OOM (during the 4 year jump)

[gods_that_haunt_me]

I work like a Dwarf through the seasons.

My toil is fraught with frustration, and blessed with inspiration.

The gods move me. They give me every reason to wake up with the sun. To make love to Helga. To seek the trees with which to build my boats.

This is my existence. And I would not trade it for anything.


It is early spring, when the first warm breath of wind mingles with the receding chill in the air. The water reflects a cloudless sky. A perfect time to stay outdoors from morning to evening. Working, and delighting in the work.

With every pull on the draw knife, a plank of wood takes shape. I see what it will become; I see how it will be a part of the ship.

The ship itself is yet a skeleton. On its bones I will lay the flesh and smooth its skin, a living thing. I see it all in my head, and I pray to the gods to help me make my vision real.

Comments

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Thank me?" Raagnar saus. "What for?"

[gods_that_haunt_me]

"You always believed in me," he says, not looking at Ragnar, but up at the trees, which are easier.

"When everyone was saying, 'Oh, that Floki, he is only a fool. Oh, poor Floki, he will never be as good as his father was. Oh, don't mind Floki, he always jokes around and will never amount to much in life.' You, Ragnar, you never said any of that. You were my friend when nobody gave me a second thought. And now, here we are. Still friends. That is what I thank you for."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"They were blind to what you can do, and how amazing your skills are," Ragnar says.

Just as some people are blind to Athelstan's real skills, now.

"But you really don't have to thank me for it. You were my best friend before you ever were my boat-builder."

[gods_that_haunt_me]

Floki's heart swells.

He looks down at the mossy ground, and grins up at the trees.

"Then I will thank the gods instead, as I have always done. It was they who brought us together."

He then grins at Ragnar, and slings a long arm around his shoulders as he points toward the water coming into view.

"And it is they who will bring us into history!"

A beat, as the scent of beef stew wafts along on a breeze.

"And also to food!"

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar looks at Floki, and laughs. "Food is first!" he says. "We wouldn't go and raid other people if we didn't have to feed our own."

[gods_that_haunt_me]

"And we wouldn't have the strength to go raiding if we didn't first have food," he remarks with a chuckle. "It is all connected."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"We eat to raid," Ragnar says, "we raid to eat; we build boats to go raid, and raid to afford bigger and better boats. It's an eternal upward spiral, like the squirrel climbing the ash tree of worlds."

[gods_that_haunt_me]

Floki nods.

"Ever on and on, as the tree grows and changes, so does the world, and we must keep up with it, and make our own way when needed. Even if we have already done well for ourselves, there is still more beyond the horizon."

Further down the shore, the immense skeleton of a ship can be seen from the door of Floki's cabin.

"I will show you later what will take us to those horizons, Ragnar," Floki says, gazing off toward the boat, "but now, let us eat, and drink to great things to come."