Gefjosa arrives at the party, finds Harald, gives him some weird chunk of coral, then goes to find the people in charge of the eggs or just the members of the expedition that brought them back. Unless redirected, she spends the whole party talking about eggs.
When she arrives, she hands Harald a palm sized hunk of glowcoral that has been inexpertly carved into the shape of an axe. Her fingers are bandaged. "I couldn't figure out how to carve the first field you'd ever tilled or a suit of armor or a bedbox, sorry, but I hope you'll keep this until you can make a replacement."
Harald looks at the piece of glowing coral silently, lost in thought.
Gefjoza does not recognize the Sorrow behind his eyes, but she knows the flavor.
It was all his fault.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*For Freyja's sake I was supposed to bring a gift!? May the gods deny the Jomsviking their halls for stealing mom from me, she would have told me that*
His familiar thoughts are interrupted by even older ones.
*No, not here, not in front of all these people. I don't want to think abo...*
The piece of coral grew cloudy in his vision, obscured as though with a curtain of water. As it comes back into focus, for moment he doesn't see the rough blue image of an axe at all.
"
But Mom, if she's my friend, why won't she show me! Everybody bragged about her when the Seer said she had one, but she runs away whenever I ask and I don't know what I did wrong."
He sees a wet pile of dirt cupped between his hands, with a hummingbird laying on it.
"
It's not like that dear, you didn't do anything wrong. Probably. These things are very private, always have been, but there was an accident at one of the neighbouring farms and some of the parents have been a little overprotective of their children with Sight, I'm sure I would be if you had some little rabbit hopping around here. Just be there for her, you're both young, you have time"
He wondered if she knew she was lying. He forgave her for it anyway.
He thought of what his home looked like, on the worst day of his life.
He heard his father shouting.
"Boy, run to the front of the house and get your younger brother and little friend, and bring them back here, do it now."
Gods how he wished he was fast enough.
He remembered almost making it to the front of the house.
He remembered what the Jomsvikingr looked like, spangenhelm and sword shining in the sun.
He remembered seeing a red hummingbird, flying through the air past the raider, who ignored it and walked around the house out of Harald's view.
He remembered how beautiful the hummingbird looked. How happy it was to see him, how it zipped over to him, it's wings humming a tune of Spring and New Beginings.
He remembered the feel of warm blood on soil, just outside of his sight, in two spots near each other.
He remembered how the music and life left the bird in the space between it's heartbeats as it was carried by momentum past his outstreached hand to thump dead against his chest.
He remembered how he didn't believe it.
He remembered being too scared to look around the corner of the house, and being ashamed of his fear.
He remembers feeling like he didn't love his brother enough.
He remembers running back to his father, wordlessly, the bird clutched between his fingers.
*She's still warm. She's not hurt. Wake up, please, Astrid. I had time*
He remembers the look of pain on his father's face.
He remembers having a sack of tools, weapons, and his shield thrown at him, and struggling to hold it all without dropping her.
He remembers his father throwing him and the ground he was standing on through the air, hurling towards the fleeing ships.
He remembers regretting not looking back as the arch of his flight took him over the house.
Now, in this moment, looking at Gefjoza, holding her gift, for the first time he's glad he didn't.
He's glad the way that his brother and friend laid in that field isn't the way he last remembers seeing them.
He remembers his brother, laughing outside that morning at something his father said outside of him and Astrid's earshot
He remembers Astrid, giving him shit for forgetting the nails for their rabbit hutch. Her hair was like fire and her voice was like the wind, and the world was a lesser place for their absence.
He hoped she didn't think he was replacing her. He wasn't. He'd promised not to.
He still missed her. He was glad he still missed her.
But somehow, even though it hurt just as much as it always did, he didn't break down crying there in front of everyone.
It was just as big of a hurt, but he wasn't that weeping boy hurtling across the sea, not anymore.
That boy was alone, and Harald isn't.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harald smiles, and soft brown earth rises from the collar of his shirt as he reaches into his pocket to pull out some bonemeal.
He sprinkles it on the soil floating before him, and they twist around each other in the air.
The chain they forge isn't the silver and brass her gift is worthy of, but they bind around it all the same, holding it tightly to a small pouch of soil again Harald's chest.
It is worn there for the rest of the night.
Harald comes back his sense, Gefjoza slowly babbling about trying to make it absorb Sorrow but not being sure if it worked and apologizing if...
Harald cuts her off, and speaks
"I am no Seer. I cannot tell you if the magic lies in the coral, or in the work of your hands, or in your smile.
But before these witnesses, without reservation I can tell you it works"
Harald smiles, and spends the rest of the night gushing about how to keep frogs wet and what sileage can make a good nutrition base for strong reptilian egg shells, everyone else forgotten.
He's glad he came, and even more glad he didn't come alone.
