Cold, that was all Termagant felt as her eyes closed. So bitterly cold, and sad. She was never going to see her baby boy. He was going to grow up not knowing he had a mother who loved him deeply, and a kind and gentle father.
She just hoped the Deadly Shadow could keep her child safe, as they had promised.
Time slowed down. There was so much to miss, so much to regret. Her eyes felt leaden heavy as they closed for the final time.
It felt a little like going to sleep, and just like actually going to sleep, eventually she woke up. She lifted her head and adjusted her glasses. She was still in her hut. How strange. She felt rather strange too: lighter, airier. When she stood up it was almost as though she couldn’t feel the floor under her.
She turned around and nearly jumped as she saw her own tired looking body lying there on the bed, all the color drained out of the corps’s face.
Despite the terror she noticed something peculiar. Her heart wasn’t beating out of her chest as she would expect. Her heart wasn’t beating at all. Not only that but she hadn’t breathed this entire time, and she felt…fine? This would take getting used to.
Once she had gotten over the shock of seeing her own dead body she decided to walk around, and explore her surroundings as a new ghost.
So this was it. She was dead, and there was nothing she could do about it.
She tried to drum her fingers on the bed frame but they simply passed right through. This was really boring. She decided to leave her dead form for someone else to find eventually, and go outside, seeing people might be more interesting.
Being dead felt very odd indeed. She could feel the crisp breeze running through her body. A tiny nano dragon flew through her. It didn’t hurt at all but it felt so foreign it made her wince. She wandered aimlessly for hours, her feet not quite touching the ground.
She watched someone enter her hut and start yelling in a frightened manner. Do doubt they had just discovered her body. There would be funeral preparations soon, but she wasn’t in the mood to see them. She wondered if her father would even mourn her. She had never been on the best terms with him, especially not after she married Aldrick.
She sniffed sadly. She was a grown woman, a viking princess, she wasn’t going to cry. But her mind kept going back to her son, her poor, small son all alone in a great and terrible world. Why was she still here? Where was her husband? Was there a reason The gods didn’t let her into Valhalla? So many questions running through her head, and nobody to answer them.
She curled up into a ball on the grass and cried. After a few minutes she felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Are you doing alright, miss?” The voice sounded kind and almost fatherly.
She lifted her head. She could see that two men stood in front of her, but the faces were blurred . She wiped the few tears that had, against her will, begun to form, and cleared her glasses with her sleeve. Evidently, bad vision followed her even into the afterlife. Once her glasses were securely on her face, she glanced at the men once more.
One of them was tall, much older, with a small, scruffy brown beard and ear-length, wavy brown hair. The other man was a little on the shorter side. He had long gold hair and wild blue eyes. Both men wore the slave mark, a dark black on their translucent blue skin.
The first man knelt down and offered her a hand up, which Termagant gladly accepted.
“You can touch me…” she whispered.
“Course we can!” Grinned the second man, “We’re dead. Just like you.”
The first man turned to the second and tutted. “Two, that’s insensitive.”
The blond man scoffed, “It’s true though.”
Termagant smiled weakly at the older man scolding his friend like a father or some other older relative. “I-its alright. I know I’m dead, but if you don’t mind me asking why am I still here?”
“The gates of gods only open on the full moon.” answered the bearded man. ‘It’s a fact known by few. I myself didn’t know until after I died. The next full moon is only in a few days. We’ll show you the way then.”
“That would be very kind of you,” said Termagant. “What should I call my two benefactors?”
“I am Hiccup the first,” answered the bearded man with a bow.
“And I’m Hiccup the second!” The other man said enthusiastically.
Termagant nodded: Hiccup one and two. “You don’t mind if I just call you First and Second do you?”
“That is acceptable,” nodded Hiccup the first.
“Works for me!” added Hiccup the second. “We also go by One and Two.”
Termagants eyes drifted down towards Hiccup the seconds’ midriff and- “OH SWEET ODIN’S SPEAR WHAT IS THAT?!”
“Oh this?” Second gestured casually to the deep and horrible stab wound in his torso. The technically non-existe blood stained his tunic a deep purple, “It’s nothing.”
“It sure as hel doesn’t LOOK like nothing!” shouted Termant horrified.
“Listen, it’s just how I died. It doesn't hurt at all. I’m ok I swear,” Two reassured the Woman. He placed a hand on Termagant's arm to calm her down.
Termagant’s shoulders relaxed. “Ok, I’m calm. I’m sorry I freaked out. I guess I’m not accustomed to the whole being dead thing. By the way, how many years have you two been dead? Or is that rude to ask?”
“It’s not rude at all dear,” smiled One. “I have been dead for many many centuries. I was the first king of the Wilderwest, you know.”
“Really?” asked Termagant in fascination.
One nodded, his nose scrunched just a little. “This place has gone downhill, I’ll have to say.”
Termagant furrowed her brow. “What do you mean by that?”
Before One could answer, Two interrupted him. “I have been dead for almost a century now!”
“That’s….impressive?” Termagant really didn’t know what else to say in this context. I’m sorry?Congratulations? Interesting?
Her attention was diverted from the optimistic smile of Two to One looking over the sea, his face set in a bitter frown. “What were you going to say?” Termagant asked First softly, as he gazetted into the distance. Though he looked only to be in his late twenties the lines in his face at that moment were those of an old, old man
First shook his head. “It’s fine. I’m fine. There isn’t another full moon for three days. Is there anywhere you'd like to see before we depart for Valhalla?”
Termagant didn’t have to think very long at all. “My son, he was born a runt and put to sea this morning.”
Both Hiccups nodded solemnly. The story hit close to home for them.
“If it isn’t too much trouble I would like to see my son.”
One glanced down, and took a breath before smiling back at the woman. “We will help you the best we can.” He offered a hand for the woman which she took gratefully. He didn’t have the heart to tell the woman that the poor babe was already likely dead, as hundreds of children before it.