NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

"Abjorn, I have something I need to tell you in private." You slip your arm around his and lead him to an empty side street — the only signs of life are the clucking of chickens and baaing of sheep. "Two things, actually."

Abjorn nods and follows along without a complaint. Once you find a secluded spot, you turn, take his hands in your own, and look him in the eye.

'You've got this.'

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you breathe in and out.

"Abjorn, I..." How do you tell someone that there's another person in your head? You don't know, neither does Blackhand, so you resort to what's always worked for you; bold and decisive action. "The spirit of my grandfather, Hallr Blackhand, resides in my head. Say hi, Blackhand."

'Hi.' Abjorn can't hear Blackhand, why did you even think to do that? Stupid brain!

Abjorn blinks. "Well, I know that I wasn't sleeping with a man."

'Don't tell him that!' You're telling him that. No secrets.

"...You sort of were."

Abjorn blinks again. "Huh."

"Not with the body of a man, but..." you frown, never really having considered the gender of your soul before. You are a woman, you know that much, and Blackhand is a man, you know that too. And your soul is the same soul that Blackhand had... more or less. "I think that the gender of my soul is just sort of... yes?"

'The only real difference between you and me is who's speaking at the time.'

"You're still my wife, right? You're still Halla Steinarsdottir?"

"Of course I am! I always have been!" Lips curling down, you quirk your head to the side as a thought comes to mind. "This... this isn't a new development, it's been going on since I was, oh, thirteen, fourteen-ish?"

"Oh, okay." Abjorn shrugs, accepting it just like that. "If it doesn't change anything about our relationship and you're still you, does it really matter?"

"I... I guess not."

Blackhand snorts, 'And now you know how it feels.'

"Shut up, Blackhand," you growl as he laughs. Your words lack any real heat as Abjorn sends a quizzical look your way.

"Did he say something?"

You sigh, knowing that this is going to be your future. "Just referencing a conversation we had some time ago."

"Alright." Abjorn squints, brows furrowing as something comes to mind, "Should we tell our children? When we have them?"

You open your mouth to respond, only to find your thoughts empty of anything of use. "I... let's cross that bridge when we come to it, alright?"

"Alright." He nods, accepting your decision.

You don't want to tell them, to be honest. Maybe it's wrong of you — and it probably is — but... You're already regretting telling Abjorn about Blackhand, at least a small, ugly part does. You're not jealous — you're not! — it's just that, well... you might be a little jealous.

It's weird, it's irrational, but you still feel that way. Why, you can't answer. Maybe it's because Blackhand has sort of been, well, he's been your thing. The voice in your head. Sharing him, in however small a way, just feels weird and kinda wrong.

"There's also a guy in the valley that we're going to have to kill." You find yourself speaking without realizing it. "His name is Horra Hasvisson and he's a gigantic asshole."

"Okay." Abjorn shrugs before looking around, as if Horra would appear in that very moment.

"It's because he's... wait, really, just like that?"

"I trust you. If you say he needs to die then he needs to die. When are we killing him?" Abjorn... you might've just fallen in love all over again.

"Soon, in a year or two, maybe more, maybe less." You shrug, face turning a shade of red, "I have some things I'd like to do before..." Like have a child, amongst other things.

Abjorn nods and you nod back.

Everything settled, you move back into Asvir proper and make your way to the trials, hand in hand and big smiles on your face.

0~0~0

The roar of the crowd is like music to your ears as you step out onto the trial ring. Cracking your neck, you regard the obstacles in your way.

Boulder throwing is to the left of you, log throwing to the left of that. Ship-leaping is to your right, with the runners racing around the outskirts of Asvir. In front of you, however, is the wrestling square.

The only question is... how hard to you want to crush your competition?
[ ] Use it all! (Uses all Reserve Orthstirr, not including stokables or Sagaseeker's reservoir)
-[ ] (Optional) I don't think you heard me correctly. When I say 'use it all' I mean USE. IT. ALL. (Use every last drop you've got)
[ ] Use 75% (-54 Orthstirr)
[ ] Use 50% (-36 Orthstirr)
[ ] Use 25% (-18 Orthstirr)
[ ] Use nothing but your raw strength (Use no orthstirr)

(This is assuming that you have all of your orthstirr available to you; which, for the purposes of this vote, you do)
0~0~0

AN: This'll be the last update for the day, sans any potential interlude drop.

Also, the next update will include these rolls;

(Hamr (Throwing)) Boulder Throwing
(Hamr (Throwing)) Log Throwing
(Hamr (Overland)) Ship Leaping
(Hamr (Overland)) Running in a Race
(Hamr (Glima)) Wrestling in the square

So, if you've got Reward Dice, then now is a good time to use them! Now, it's completely unnecessary if you decide to spend a lot of orthstirr... but if you don't...

25-minute moratorium.