it really does smell awful!"
At this she skipped back onto the sand, beaming towards both of them. "I'll see you both." She smiled. "Just... Promise me there's no more stories about squid."
"No, the next one is about ghosts." Ivar answered rapidly.
At this Ailbe furrowed her brows again. "So dead people and squid, that's your idea of pleasant conversation?" She chuckled.
"What else would I talk about?" He returned uncharacteristically cheerily. Of course, this didn't at all go unnoticed by Hvitserk.
Happy Christmas Eve. If you're like me and ya don't celebrate Christmas then happy whatever celebration you do have. Ik Yule was recently and I've been busy with that, and Hanukkah is atm as well. Anyway, the point is, happy winter holiday thingy and I hope you're doing well xxxx
